Gilmer High wrestlers walked into a thorny situation and came away with 13 tournament placers.
Gilmer girls attended the Briar Patch tournament at Putnam County High School last Tuesday, and they squared off against 20 teams. Most brackets had around 10-12 girls with pools crossing over for placement matches.
When the dust had settled, GHS champions included senior Amayah Jones and the freshmen duo of Juana Tercero-Rafael and Erika Tercero.
Also reaching the finals were Gilmer senior Margarita Lucas and sophomore Erica Velasquez, who were runners-up. Sophomore Magdalena Thompson took third, and senior Kylee Hoelzer, junior Salma Gonzalez and freshman Allison Hernandez claimed fourth place.
Senior Esther Bowman ended her day in a three-way tie for first place in her pool. She ended up third based on criteria and went on to place fifth. Sophomore Lucy Ann McArthur and freshman Andrea Puac also placed fifth.
“All of the girls wrestled really well,” said head coach Stacy Galloway. “We had a really good showing with our freshmen at this tournament with Juana Tercero-Rafael and Erika Tercero both being tournament champions. I am very pleased with how we wrestled. The girls are working hard to get better every day.”