Gilmer High wrestling was back on the traditional tournament scene following state duals.
The GHS Bobcats made the short trip to Jasper last Friday and Saturday for the annual Burnt Mountain Classic. The event drew 28 teams, and the Bobcats racked up 151.1 team points to place second. Bobcat junior Denny Ramirez was the No. 1 heavyweight at the tournament and Gilmer’s champion.
GHS was without three of its regular starters, but the bulk of its starting lineup was intact.
“We wanted our guys to get good matches and have a good tournament prior to region. There are 28 teams in that field, so that’s a tough one. You have Creekview, who won state, and a lot of tough squads,” said head coach Josh Ghobadpoor.
“It was good to get another traditional tournament under our belt. It’s a different process when you look at traditional and how that works and how you accumulate points. We put most of our starters in and had about 15 guys who wrestled JV, which was great.”
Ramirez received an opening round bye before pinning three straight opponents. In the finals, he came away with a dominant 6-2 win over Allatoona’s Alex Miller.
Gilmer’s Daniel Escobar (113 pounds) and Braelyn Nelson (138) both finished third. Escobar won his second round match before a loss in the quarterfinals. Escobar then reeled off four straight wins. Nelson’s tournament followed the same path as they both posted 5-1 records.
Gilmer’s fourth-place finishers were Harrison Chester (150) and Dawson Richard (157), and each was 3-2 at the tournament.
Eight other GHS wrestlers combined for 18 wins to help the team secure second place. Deyson Lopez (106) was 4-2 while Adolfo Bautista (132), Jovani Raymundo (175) and Rylen Haley (215) all had 3-2 records.
Bryan Loarca (190) won two of his four matches, while Eddie Alonzo (120), Domingo Velasquez (144) and Bo Cronic (165) were all 1-2.
Creekview (166 points) won the tournament. Ringgold (141) was third, Heritage (128) placed fourth and Chattooga (124) rounded out the top five.
“Second place out of 28 teams, and only losing to Creekview, I was really happy with it,” said Ghobadpoor. “Creekview probably rested a few guys too, but I know they had some of their heavy hitters in there. If we had Manny (Velasquez, who did not wrestle), that probably would have been enough points to swing right there and beat them.
“In a situation where I couldn’t be there (because of seasonal illness), the coaches stepped up and the kids stepped up.”
GHS will recognize its seniors Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Noah Harris Wrestling Center. The Bobcats will attend the Region 7-3A duals Saturday at LaFayette.
Junior varsity
A junior varsity tournament was also held, and GHS placed 16th out of 26 teams.
While none of the Bobcats placed in the top four, they did combine for 20 victories. Winning three of five matches were Maxwell New (144), Eliseo Ramos (157) and Fabian Perez (285).
Finishing with a 2-2 record were Bobcats Chase Cantrell (120), Daniel Gonzalez (150) and Eliseo Ramos (157). Earning one win were Gilmer’s Maynor Lucas (113), Christian Perez (126), Preston Davenport (126), Leeland Dantin (132) and Hunter Newhart (138).