GHS Bobcats win another area duals title
The buzz saw that is Gilmer High wrestling cut through another area tournament.
The GHS Bobcat were at Dawson County High School last Saturday for the Area 5-3A duals. The Bobcats defeated all four opponents by at least 60 points to win the title and improve their seasonal record to 32-5.
Head coach Josh Ghobadpoor is in his fifth season at the helm and discussed Gilmer’s continued success.
“I think it’s great, and I try to tell the wrestlers ‘This doesn’t always happen so you’ve got to enjoy it,’” he said. “They’ve put the work in and they’re doing it, not the name of the team. They’ve grown up and really only known success in the program. But in reality, it’s their success now and not just the people who came before them. They’re upholding that standard that we have. They’ve had to work really hard and our team probably looks different from what those teams looked like in the middle 2000s. We’re still finding a way. I don’t know if they comprehend it right now, but some day they will.”
For the first time this season, GHS was at full strength, which included all wrestlers in the correct weight classes.
Area matchups were determined by a random draw, and GHS pounded eventual area runner-up North Murray in the first round, 72-4. Murray County was up next and got thumped by the Cats, 72-3.
“I thought we wrestled really well,” Ghobadpoor said. “One of the highlights versus North Murray was Owen Moss versus Devin Hunt. Last year he beat Owen twice, and this year Owen beat him decisively, 8-3. We had a lot of young guys step up in the lineup and get pins.
“Against Murray, the only match we lost was to a state qualifier. We wrestled well and smart. That’s what we need to do to be successful.”
At this point, Ghobadpoor inserted some reserves into the lineup for Gilmer’s final two matches versus East Forsyth and Dawson County. GHS notched respective wins of 76-3 and 72-12.
“We knew there were some holes in the lineups of the last two teams and put some backups in and let guys get some matches in,” Ghobadpoor said. “Across the board we had kids get quality wins.”
Up next are duals state preliminaries, and GHS will be the host site of one of the eight in Class 3A. Gilmer will welcome North Hall, Hephzibah and Appling County to the GHS gym Saturday at 10 a.m.
Gilmer’s first round matchup versus North Hall is one the Bobcats have been yearning for since last season. North Hall defeated GHS in the duals state finals. However, the Trojans were later forced to forfeit and vacate the title after it was discovered they used an ineligible wrestler.
“Obviously there’s some history there going back to last year,” Ghobadpoor said. “Some things turned out the way nobody really wanted. I don’t know if it gets brought up to a certain extent, but we remember and we know what happened. We’re really looking forward to wrestling that one. For us, this is the best draw we could have gotten, and they have some tough kids. They will compete, but I’m very excited about that draw.”
If GHS wins Saturday’s preliminary, the Bobcats will advance to the Class 3A state duals tournament next Saturday in Stephens County.