GHS wrestling alumni night another success
Gilmer High wrestling held its annual Purple and White Classic last Saturday.
The event also serves as alumni night as past wrestlers get a glimpse of the latest crop of Bobcats set to take the mat.
The dual included 14 bouts with GHS wrestlers split evenly. While specific weights were not posted, wrestlers were matched up as closely as possible and White came away with a 33-25 win.
“I thought the effort was great as was the intensity in some of the matches,” said GHS head coach Josh Ghobadpoor. “I thought a lot of young kids stepped up and challenged our older guys. We still have a lot of things to work on. We’ve only had two weeks on the mat and a couple of those days were without power. We have a lot to go over and have two weeks to improve before our first official competition and that’s what we plan to do.
“We had four or five on the boys and girls side who didn’t wrestle because of weight or other situations.”
Josh Snider and Jaime Lopez served as alumni coaches for Purple, and White was led by former Bobcats Matthew Waddell and Grant Ledford.
Before the dual, three matches were held for the girls. Andrea Garcia and Linda Tercero came away with pins in the second and third periods, respectively, for the White squad. Noemi Torres secured a second-period pin for Purple.
White earned three wins to begin the dual. Bobcats Carson Farist won by major decision before Bregan Berry and Arturo Gonzalez were victorious by minor decision.
Walter Lopez got Purple on the board with a 2-3 win, and White’s Sebastian Lopez followed that with a pin in the third period.
Behind 16-3, Pascual Escobar notched a 3-1 win for Purple, which was answered with a pin from White’s Gaspar Perez.
Down 22-6, Purple won four of the next six bouts. Ronald Pierce scored a 10-2 major, Abel Jacinto and Daniel Reynoso pinned in the second period and Owen Moss won, 8-2.
Meanwhile, White’s Brock Sumner was victorious by technical fall and Israel Francisco-Ordonez battled for a 5-4 win.
White maintained a 30-25 edge headed into the final bout. Dylan Galloway secured White’s win with a 5-1 minor.
“Overall the intensity was there. We’re stacked in our lower weights and that’s always exciting because we have a lot of good partners to work with,” Ghobadpoor said. “This has been a fun group. We’ve worked hard and still have a long ways to go. The 2 1/2 months of preseason has been good for us.”
Gilmer will have two weeks before its first event, which will be a tri-meet at Etowah High School Monday, Nov. 23.