After blowout victories over Dalton and Heritage (75-3, 39-23) respectively, the Gilmer Bobcats had to fight tooth and nail to secure a two point victory, (36-34) over the Lafayette Ramblers in order to win the 2011 Region 7AAA championship on their home mat.The number two seed Bobcats began the two day tournament with a first round bye; as did their final’s counterpart. The Ramblers rained on the Purple Hurricanes’ parade, as they disposed of Cartersville High School 49-18. The Dalton Catamounts were catastrophically castrated by the Bobcats; securing only one three point minor win (less than 8 match point lead) throughout the thorough thrashing that lead to the 75-3 win.

The third round featured both teams winning comfortably as the Ramblers slayed the Dragons of Pickens County 39-16, and the Bobcats terrorized the Patriots of Heritage High School 39-23.

The back and forth tug of war, that was the championship match, ensued on Saturday afternoon. Gilmer began the match with a pin by Hunter Barnes at the 171 weight class, giving the host team a 6-0 advantage. A minor win over Ian Smith at 189 made the score 6-3.

(Photo by LT Melton)

The teams continued to trade pins for minor wins until Sam Rogers was pinned at 135 with the score 30-15, making the score 30-21. Joey Ray was on the losing end of a major decision at 140 which made the score 30-25.

The Ramblers gained a one point lead when Trevor Martin, who rocked his state championships ring bling like a rapper on stage the night before, lost via pin at 145. Josh Perigo took the lead back with a pin of his own.

With Gilmer up 36-31 going into the final 160 pound match. Ben Deloach needed to avoid being pinned in order to secure the Region Championship for Gilmer. He was up to the task as he gave up a three point minor loss. Leading to a Kool and the Gang style celebration that lead one observer to say,

“That’s the most celebrated loss ever!”

(Photo by LT Melton)