Dalton continued its strong wrestling postseason Thursday as the GHSA state traditional tournaments began for classes AAAA to AAAAAAA in Macon.
The Catamounts advanced four wrestlers into the semifinals and were third in team points headed into Thursday night's late consolation rounds. Richmond Hill led the way with 73 points, with South Paulding next at 57 and Dalton at 51.
The Catamounts have Hunter Noland (113 pounds), Ethan Carroll (120), Malik Coleman (152) and Joseph Reese (195) in today's semifinals, while also having Jaxon Wells (138), Tyler O'Brien (220) and Ethan Arnold (285) alive in the consolation brackets as of late Thursday.
In Class AAAA, recent state duals runner-up Gilmer has significant ground to make up in order to make a run at the team title. The Bobcats are just fifth with 61.5 points through the championship quarterfinals and the consolation's second round, trailing prohibitive favorite Jefferson, which has 102.5 points, West Laurens (85), Troup County (63) and Woodward Academy (63).
Gilmer has four semifinalists - Tristain Kendall (126), Caleb Waddell (152), Grant Ledford (160) and Anthony Zilke (285) - and four others into the consolation quarters.
Ridgeland is ninth in points with 32.5 but has a trio of semifinalists - Jordan Hughley (138), 2017 state champion Jacob Mariakis (142) and Ryan McGill (170). Walker County rival LaFayette has each of its two competitors in the semifinal round, Tyler Bears at 182 and Cody Deal at 220.
Heritage and Northwest Whitfield each has a semifinalist, 106-pounder Ryan Craft for the Generals and 170-pound Jamarey Hull for the Bruins.
Competition begins in Classes A through AAA today, when each classification will go through the semifinals. Consolation finals and championship finals are Saturday at the Centreplex.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.