The Gilmer Bobcats came home with a second-place finish from their first dual wrestling tournament of the season.
GHS attended the Blackbeard Duals at Allatoona High School last Saturday and posted a 4-1 record.
The event attracted 12 teams that were placed in pools of three. GHS faced teams from larger classifications all day, and won its pool by trouncing Etowah (72-6) and Allatoona (72-10).
The Bobcats were placed in the top bracket and beat Cherokee (60-21) before topping Sequoyah (46-22) in the semifinals.
The finals pitted GHS against Woodland, the defending Class 5A state champion. The seesaw battle saw Woodland come out on top 45-33 after GHS was unable to secure pins and valuable bonus points.
“We should have beat them,” Gilmer coach Josh Ghobadpoor said of the Cats’ matchup against Woodland. “In a couple different weight classes, we had guys on their back with the referee getting ready to slap the mat, and we made a few mistakes and got put on our back and pinned.
He added, “That happened in a couple matches, and if one of those goes our way, then the score is 39-39 and we win on criteria (tiebreaker) because we had more pins. Just one little difference means a lot when we’re betting a really good team. We’re still not where we’re going to be weight wise in the future, and we were dealing with some injuries.”
One of those injuries took place Friday at practice, and GHS was without junior captain Brock Sumner Saturday.
“We’re hoping everything goes well with his recovery, and we had to rely on guys to step up in some big roles where they haven’t before,” Ghobadpoor said. “We’re really proud of the effort our guys showed.”
Remaining team captains are seniors Caleb Waddell, Logan Bentley and Lucas Lopez.
“Any time you lose a guy for an amount of time or the season, it’s very tough on our wrestlers,” Ghobadpoor said. “These are the people they chose to be leaders for them, and it was a tough loss for everybody.”
GHS began last week at home Thursday and hosted Murray County. The Bobcats secured pins in 13 of 14 matches for a 78-6 victory.
Gilmer will attend the Cherokee Duals Saturday at Cherokee High School. GHS will host the Bobcat Duals next Tuesday beginning at 10 a.m.