Banks County won the Class AAA title after beating Woodward Academy in a thrilling 34-33 win. It was the first-ever team wrestling state title for the Leopards, who had never finished higher than fourth.
The Leopards had advanced to the finals after knocking off Sonoraville 44-24 in the semifinals.
Banks County won three of the final four matches by pin to take the lead and then forfeited the final match at 220 to finish with the narrow win.
Jefferson, meanwhile, won its 12th straight duals title with a 47-16 win over Bremen for the Class AA crown.
Jefferson coach Doug Thurmond said earlier in the week it would come down to his Dragons and Bremen, which featured four state champions.
"There were many matches that could have gone either way," Thurmond said. "We were fortunate that most of them went our way. The guys just wrestled real well."
The match began at 285-pounds and a Jefferson loss. But the Dragons won the next three matches to take the lead. Chase Piperato got a pin at 106 and Ben Kelly (113) and Kyle Kashuba (120) won by decision.
Bremen won at 126 and then Jefferson reeled off three more wins, including Tanner Thurmond at 132, who was nearly pinned but recovered to get a narrow decision. Tyler Marinelli followed with a pin at 138 and Jack Dollar took a decision at 145.
Zach Rymer won a decision at 160 and then Tradd Porter (170) and Jace McCloskey (182) won by pin. Aaron Anderson closed out the match with a decision win at 285 for the Dragons.
"I was real pleased with how we responded," Thurmond said. "Winning these things never gets old. I'm excited for the kids who had never been here."
The Dragons had routed Monticello 68-12 in the semifinals.
In other action, Commerce finished third in Class A after beating Turner County 52-17 and Mt. Zion, Carroll 55-21 in the third-place match in the wrestleback round.
Chestatee's bid for a third place finish in Class AAAA ended with a 42-24 loss to Marist in the wrestleback round.
In Class AAAAA, Flowery Branch was one win from the semifinals but fell to Ware County in the quarterfinals and then lost 35-21 to Effingham County in the wrestleback round.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/1/257115