Ringgold High School has already won one wrestling state championship this year. To compete for another, the Tigers will need to avoid the pitfalls created by their own success.

After winning last month’s GHSA Class AAAA state duals title, Ringgold coach Phil Daniel said his team has struggled to stay motivated. But as the Tigers enter the Area 7-AAAA tournament today at Dalton, they’ll need unwavering focus to duplicate their duals success.

“We’ve had a tough time staying where we need to be,” Daniel said. “This is a different team from some of the ones we’ve had before. They haven’t had to do it like this as varsity wrestlers. They haven’t had to perform at this level. It’s been a challenge keeping them motivated, but we have our days.

“Some of our senior leaders have been great. We’ve got to get the other kids up to believing that they can perform at that level.”

One of those senior leaders, 125-pounder Michael Temple, finished third in the state last year. As he goes into the area tournament, Temple has team and individual goals in mind.

“As a team, our goal is to get 12 to state,” said Temple, noting that the top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state tournament. “If we do that, then we should do very, very well.

“Personally, I want to do better than last year and win the state title this time. Ever since I was in the sixth or seventh grade, all I wanted was to win a state championship.”

While the Tigers’ chief mission is to put as many wrestlers as possible into the state tournament, winning the area is still among their goals. Daniel called Northwest Whitfield the region’s “toughest team” and said their toughness will be difficult to match.

“They’ve got kids that are tough from 103 (pounds) to 185,” Daniel said. “They don’t have very many holes. They’re probably going to take 11 or 12 kids to state.”

Leading Ringgold’s efforts to topple the Bruins will be Jonathan Gregory, a 31-0 senior from the 215-pound class. Daniel and Temple both called Gregory the team’s leader and said his success sets the tone for his teammates.

“Jon is the catalyst,” Daniel said. “He’s the one everybody looks to. If he goes hard, everybody goes hard. He’s developed himself into a beast, and he just wants to win. Nothing else will satisfy him but winning state.”

Gregory relishes that role.

“I want to win definitely, but it’s mostly because I want to get as many points for the team as I can,” he said. “Every time I’m out there, that’s all I want.”