A dominant start in the consolation finals Saturday at the GHSA state traditional tournament helped propel Trion’s wrestling program to the Class A championship.
The Bulldogs, who won the Class A state duals title last month, had two individual champions in Macon with Toby Maddux at 160 pounds and Brantley Willbanks at 220, as well as a pair of runners-up in Bladyn Bowman (182) and Logan Eller (195).
Trion, however, didn’t need the titles where the team competition was concerned after five wrestlers won third-place matches earlier to pull away from Social Circle, eventually winning 225 points to 205.5. Jason Jenkins (106), Daegan Vaughn (113), Seth Huskins (120), Crawford Lee (126) and Bryce James (138) got the Bulldogs off to a sizzling start on championship Saturday, and they never looked back.
“We had a lot of adversity on day one, and the guys had a lot of heart and fought until the very end,” said Trion coach Eric Brock, whose team had several close losses in Friday’s early rounds.
Maddux then helped pad the lead with a 1-0 win over Social Circle’s Will Hames in the finals. Willbanks later capped the big weekend with a first-period pin. Trion also had fourth-place finishers in Gus Hames (145), Cohen Blaschke (170) and Zach Sharp (285).