The Gilmer Bobcats were on the mat for 10 matches and won them all.
GHS was at Murray County High School for the Todd Granger Duals Nov. 22, and the Bobcats posted a 5-0 record. They made their way to Cobb County for the Etowah Duals last Tuesday and won five more.
Head coach Caleb Waddell was pleased with what he saw from the Bobcats, who improved to 13-1 on the season.
“I think we’re currently in a great spot,” he said. “We’re doing everything right and are making adjustments where we need to get better. They’re listening and being coachable and giving effort and doing things we’ve worked on.”
At Murray, 10 teams were split into pools of five and GHS took down Blessed Trinity (48-26), Northwest Whitfield (40-23), Pickens (71-6) and Dade County (60-12). In the cross-over championship match, Gilmer steamrolled the host Indians, 64-12.
“We were able to get off bottom and were able to defend the leg attack,” Waddell said when asked where GHS improved from its first event. “We had really good leg attacks but couldn’t defend it. If someone shot in on us, we couldn’t defend it even if it was a bad shot.
“We made adjustments and fixed that and worked on some other positions. We did what we needed to do and came out on top.”
At the Etowah Duals, pool victories came against Blessed Trinity (66-6), River Ridge (66-9), North Atlanta (54-23) and North Forsyth (56-19). The Bobcats disposed of Etowah in the cross-over match, 51-24.
The victory over North Forsyth, ranked No. 6 in Class 6A, came after the Raiders downed Woodstock. WHS returned four state finalists from last season.
“I was pretty proud of beating North Forsyth,” Waddell said. “Against Etowah, we got a lot of back-ups in too. It was a pretty good turnout.
“We got our football guys back so that was a big help. They have been wrestling very well; every single one of them.”
Waddell noted that “everybody” has another weight class to drop to as they follow their descent plan so they are at the optimal weight class for January’s state qualifying process.
The Bobcats will return to the Panther Invitational Friday and Saturday at Jackson County High School.