DULUTH, Ga. — Heading into Friday night’s Class AAA semifinals at the GHSA Traditional Wrestling Championships, Heritage found itself tied with nemesis Gilmer County. However, led by its strong senior class, the Ringgold school put five wrestlers into today’s championship round and leads 128 points to 104.
Seniors Madison Martin (126 pounds), Landon Reed (132), Logan Perkins (145), Andy Bratton (170) and Michael Moore (195) will represent the Generals in the finals. Gilmer’s Bobcats, who defeated top-seed Heritage in the state duals finals, have three wrestlers in the finals: Cameron Perry (106), Johnie Flakes (138) and Joey Ray (160).
“I’m not surprised it’s us and them,” said Martin, who recorded a technical fall over Gilmer’s Brady McCollum before edging Oconee County’s Cory Collins 8-3 in the semis. “We’ve been the two front-runners in Class AAA last year and this year. We sucked it up and really did well today, and if we do what we should do tomorrow, we should win it.”
Gilmer does have an edge in total number of wrestlers still competing. The Bobcats have seven to six for the Generals, and Heritage coach Kenny Hill believes that could make a difference.
“With the guys they have in the wrestle-backs, they’ll pick up some points on us,” Hill said. “We’ll need to win some titles, but we have the guys to do it.”