Gilmer High School wrestlers tested their mettle at last Saturday’s Cleveland, Tenn., Duals.
The annual Volunteer State event is one of the toughest on Gilmer’s schedule, and the Bobcats competed in a field of 16 schools.
Once the dust had settled, GHS walked away with a 3-1 record and a hard-fought third place finish.
“The perseverance was there this weekend, and this year, I’m just loving the coachability of our kids,” coach Josh Ghobadpoor said. “Whether wins or losses, they’re listening. After matches, they want to know what they can do better. Sometimes they need to hear the reality when we’re not wrestling well, and they need to understand that and fix it.
“I thought we competed very well and we needed those tough matches.”
To begin the event, teams were split into pools. GHS mowed through Summit, Tenn., 60-18 before pouncing on North Gwinnett, 66-12. In their third pool match, Ghobadpoor opted to go with some reserve wrestlers, and the score versus Centennial, Tenn., was closer than he would have liked as GHS came out ahead, 37-26.
“I started to put our backups in a little early, and that was my fault because I kind of gave them some momentum,” Ghobadpoor said. “They went on a little run and won five in a row. It looked a lot closer in reality than what it was, but we didn’t wrestle a great match there.”
The Bobcats’ 3-0 record sent them to the semifinals against host Cleveland, who competes in Tennessee’s top classification and is its No. 1 ranked team. GHS was defeated for only the second time this season, 45-24.
“I believe Cleveland is the No. 1 team in Tennessee across all classes,” Ghobadpoor said. “It’s always a test against them. We know what they have, and they’re a big-time program. Last year, they beat us something like 56-18, and this year, we closed that gap a little bit. We wrestled tough, especially coming off a match where we didn’t do our best.”
Gilmer met Father Ryan, Tenn., in the consolation finals. The Bobcats topped the Nashville private school, 39-29, though GHS fell behind early.
“Father Ryan is a perennial powerhouse, and we knew it was going to be a battle,” Ghobadpoor said. “I was proud to see our guys power through, and we ended up winning that one in dramatic fashion.”
Wrestling against Father Ryan began at 145 pounds, and after three bouts, GHS was down, 12-0. Caleb Waddell stepped onto the mat at 170 and pinned his opponent to get GHS on the scoreboard. Abel Jacinto did the same at 182 to even the score at 12-all.
Following a Father Ryan pin at 195, Gilmer’s Chad Weaver (220) and Luke Morgan (285) were winners by pin to swing the lead in the Cats’ favor, 24-18.
Gilmer’s Gustavo Morales (106) earned a minor decision, and Father Ryan won by the same margin at 113. Bobcat Kellen Watts (120) won by forfeit and Gilmer’s lead stood at 33-21 with three bouts left.
GHS lost by minor decision at 126 and were pinned at 132. The Cats’ edge was trimmed to 33-30.
Miguel Jacinto (138) wore down his opponent, and Father Ryan was docked a team point when their coach took exception to a Jacinto takedown he believed was out of bounds. Jacinto ended up earning a pin to secure Gilmer’s 10-point win.
“They are one of the better teams we’ve seen this year,” Ghobadpoor said. “I was extremely proud to come out and win that one after being down early and losing the match before (to Cleveland).”
The Bobcats have an overall dual record of 18-2.
Gilmer will hold a five-team dual Wednesday at the GHS gym beginning at 5 p.m. After the first round, Gilmer senior wrestlers will be recognized.