“Cats” Crush Competition: Rule 1st Home Duals

The Gilmer High School Bobcats wrestling team, fresh off a second place finish in the prestigious Lake Norman Duals tournament, hosted the first home duals meet of the season, going 3-0 in the process. The Bobcats pummeled the Panthers of Union County 84-0, before blasting the Bruins of Northwest Whitfield 52-21, then thrashed the Trojans of North Hall 50-24.The evening began with a total dismantling of Union County. Gilmer was perfect in the match, scoring six points in every match, with 10 pins and four forfeits for the 84-0 victory.

The “Cats” next faced off with, fellow Area 7-AAAA member, Northwest Whitfield. The Bruins drew first blood, scoring a pin in the first match, the 182 weight class, to go up 6-0. Joel Gray quickly tied the match at 6-6 when he accepted a forfeit at 195.

Zach Allen put Gilmer in the lead, 12-6, with a 57 second first period pin. Levi Seabolt increased the lead to 18-6, before Daniel Puac’s 10-5 minor (less than eight match points) victory at 106 put Gilmer up 21-6.

A Bruins pin at 113 cut the lead to 21-12; however, Jacob Harrison’s pin, via near side cradle, pushed Gilmer’s lead up to 27-12. Gilmer won seven out of the next eight matches to secure the 52-21 win.

The last dual of the day saw the Bobcats face the North Hall Trojans. North Hall began with a pin at 195 that was answered by Allen at 220, tying the match at 6-6.

A pin by Seabolt at the heavyweight followed by a forfeit at 106 resulted in an 18-6 Gilmer lead. The Trojans cut the lead to 18-15 with a pin at 113 and a minor win at 120.

Trevor Reece’s pin at 126 saw the “Cats” claw to a 24-15 lead; however, a North Hall pin at 132 cut the lead to three, 24-21.
A Cameron Perry pin at 138 pushed the “Cats’” lead to nine, 30-21. Mel “The Fireman” Mosley added three more points with a 3-1 match victory, giving Gilmer a 33-21 cushion.

A North Hall minor win at 152 trimmed the lead back down to nine, 33-24. Johnie Flakes’ pin at 160 sealed the victory, followed by Matthew Waddell’s technical pin (15 point match lead), worth five team points, and a cradle pin by Joel Gray. Gilmer won the dual 50-24 completing the 3-0 sweep on the day.