MACON — Five northeast Georgia area teams navigated their way into the semifinals of the State Duals Thursday at the Macon Centreplex.
Three area teams move through the Class 3A field in the quarterfinals. Jefferson held off Stone Mountain 49-20 while Jackson County beat Adairsville 51-24. North Hall pinned Pike County 54-14 to advance to the semifinals.
Jefferson will meet Sonoraville in one semifinal while Jackson County and North Hall will square off in the other. Both matches are slated to begin at 6 p.m.
It is the same matchups from 2019 that saw Jefferson and North Hall advance to the championship round.
In Class A, six-time defending champion Commerce advanced to the semifinals after whipping Irwin County 66-18. The Tigers will take on Holy Innocents in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
And, Buford advanced in Class 5A with a 54-23 win over Ware County. Buford will take on Veterans at 6 p.m. Friday. The Wolves opened the day with a dominating 78-0 win over Decatur in the first round.
Meanwhile, Gainesville won its first State Duals match in nearly a decade with a 46-34 upset win over Evans in the opening round of the Class 6A tournament. The Red Elephants were the No. 2 seed from Region 8-6A but advanced to the quarterfinals with the victory over the Region 3-6A champion Knights.
However, Gainesville’s run in the main bracket came to an end when No. 2 seeded Creekview pinned a 71-3 loss on the Red Elephants in the quarterfinals. The Red Elephants dropped into the consolation bracket and will take on the Sequoyah-Stephenson winner at 1:30 p.m. on Friday in an elimination match.
The first match since 2014 for Flowery Branch, however, did not fare as well. The Falcons lost 48-22 to No. 2 seed Gilmer in Class 4A. Flowery Branch drops into the consolation bracket and will take on Columbus at 9 a.m. Friday looking to stay alive for a third-place finish.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2020/1/868245/wrestling-ghs-upsets-evans-in-duals-opener-branch-falls-to-no-2-gilmer