The Gilmer Bobcats have proven once again they are the region’s top dual team.
Gilmer was in Fort Oglethorpe last Saturday for the Region 7-3A duals tournament, and the Bobcats were hardly challenged. GHS received a first-round bye and met Ridgeland in the semifinals and dismantled the Panthers, 63-14.
The Cats took on Calhoun in the finals and it got even worse for the opposition. The Bobcats won handily over the Yellow Jackets, 64-11.
The title was Gilmer’s second region duals championship in a row and 13th over the past 14 seasons. The Bobcats improved to 21-1 on the season.
“Winning region was really special,” said head coach Caleb Waddell. “Being on this side of it (as a coach), I wish I could just go out there and wrestle for them, but I can’t. It’s cool to see them perform and do the things that we’ve been working on in the room, believe in themselves and always stay offensive.”
Gilmer won seven straight bouts to begin the finals, six of which included bonus points. Action got underway at 138 pounds where Hunter Newhart’s decision put GHS on the board. Adolfo Bautista’s pin at 144 pounds followed and Calhoun forfeited to Braelyn Nelson at 150.
Ahead 15-0, Bobcat Dawson Richard (157) earned a major decision before pins by Bo Cronic (165) and Gaspar Tercero (175). Madden Hopkins’ major decision at 195 extended Gilmer’s lead to 35-0.
The Yellow Jackets picked up six points with a pin at 215, and heavyweight Denny Ramirez did the same for the Bobcats. CHS forfeited to Deyson Lopez at 106 and scored its final points at 113 with a technical fall.
Leading 47-11, GHS closed out the match with three more wins. Eddie Alonzo (120) and Gabriel Reynoso (132) recorded pins, while Jonathan Perez secured a technical fall at 126.
Individual bout results versus Ridgeland were not available by press deadline.
“I think it’s the best we’ve wrestled so far this year, which was the perfect time to start peaking,” Waddell said. “We looked phenomenal. All around, it wasn’t even close compared to how we’d been wrestling. It was exceptional, and I was super excited. We only gave up two pins all day. If we did lose a match, and in matches where we knew we were facing a better guy statistically, we went out there and didn’t give up a pin. It was really cool to see.”
Shoddy seeding?
Gilmer will enter the 16-team Class 3A state duals as the No. 4 seed despite its only loss coming against North Forsyth, the No. 3 ranked team in Class 7A. Perennial power Jefferson, who added three state champions over the offseason to an already loaded roster, is the No. 1 seed.
Troup was the runner-up last season and is seeded No. 2, while Dawson County was awarded the No. 3 seed.
Unlike years past, when the state seed meeting included coaches of participating schools, that was not the case this time around. The Georgia High School Association decided the seeding independently. Waddell noted that seeding methods and reasoning were not disclosed, and input was not addressed after seeds were revealed.
“We’re just going to go wrestle,” Waddell said. “We’re going to strap it up. We don’t care who we match up with — we’re going to go wrestle. We’ve got Cairo first, and they’re going to be throwers. We just need to do the stuff we work on, and if we do that, I don’t have any worries.”
The state tournament will take place Friday and Saturday at Jefferson High School. Saturday’s semifinals are scheduled for noon.