Gilmer High wrestling season underway
Gilmer High School enters the wrestling season with plenty of questions, but head coach Josh Ghobadpoor believes he has a hardworking group with some answers.
The Bobcats are fresh off back-to-back traditional state championships, and the program’s overall tally now stands at 19. GHS also wrestled for the duals state championship for the 14th consecutive season, and for the seventh year in a row, the Bobcats were runners-up.
GHS will field a younger, less experienced team this year. Ghobadpoor knows the sharks are circling, and the Bobcats would not have it any other way.
“There have been years where we’ve had those phenomenal teams where we’ve beat up on some people. At the same time, everyone wants to beat us. It doesn’t matter if we’re down or it’s one of our best teams. That’s a quality win, and I get that.
“On the back of our shirts this season it says ‘pressure is privilege.’ We know what our expectations are, and we have that pressure on us to continue this. It’s a privilege to be in those situations and a privilege to be a team people want to beat. When you’re somebody who has a reputation and tradition, everyone wants to beat you, and that keeps us sharp. If we don’t work hard we will get beat, and we’ll get beat a lot.”
There are 45 wrestlers in the program, and Gilmer’s returning state placers include Carson Farist and Bregan Berry. Fellow senior Alex Raymundo also returns with state experience as a qualifier from a season ago.
GHS graduated former state champions Juan Rafael (two-time) and Diego Jacinto off last year’s team. In the early season, fundamental work has been a focus at practice.
“We’re definitely loaded more on the bottom side with more freshmen and sophomores. A lot of those wrestlers have not wrestled before. Probably a third of our team is either first- or second-year wrestlers, so we’re really working on fundamentals,” Ghobadpoor said.
“On thing that was beneficial to us is we had a great offseason. We had a lot of committed wrestlers there. We had in the 20s and around 30 wrestlers coming to our workouts. We didn’t just try to build our bodies up, but we also wanted to build some team unity. We did different things to help unify this team because we are so young.”
Despite having a younger group, the attention to detail at practices coupled with a concentrated effort remains.
“Because of everything we did over the summer, when we rolled into the first practice (in October), the expectation was we’re coming in to go to work,” Ghobadpoor said. “That’s what this group has done. We don’t have tons of experience, but we’re making up for it with a lot of hard work. As the season goes on, I think you’re going to see these kids grow a lot. This group has been a lot of fun to work with.”
Ghobadpoor did not discuss the full starting lineup in last week’s interview as there are plenty of unknowns at this stage of the season.
Farist has the most success at the state level. He is a three-time state finalist and won a title as a freshman. He might look a bit different this season after previously taking the mat at 106, 113 and 120 pounds. Ghobadpoor expects him to be in the 160 range by season-ending tournaments, and he wrestled at 170 last Saturday.
Berry is a two-time state placer. He capped his junior campaign with a third place finish at 132 pounds. Like Farist, he has bulked up and took the mat at 150 pounds at the Bobcat Duals.
Ghobadpoor is looking for Lleison Puac, Eliceo Perez and Manny Velasquez to contend for state qualifying spots. Bryson Shubin-Gibbs, Aspen Hataway and Wyatt Stokes will give GHS some depth as upperclassmen once they finish the football season.
GHS started four to five freshmen in each of its four duals to begin the season. One of those was Braelyn Nelson, who had a productive summer and preseason.
“Obviously, we do have a few experienced guys in there. It’s not like we’re all just freshmen and sophomores, but at the same time, we’re going to have to work extremely hard. I think this group is willing to do that and is committed,” Ghobadpoor said.
“Can Alex Raymundo get over the hump (and become a state placer)? Can Lleison Puac qualify for state and make some noise? That’s going to be fun to watch. We’ll have had to work really hard to get these kids where we want them. It’s exciting and that’s a little different goal than it has been in year’s past where we’ve been loaded with some phenomenal teams. I’m excited by this challenge, and I think our guys are going to be up for it.”
Gilmer was slotted at No. 4 in the Class 3A preseason rankings. Fellow area opponent Lumpkin County is at No. 3, while Pickens is ranked No. 8. The top two teams from each area will qualify for the state tournament.
“In a year where our area is as brutal as any in the state, that could be something that hurts us,” Ghobadpoor said. “Lumpkin and Pickens will be fighting for state championships, and we’re really going to have to battle.”
Bobcats win home tournament
Gilmer High hosted the annual Bobcat Duals and defeated all comers. The eight-team event last Saturday contained two pools of four teams with the best from each deciding the title.
The Bobcats’ day began with a win over North Cobb Christian (78-6) followed by victories versus rival Fannin County (54-29) and Class 7A’s Milton (52-27).
In the crossover match to decide first place, Gilmer toppled Murray County, 42-30. Ghobadpoor discussed the Bobcats’ notable wins on the day.
“The Fannin match was one we were looking forward to. They were able to get the better of us last year, and even though we’re both drastically different teams from last year, that’s one you want to win,” he said. “Milton is a big school and that coach has done a good job with their program. That score really doesn’t indicate probably how close the match was.
“We had a great dual with Murray, and we were up 36-30 going into the last match. We had a freshman (Braelyn Nelson) go out there and just wrestle his butt off and secure the win for us and ended up getting the stick (pin).”
GHS is younger and less experienced this year compared to teams it regularly fields. Ghobadpoor was glad to see the team compete well in their first test of the season.
“I was so proud of our guys. Every year is different,” he said. “We have so many young guys in our lineup, young talented people and faces who have not been in the starting lineup before. I thought we went out and wrestled hard. Even in the matches we lost, they’re going out there and fighting and clawing for everything they can get. Thats’ the mentality we’re going to have to take.
“We’re not more talented this year than teams we’ve been more talented than in the past. Now we have to close that gap with our dedication and work ethic and that’s what we showed.”
The Bobcat Duals have served as a reunion of sorts for previous GHS coaches who now lead other wrestling programs. Former head football coach Casey Wingard is the head coach at his alma mater, Etowah. Forsyth Central is led by Kyle Barr, who was previously the head baseball coach at GHS. Fannin head coach David Henson is a former longtime Gilmer wrestling coach and teacher, and he is assisted by Sam Snider, who led the GHS wrestling program to 17 state titles.
Additionally, GHS alum Jaime Lopez is the head wrestling coach at Southeast Whitfield.
“I told our kids to enjoy this tournament and enjoy this victory,” said Ghobadpoor. “We’ll get back to work Monday. This group has worked very hard and we’ve pushed this group really hard. I’m just really proud of our kids.”
GHS will be in Acworth Saturday for the annual Black Beard Duals.