Gilmer High started the season last Saturday in Douglasville at the Alexander Duals as the No. 1 ranked team in Class 3A.
GHS faced three other ranked teams from three different classifications and posted a 4-0 record to earn its first tournament title of the season.
Teams were split into pools of four and five, and the Bobcats earned wins over Class 4A’s No. 6 team Northwest Whitfield (52-25), Greenbrier (46-29) and Rockmart (42-31), the No. 2 ranked team in Class 3A. The Bobcats met Class 6A’s No. 3 Alexander in the finals and notched a 39-27 victory.
“I was very happy with the day,” coach Josh Ghobadpoor said. “There are a lot of things we need to work on, but I thought our mentality was good. We came out and executed where we needed to. It was an awesome day and each match was a tough match. It was a great way to start the season.
“I was really impressed with Rolando Raymundo. He’s a senior who was 3-1 on the day with three pins. Obviously some of our usual suspects did really well. Leo Domingo and Bregan Berry had a good day. Carson Farist, Arturo Gonzales, Diego Jacinto, Dylan Galloway and Owen Moss all looked good. We did a lot of good things, but there are still things we need to work on.”
Gilmer was without a 106-pound wrestler and spotted each team six points with a forfeit. GHS was also missing two more starters and forfeited bouts in all four matches once the outcome had been decided and let reserves get mat time.
In Gilmer’s win over Rockmart, which could be a preview of the Class 3A state finals, the Yellow Jackets were also without some of their starters. Gilmer was ahead 42-9 before Ghobadpoor decided to pull back on the reins.
“At that point, we know we have it locked up,” he said. “We didn’t show our complete hand because we’re going to wrestle these guys down the stretch. They’re going to get better and we’re going to get better, too. I was proud of our guys because they knew what that match meant.”
The JV Bobcats won their portion of event with wins over North Paulding, Rockmart and Alexander.
On the girls side, Gilmer finished third as a team as Taylor Schiesser (197) and Letecia Tercero (122) won thier bracket in a traditional setting.