MACON, Ga. — No northeast Georgia teams came away with Traditional wrestling titles on Saturday in the Georgia High School Association finals at the Macon Coliseum.
However, nearly two dozen wrestlers came away with individual titles as five teams finished second in their respective classifications. Buford in Class 7A, Jefferson in 5A, North Hall in 3A, Lumpkin County in 3A, and Union County in 2A all took runner-up finishes.
In Class 7A, Camden County won its 10th straight Traditional title piling up 279 points. Buford took second with 240.5 points with Maddox McArthur (132), Drew Gorman (138), Grayson Santee (165), and Aaron Riner (215) all capturing individual championships. DJ Clarke (113), Rylan Ibold (120), and Kieron McCormack (126) all finished second for the Wolves.
Jackson County, which finished third in Class 6A, had Donavon Spry (106) place first and Xavier Cepican (165) take second. North Forsyth finished fifth in Class 6A and had Dmitriy Vostrikov (150) take second. South Effingham won 6A with 176.5 points.
Defending champion Jefferson finished second in Class 5A with 162.5 points. Ola knocked off the Dragons amassing 191 points. For Jefferson, Roman Belardo (120), Dallas Russell (150), and Davis Dendy (165) all won titles. Barrett Clayton (106), Draike McDonald (126), and Tucker Kazienko (132) all placed second. Also in 5A, Flowery Branch’s Seth Larson (157) became a four-time state champ on Saturday. Griffin Harper at 190 also won an individual title for the Falcons.
In Class 4A, North Hall placed second in Class 4A with 98 points. However, Central-Carroll dominated with a whopping 222 points to win the title. For the Trojans, Connor Free (150) won an individual title and Ezekiel Harris (190) placed second. Chestatee finished fifth had both Bryant Barnes (175) and Ely Raines (138) place second. Jackson Moffit (165) took first for East Forsyth. For Johnson, Guillermo Rosales grabbed the title at 285 for the Knights.
In Class 3A, Lumpkin County finished second overall behind Columbus, who had 169.5 points. Nathan Nielsen won a title at 144 while Jonah Holmes (150) and AJ Scott (165) both placed second. Dawson County's Colton Schuette (215) brought home a title. White County finished 10th with Christian Keheley (157) winning a title and Hunter Smith (120) taking second.
In Class 2A, Union County took second overall with 123 points. But the Panthers finished nearly 100 points behind champion Rockmart (220 points). Payton Legatt won an individual title at 157 while Eli Flowers (106) Anderson Clouse (138) and Paxon Legatt (144) all placed second for Union County.
In Class A Division 1, Commerce finished third overall with 115.5 points, well back of champion Social Circle, who had 251.5 points. For the Tigers, Hoke Hogan (190) took home an individual championship.
