Gilmer High earned four more wrestling victories at two events.
The GHS Bobcats were at Murray County last Wednesday, and the senior-laden Indians found themselves on the losing side, 40-36.
Gilmer headed to the North Murray Duals last Saturday and finished second. GHS notched wins against Southeast Whitfield, East Hamilton, Tenn., and North Murray. In the championship match, Gordon Lee gave Gilmer its lone loss of the week.
“Murray has a tough squad,” said head coach Josh Ghobadpoor. “I think every single team we’ve wrestled this year, if you base it off credentials from last season, has more than us on paper. They have a defending state champ, a multi-time state placer, several state qualifiers and started nine seniors.
“Comparatively, we have one returning state qualifier and wrestle three seniors in our lineup. A lot of teams have more experience than us, but we’re making sure we’re getting down to the weights we need to and that we’re doing what we need to do.”
Ghobadpoor started to make adjustments from the first bouts as several wrestlers bumped up to a heavier weight class. GHS jumped to a 24-6 lead before MCHS stormed back to pull ahead, 27-24.
Down 36-30, Bobcat seniors came through. Domingo Velasquez earned a pin and Harrison Chester secured a major for a 40-36 Gilmer win.
At North Murray, GHS toppled Southeast (55-23), East Hamilton (45-28) and North Murray (45-35). The Cats’ only loss came at the end of the day versus Gordon Lee, 52-29.
“We did pretty decent,” Ghobadpoor said. “There are things technique wise we have to do much better. And we have to wrestle situations much better.
“The biggest take-away is we have to do the moves we do at practice. We have to execute them how we practice them. When we think too much is when we get in trouble. We have to be offensively minded throughout the match. We have to be able to create opportunities to score, and we have to do it in pressure situations. There are some fundamental things we need to go back to and hammer down and focus on. Even in losses, I see things we can fix. We’re actively working to get better.”
Gilmer has a 9-4 dual record and hosts the 515 Classic Thursday at 5 p.m.
Junior varsity finds success
The younger Bobcats were at the Marietta JV Invitational last Friday and Saturday and came away with three placers.
Madden Hopkins won the tournament, and fellow freshman Fabian Perez took third. Sophomore Gaspar Tercero was a runner-up.