Gilmer High wrestling used last Saturday’s Burnt Mountain Classic to prepare for this weekend’s traditional region tournament.
The majority of GHS starters received the weekend off for extra rest and recovery, while a group of mostly backups placed eighth out of 22 teams with seven placers.
GHS also got quality mat time for its junior varsity, as well as its girl grapplers, who won their portion of the tournament by besting the field of 13 teams.
“I thought it was great for us,” GHS coach Josh Ghobadpoor said. “The first day was the first part of the two-day varsity tournament, and with as many young guys as we brought, having guys wrestle on the second day was a big deal.
“We got what we needed out of the tournament. We’ll have around six (first-team) guys dropping weight classes, and we wanted to give them a little time to get their bodies right as we hit this homestretch (of region, sectionals and state). We’re going to push them pretty hard through these next three weeks.”
Bobcat Gustavo Morales advanced to the 106-pound finals and finished second as Gilmer’s top performer of the day. Senior teammates Chad Weaver was third at 195, and Logan Bentley (126) placed fourth.
Gabe Reimer (126) and Owen Moss (220) each placed fifth, and Domingo Escobar (152) and Tony Olea (285) were sixth.
Also winning matches for GHS and scoring team points were Arturo Gonzalez (106), Zac Domingo (113), Kellen Watts (120), Matthew Dean (145), Logan Ellis (160) and Enrique Vicente (182).
The top five teams in the varsity standings included Creekview, Cass, Lumpkin, Dalton and White County.
The JV portion of the event was held Saturday. It was treated as a scramble and wrestlers were divided into pools rather than competing in an elimination bracket-style tournament.
First-place finishers included John Bowman (160), Felipe Perez (160) and Mike Owens (182). Leo Domingo (106) was a runner-up and Noah Goswick (113) took third.
“We had some guys do very well there, win matches and gain confidence, and that’s what it’s about,” Ghobadpoor said. “A couple of those guys may be some ones who are wrestling this week for a starting spot.”
The GHS girls finished ahead of Chestatee and Lumpkin in the top three, and Karina Gonzalez (162) and Claudia Zilke (172) were Gilmer’s undefeated champions.
Laura Tercero (112), Francisca Lopez (152) and Marisol Perez-Lopez (172) were runners-up, Vallery Wofford (102), Noemi Torres (152) and Maribel Perez-Lopez (172) placed third while Hannah Mayo (142) took fourth.
“I thought our girls did exceptional,” Ghobadpoor said. “Our wrestlers had to wrestle each other in a couple of weight classes, and we had the most girls at the tournament by far. They were super excited to get that first-place trophy. All of our girls won at least one match, and that was great for us to learn how to win. We had two who didn’t wrestle who are some of our top wrestlers.”
GHS will attend the Region 6-4A traditional tournament Saturday at Pickens beginning at 9 a.m.