Gilmer “Got Five on It”

The Gilmer High School Wrestling team earned their fifth 7-AAA Traditional Area tournament championship title. All 14 wrestlers placed in the tournament, and 12 will move on to the Sectional Tournament, which will be held at Woodward High School on February 11th and 12th. The top eight wrestlers from the Sectional tournament will move on to the 2011 AAA Tournament State Championship the following weekend. In Georgia high school wrestling, a wrestler has to overcome both traditional area and sectionals in order to be invited to the individual state tournament. The Gilmer High School wrestling team traveled to Allatoona High School to participate in the 2011 Area 7-AAA Traditional Tournament. Gilmer had a tremendous first round, with only three wrestlers losing their first match.

Joey Ray lost to Brady Hart of Lafayette at the 140 weight class. The two combatants battled the entire match. Ray lost by one point. Ben DeLoach lost his first match in the 160-pound weight class to Demetre Taylor of Ringgold, as did Austin Sprayberry, who lost to Juan Pacheco of Dalton. The tournament went into a round of consolations. DeLoach was the only one of the three Bobcats without a bye for the round. However, he was the only one able to manage victory, allowing him to stay in the tournament.

Gilmer semi finalists Cameron Perry (103), Justin Karr (112), Johnie Flakes (125), Tyler Davenport (130), Trevor Martin (145), Josh Perigo (152), Hunter Barnes (171), Ian Smith (189), and James Longino (215), all advanced to the finals with wins over their opponents. Brady McCollum lost to Heritage’s Madison Martin in the 119-pound weight class, as Sam Rogers lost to, former state champion Preston McCalmon of Lafayette, by pin. Those that won in the semifinals advanced to the finals, where first and second place are decided. McCollum and Rogers joined the consolation rounds.

Ray and DeLoach both lost in the consolation semifinals round, and were relegated to wrestling for fifth or sixth place. They will not have a chance to move on to sectionals next week and will not be participating in this year’s AAA Traditional State Tournament. Sprayberry won his match by disqualification, as his opponent, Trey Hampton of Pickens, illegally slammed him to the point that his head bounced off the mat. A wrestler must maintain control when having an opponent airborne, and take care not to injure the opponent.

Sprayberry will be moving on to sectionals next week. Also moving on to sectionals from the consolations brackets, are Rogers and McCollum. Both advanced to wrestle for third and fourth. Rogers lost to Gary Tucker of Ridgeland as he took home his fourth place medal for the weekend. McCollum took third in the 119-weight class.

Gilmer had nine wrestlers in the finals which began well for the Bobcats as Cameron Perry pinned his opponent in the second period. After Perry, the team went through a small losing streak as Karr, Flakes, and Davenport took second place.

Martin took on Lafayette’s Dalton Smith and narrowly escaped with a two point victory for first place. Perigo and Smith placed second, as their opponents pinned them. Barnes pinned his Dalton opponent in only a matter of seconds, as Longino went into triple over time, ending his match with a one-point win.