The sixth annual alumni wrestling night attracted plenty of fans to the Gilmer High gym.
Nineteen intrasquad bouts took place as the Bobcat faithful got a preview of the back-to-back defending Class 3A traditional state champions. While the match was close early, White took down Purple in the end, 59-43.
“I thought it went really well,” said Josh Ghobadpoor, who enters his seventh season as Gilmer’s head coach.
“This is the most matches we’ve had, and as the girls program has grown, there are more good matchups for them. The crowd was excellent, and I thought our kids wrestled really hard. Obviously, there are things we need to work on with some things you see at the start of the year. We walked away able to give some constructive feedback but also no one got hurt. Some of those matches might be wrestle-offs all year long. Some of those were made to be more fun matchups for the crowd.”
Teams were coached by GHS alumni wrestlers, and the class of 2020’s Caleb Waddell and Lucas Lopez were in Purple’s corner. White was coached Ben DeLoach (2012) and Karina Gonzalez (2020).
The match contained six girls bouts and 13 between boys. Josephine Royer’s first period pin accounted for Purple’s initial points, and Benito Thompson did the same for the White.
After Manny Velasquez’s 10-1 major for Purple, Sarai Solis pinned for White. Purple’s Braelyn Nelson won with a pin before White got 10 points back with Juan Bautista’s major (14-4) and Leticia Tercero’s pin.
Following Purple’s Alex Raymundo’s decision, White’s Dawson Richard and Felisha Yarborough both came away with third-period pins.
White won five of the final nine bouts to cement their win. Purple’s remaining wins came via pin fall by Carson Farist, Linda Tercero, Joseph Baughman and Yovani Domingo.
For White, Gaspar Tercero (9-4) and Bregan Berry (13-5) won by decision before Jovani Raymundo, Amayah Jones and Juan Jacinto all pinned their opponent.
“I thought it was a great event overall,” Ghobadpoor said. “Our booster club worked hard to make sure it ran flawlessly. Hats off to our alumni for coming out and supporting our new kids who are out in the program, and to our alumni coaches.”
GHS opens the season Saturday at home with the eight-team Bobcat Duals beginning at 10 a.m.