Gilmer High wrestlers took the mat twice ahead of Christmas.
The Bobcats made their way to Forsyth Central last Friday and fell to the host Bulldogs, 46-34. GHS also met Fannin County, and the Rebels were handed a 72-13 defeat by their northern neighbors.
The loss to Forsyth Central did not sit well with head coach Josh Ghobadpoor. A lack of preparedness by the Bobcats allowed the Bulldogs to avenge an early-season loss to GHS.
“It was a frustrating day for us and we kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” Ghobadpoor said of the Forsyth Central match. “We had two guys miss weight and two other guys who forgot equipment. It ended up putting us in a bad spot because we had to make adjustments we really didn’t need to make. So a team we beat by 22 points before, it ended up coming down to the last match, and they beat us.”
With a jostled starting lineup, multiple wrestlers had to bump to heavier weight classes. However, GHS was unable to make up the ground needed to catch FCHS.
“We are not the type of team who can afford to do those things and still be successful,” Ghobadpoor said. “It’s a reminder that if we don’t come in prepared and ready to wrestle and want to be there, we’ll get beat.”
The Bobcats had a quick turnaround to face rival Fannin. Ghobadpoor noted he saw improvement in their second match of the day.
“We did some good things against them,” he said. “At least we did some things positively. We needed some encouragement after doing things poorly. We just wrestled better against Fannin.”
Gilmer closed out its week last Saturday at the Coal Mountain Classic. GHS placed fifth out of 14 teams, and Glynn Academy was the top team in attendance.
Two Bobcats walked away as champions from the traditional event. Sophomore 138 pounder Braelyn Nelson and junior heavyweight Denny Ramirez stood above all else in their weight classes.
“Braelyn looked great,” Ghobadpoor said. “He bonus pointed every opponent and teched the guy in the finals. He looked very confident and dominant and worked through the tournament well.
“Denny was a tournament champion and looked great doing it. He’s wrestled really well and is doing things really solid. You’re not going to find him out of position much. He’s wrestling the style he needs to wrestle and is just looking great.”
Deyson Lopez (106) and Adolfo Bautista (132) went on to finish third. Landing inside the top six after losing in the quarterfinals were Bobcats Maynor Lucas (113), Manny Velasquez (126), Dawson Richard (150), Harrison Chester (157) and Madden Hopkins (215).
Next up for Gilmer is the region duals tournament Jan. 11. Ghobadpoor discussed what the team’s focus will be in the coming weeks.
“We have to get tougher in some situations. We’ve got to get more comfortable being uncomfortable,” he said. “We can’t just talk about being tough, we have to be for real tough. We’re either gonna give a beating or take a beating, but at the end of the day, we have to walk off the mat and have pride about us. We’re going to work on some fundamental things and learn to be a little tougher over the next several weeks.”