Gilmer High School's wrestling team found itself in a familiar position at the Area 7-AAAA Duals: first place.
Defending state champion Gilmer rolled Heritage 59-16 in the area championship match Saturday at Ridgeland High School.
With health in mind, Heritage coach Mike Craft held out some starters, hoping to meet the Bobcats again down the road.
"Our goal was to get to the state duals," Craft said. "We wanted to reserve some guys and get there as healthy as possible to hopefully see them again in the finals and wrestle them all out."
The Generals took the first bout at 113 pounds, with Blake Ryan scoring a first-period pin. Alberto Perez then knotted the score at 6 with a pin before Charles Thurman earned a 9-1 major decision for Heritage.
Gilmer then went full steam ahead, starting with Lucas Patterson's pin at 132. The Bobcats' Ethan Teague followed up with the highlight of the championship match. He battled to a 5-5 tie in an eventful first period with Heritage's Daniel Jernagen. Jernagen looked in control early, but Teague flurried to build a 11-5 lead going into the third period, and that turned into a 12-6 decision.
"Ethan keeps fighting for a starting spot, and that was a big match for him and for us," said Bobcats assistant Josh Snider.
Gilmer reeled off seven more wins in a row, including four pins, a technical fall and a forfeit that netted bonus points. Keegan Sharpe, Jordan Caviness, Ryan Crump and Matthew Waddell scored the pins. Jake Parker got the tech and Grant Ledford got a decision.
Like Heritage, health will play a big role for the defending champs moving forward.
"We still have another guy or two out before we are back to full strength, but we are almost there," Snider said. "Our guys continue to work hard and have gotten away from being complacent. They've turned it around in the practice room."
A bright spot for Heritage came at heavyweight, where Tanner Nance continued his winning ways. After two years off from wrestling, he has come back to bolster the top of the Generals lineup.
"He's been great," Craft said. "He's a very technical wrestler, and he's really helped the guys at the top of our lineup."
Nance was not on the mat long, pinning his opponent in 22 seconds to bring the score to 53-16. Dan Puac finished off the scoring with a quick pin at 106 for Gilmer.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com