VARNELL, Ga. — The Ringgold wrestling revenge tour had a highly successful debut Saturday.
Three weeks after finishing second at the GHSA Area 7-AA duals, the Tigers ran away with the traditional tournament title at Coahulla Creek with five individual champions in amassing 224.5 points and advancing all 14 of their wrestlers to next weekend’s state sectional round. Area 7-AA teams will take part in the “A” sectional at North Murray.
Coahulla Creek, which won the five-team area’s duals championship last month, will take 13 wrestlers but only one individual champion to the sectional after finishing a distant second with 192 points. Third-place Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe garnered four champions and will take nine wrestlers in all to the sectional, where the top eight finishers will advance to the state tournament.
Ringgold wrestlers won five of six championships starting at 132 pounds, where third-seeded Brody Eaton upset former individual state champ Brandon Locke of North Murray in the title bout, 16-11. From there, four guys with state championship hopes did their thing as Billy Hamilton (138), Pierce Pennington (150), Tristan Busch (157) and Jaxon Delgado (165) earned area titles.
“The biggest thing today was moving 14 guys onto the next round,” Ringgold coach David Moss said. “Brody is a 10th grader who has had a few good weeks in the practice room, and he came through today. We still have two weeks to work toward achieving our goals.”
Hamilton and Pennington won by injury default over a pair of LFO wrestlers before Busch improved to 49-1 this season with a technical fall and Delgado to 47-3 with a major decision. The Tigers also had a second-place finisher in Adam Mozingo (126), five third-place finishers and three fourth-place finishers.
Coahulla Creek’s champion was Drake Goff (126), and the Colts will get good sectional seeding with six runners-up: Preston Giles (120), Danny Liddy (144), Shawn Bailey (157), Branson Lowery (175), Jackson Lowery (190) and Jaxon Millsaps (285).
LFO’s nine placers included champions Zakkery Bailey (120), Noah Gross (175), Jonas Watkins (190) and Blake Rizzo (215), as well as runners-up Gavin Summey (113), Kadein Canter (138), Keegan Kinsey (150) and Tamorris Johnson (165).
Murray County’s Gabriel Hernandez (106), Caleb Blair (144) and Brayden Thomason (286) won individual titles, as did North Murray’s Elijah Hardin (113).
— At the Area 7-A tournament at Coosa, Gordon Lee and Trion each had three individual champions, but the Trojans had six runners-up while edging Trion in team points, 253-246, to win the title at an event where 12 schools were represented.
The Bulldogs, however, advanced 11 wrestlers to next weekend’s competition, with Gordon Lee taking 10 to the “A” sectional at Social Circle.
Gordon Lee’s Noah Brown, a reigning individual state champ, improved to 36-1 this season while winning the 113-pound area title, with Carson Alexander (126) and Layne Vaughn (175) also finishing first for the Trojans. Jenz Martin (132), Landon Brown (144), Avery Bloodworth (157), James Slatton (165), Mason Dougherty (190) and Josh Murtaugh (285) were runners-up.
Trion’s Sammy Edgeworth (106), Coleman Lee (144) and Lane Harris (190) were champions, while Silas Mills (120), Jason Jenkins (126) and Brandon Chandler (175) were runners-up.
Dade County was third with 173 points and had champions in Jordan Castellanos (215) and Gabriel Yarbrough (285). Chattooga had a pair of champions in Landon Carlton (120) and Gavin Carlton (138), while Christian Heritage’s Harrison Murdock (150) and Cooper Middleton (165) also won individual titles.
— At the Region 7-AAA tournament at LaFayette, Gilmer won a tight team race, edging the hosts 215.5 points to 214, with Heritage a close third at 208. The host Ramblers and Heritage’s Generals, who recently finished fourth at state duals, led the way with four individual champions each and will advance 11 and 10 wrestlers, respectively, to the “B” sectional at Chestatee.
Haygen Baker (150), Eli Pearson (157), Spencer Chadwick (165) and Nicholas Cigalina (190) were titlists for LaFayette, which had second-place finishers in Avery Davis (126) and Isaac Hamilton (138).
Wyatt Womack (106), Jonathan Arehart (126), Keegan Tidwell (144) and Hunter Baker (215) earned championships for Heritage, with Asher Kay (113), Kaden Taylor (120) and Tyler Ward (132) finishing second.
Calhoun, despite not having an individual champion, finished fourth with 168.5 points and advances 11 to the sectional round. Northwest Whitfield advances seven, including champions Abraham Hurd (113) and Tony Burnecke (175).
— At the Region 7-AAAA tournament in Decatur, state powers Cass and Woodland-Bartow finished 1-2, with the Colonels winning with 261.5 points to 241.5, and combined for 11 individual champions. Dalton finished third with 156 points and will take eight to the “A” sectional at Harris County, led by 215-pound runner-up Josian Hernandez.
— At the Area 7 girls’ sectional Friday at Gordon Lee, reigning state champion Terra Burse of Southeast Whitfield was one of three individual champions from local schools. Burse (170), Ridgeland’s Alaina Shaver (130) and Heritage’s Adison Steadman (125) each had three pins on the way to a first-place finish.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.