Ridgeland earns first state wrestling duals berth in school history

Assorted Sports Equipment on Black
Assorted Sports Equipment on Black

RINGGOLD, Ga. - There will be a little something old and something very new in the Class AAAA GHSA Wrestling Duals Championships this weekend.

Perennial power Gilmer, owner of nine duals state titles since 2005, won the twice-delayed Area 6-AAAA tournament Tuesday at Heritage, but it was the second team that stole the show. Ridgeland, the tournament's No. 4 seed coming in, won a pair of thrilling matches to take second place. It will be the Panthers' first appearance in the state tournament.

"This started three weeks ago," an emotional Ridgeland coach Keith Mariakis said. "We got our eyes blistered somewhere and we pulled our seniors together and reminded them that four years ago they wanted to go to state and now it was up to them. It's been a different wrestling room with different attitudes, and it showed today."

Ridgeland lost decisively to Gilmer in the semifinals, 52-14, before edging Heritage, 36-33, in the consolation finals. Ridgeland won the last five individual bouts to pull off the upset, including the finale at 195 when Austin Coppinger won by disqualification after an illegal slam was called.

"It was unfortunate the last match came down to a slam, but three weeks ago our kid had a concussion, so we left it up to the Heritage trainer and he said, 'Coach, I wouldn't let him wrestle,'" Mariakis said. "That's just part of it, but it was a great effort to rally."

Gilmer, meanwhile, defeated Northwest Whitfield 42-27 in the championship match. The Bruins, who had won a 40-32 nail-biter over Heritage in the semifinals, were within 24-21 with four bouts to go before the Bobcats pulled away with pins from Jake Breedlove, Ryan Crump and nationally ranked 195-pounder Matthew Waddell.

"There are at least three of the top six or eight teams here," Gilmer coach Sam Snider said, referring at the time to Heritage and Northwest besides his own team. "This region has always been tough, and I fully expect whoever comes out as the second seed to finish in the top four (in the state)."

That would, to the surprise of many, be the Panthers, who trailed Northwest 18-6 after four bouts before getting pins from Chris Prescott and Jacob Mariakis and a decision by Jordan Hughley. Northwest regained the lead on Coty Carlock's technical fall at 145, but the Bruins were docked a point for improper conduct and led only 22-21.

The teams swapped wins through the next five bouts, with Jordan Lewis getting a pin at 195 to put the Bruins up 37-33 with one match left. The Panthers, though, had defending state champion Chris Henderson on their side and the 220-pounder managed a second-period pin to pull out the match.

"I told the kids that for us to win somebody is going to have to win a match they are not supposed to win and somebody is going to have to not get pinned that should get pinned," Coach Mariakis said. "That's how it's got to work for us, because top to bottom we're not among the elite. We're just workers, and now we're going to the state for the first time in school history."

* At the 3-AAA tournament at Calhoun, top-seeded Bremen defeated Sonoraville 46-22 for the championship. Sonoraville had topped No. 2 seed Ringgold in the semifinals and will be the area's second state tournament team. The Tigers, last year's state runner-up, finished third.

* At the 3-A tournament at Trion, the hosts rolled to the championship with a pair of blowouts, including a 66-14 win over Mount Zion in the final round. Mount Zion will be the No. 2 seed after defeating Gordon Lee in the semifinal round.

The tournament, which had an original field of nine teams, had just four compete.

* At the 3-AA tournament at Chattooga, Pepperell and Armuchee will head to Macon after Pepperell's Dragons won the title match, 37-36.

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.

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