The wrestling season is in the books for Georgia’s grapplers.
Gilmer High School’s boys and girls were in Macon last week for their respective state tournaments. The boys tournament wrapped up Friday, and five of 10 qualifiers placed inside the top six.
Gilmer’s girls were represented at state, and their finals were held the following day. Of the five GHS wrestlers in attendance, two earned a spot on the medal stand.
The Bobcats placed seventh as a team with 77 points in Class 3A. GHS freshman Daniel Escobar was the lone Bobcat finalist and he placed second.
“This was probably the least experienced Gilmer team in the last two decades,” head coach Josh Ghobadpoor said of the Bobcats entering the season. “What we’ve been able to accomplish over the course of that time has been very remarkable for what we had and what we turned into. I think we just kept improving. Every year, you want to peak at the right time and stay on a constant upward trajectory, and I feel like that’s what this team did.
“With inexperience, you’re going to make mistakes and as coaches we expect that. All we want them to do is give their best, never give up, represent our team, yourself, your coaches, your family and your school with pride. I felt like we really did that.”
Escobar paved his way to the 113-pound championship match with decisions of 9-4, 8-1 and 6-5.
He squared off against Dawson County’s Parker Voss in the finals, and it appeared Escobar secured a takedown in the final seconds of the third period for the win. However, referees conferred and disallowed the takedown, and the match went to overtime tied, 1-1.
The match was still even after the second overtime, and a Voss escape in the third gave him a 2-1 victory.
Ghobadpoor said it “looked like a college match” because of the level of skill displayed. He also shared a story that followed Escobar’s match.
“Coach (Brent) Berry and I were walking under the bleachers with Daniel to go to the podium, and all of a sudden I hear people running,” he said. “I turn my head, and every one of our wrestlers who was there blew past us and surrounded Daniel. Everyone of them surrounded him and bombarded him with love and respect and told him how proud they were of him.
“Coach Berry and I just stopped and it was a pretty poignant moment. We shook hands and both said, ‘We must be doing something right.’ That’s a team, and that’s what we want. That’s what it’s about, when they care about each other that much. It was one of my most special moments at Gilmer. That is what we try to build, year in and year out. It really showed in that moment, and I credit our kids for being about each other.”
Junior heavyweight Denny Ramirez placed third. He won his opening match before a loss in the quarterfinals. Ramirez then strung together four straight pins to cement third place.
Sophomore Braelyn Nelson (138) earned a pair of technical fall victories before losses in the semifinals and consolation semifinals. His third tech fall of the tournament secured fifth place.
Landing in sixth place were Bobcats, junior Adolfo Bautista (132), and senior Domingo Velasquez (144), and both of their tournaments followed the same path. They each nabbed two wins before three straight defeats.
Bobcats Deyson Lopez (106), Manny Velasquez (120), Harrison Chester (150) and Jovani Raymundo all posted 1-2 records while Dawson Richard was 0-2.
“To bring 10 to state in a very competitive classification, I thought was fantastic,” Ghobadpoor said. “We knew when we got to state we were going to have to beat people who have beaten us before and we got there and did a lot of those things. We had some guys who really stepped up and some others who had some tough tournaments.
“We lost some heartbreaking, close matches and watched some young guys step up. We were one point from sixth place, and I think if some other things go our way, then we’re top four and we’re bringing a trophy home. I am very proud of our guys.”
Jefferson (209 points) ran away with the team title as North Hall (144), Lumpkin County (113), White County (90.5) and Dawson County (87) made up the top five.
For the girls, Abelinda Tercero (125) and Leticia Tercero (145) both placed fourth. As a team, GHS was seventh with 43 points.
Abelinda Tercero won two matches to reach the semifinals where she was defeated. In the consolation bracket, she picked up another win before losing in the consolation finals.
Leticia Tercero won her first-round match before a loss in the quarterfinals. She notched a pair of wins and fell in the consolation finals.
Sarai Solis (110), Amayah Jones (155) and Erika Tercero (235) took the mat at state as well and each posted a 1-2 record.
Lumpkin County won the title over Jefferson, 92-72.5. Carrollton (71), Jordan (68) and North Oconee (57) rounded out the top five.
Jefferson wrestler breaks neck in ‘freak’ occurrence
During Domingo Velasquez’s quarterfinals matchup, Jefferson opponent Dominic Haines broke his neck and was taken to a local hospital.
“It was nothing that was illegal or anything we don’t do all the time,” Ghobadpoor said of the injury. “They were in a crazy skirmish near the line, and Domingo almost got taken down. He ducked back underneath and grabbed the neck and arm and went for a headlock/lat drop, and when he did it, Dominic came over the back and hit on the top of his head.
“It was and is a very scary situation. We’ve been praying hard for him and I’ve been in contact with his head coach (Kyle Baird), who I’ve known since middle school. They have been unbelievably supportive of our guy. Obviously our situations are very, very different. It’s been tough on everybody. It’s tough as a competitor to see someone injured in that way.”
Ghobadpoor said in 25-plus years of competing and coaching, “I’ve never witnessed an injury that severe or been involved in anything like that.”
Baird told WSB-TV, “It’s one of those freak things that doesn’t happen. Nothing that went on in that whole sequence was, was outside of any kind of wrestling.”