An upset in the championship match of the Area 7-AAAA duals wrestling tournament Monday prevented surprising Dalton from a shot at reaching the state tournament. Host Woodland edged top-ranked Cass, 33-31, relegating Dalton to third place.
Only the top two teams in each area advance to the state event Friday and Saturday in Macon. Because Dalton, the north sub-region’s seventh seed, had lost 34-33 to Cass in the semifinals, the two teams did not re-wrestle for second place. If Cass had defeated Woodland, Dalton would have wrestled Woodland for the runner-up spot.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get a chance, but I’m proud of our guys for coming from the seventh seed,” Dalton coach Charles Mitchell said. “It was a good fight between us and Cass. It went back and forth, but that’s the way it goes. I think we would have matched up well against Woodland.”
Equally as heartbroken was Northwest Whitfield. The Bruins lost 40-36 to Dalton in the second round, and since the tournament had to be completed Monday, the format was single-elimination in the first two rounds.
“We were up 36-34, but we got pinned in the last match,” Northwest coach Allen Tucker said. “We wrestled a good match and so did Dalton. We split seven to seven, but they had six pins and a major (decision) and we had five pins and two decisions. It’s a tough region, and I believe the two teams that come out of it will finish top four in Macon.”
n Sonoraville had no such drama in sweeping to the Area 7-AA title at Gordon Central, earning a repeat championship by downing Dade County in the winners-bracket final. But Dade’s Wolverines rallied to claim the other state berth by defeating Calhoun for second place.
n Gordon Lee was the Area 6-A tournament runner-up at Bowdon. The Trojans lost 33-21 to defending state champion Bremen in the finals but rallied for second place by downing Bowdon 42-22. Jacob Bryson, Taylor Pace and Caleb Guthrie were 4-0 for Gordon Lee, which opened the tournament by whipping Darlington 72-12 and thrashing Turner County 66-18.
With only four area tournaments in Class A, four teams advance to the state event. Joining Bremen and Gordon Lee will be Bowdon and Turner County.