Bobcats Bound for State: “Cats” Out Class Cass

The Gilmer High School Bobcats wrestling team is headed to the State Duals Tournament after the “Cats” claimed another Area Duals championship. The “Cats” clashed with the Cass Colonels in the Area 8-AAAA Finals, winning 36-18.After cruising through the first few rounds, the “Cats” Cass Clash featured a finals face off with that began with the hosting Bobcats taking an early 15-0 lead. Matt Waddell and Nick Windsor, put Gilmer up 12-0 with pins in the 170 and 180 weight class, before Zach Allen scored a minor win (less than eight match point victory) at 195 worth three team points.

The Colonels scored a major victory (eight to 14 point match victory) at 220 to break the Bobcats’ winning streak and put Cass on the board, 15-4. Gilmer heavyweight, Levi Seabolt, pushed Gilmer’s lead to 18-45 with a 9-6 win for a minor victory.

Cass cut the lead to 11, 18-7, with a minor win at 106; however, back to back minor victories from Alberto Perez and Marcelino Lopez, at 113 and 120 respectively, put Gilmer up 24-7.

A Colonels technical pin, more than 15 match points, worth five team points, put Cass in striking distance with a 24-12 deficit. Cass cut the lead by three more points with a minor win at 132.

Cameron Perry increased Gilmer’s eight point lead to 13, 28-15, with a major win at 138. Despite Mel “The Fireman” Mosley falling at 145, he was able to score four crucial match points that kept the Colonels from procuring a major win, and cutting the lead to single digits.

With Gilmer leading 28-18 going into the 152 weight class, Jamie Lopez needed only to win to secure the 8-AAAA Area Championship, and keep the Cass Colonels out of the battle. He produced a 5-2 win for a championship securing minor victory. Gilmer lead 31-18 with one match to go making it impossible for Cass to catch up.

Johnie Flakes added a “Tech” for the final Finals score of 36-18. Gilmer heads into the State Duals Tournament as a #1 seed.

Head coach, Sam Snider, was greatfull for the seeding, and open to a possible Cass Colonels clash in the State Duals Finals. It would be the fourth time this season that the Bobcats battled the Colonels.

Snider spoke specifically about the challenges of facing a good team a plethora of times in the same season.

“Well you look at kids that you faced before and of course you’re looking for the bonus points you can get. They’ve (Cass) added a few kids back to their lineup. We’ve added a few kids to ours, so there were some unknowns, but in those unknowns I felt like we wrestled very well and came out on top in several matches that were big for us. And we won the matches that we won last time, and we’re still closing the gap on a couple of matches. 36-18 doesn’t tell how close that really was. It was a good match.

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Snider also spoke about the challenges of avoiding the arrogance that can accompany having a championship pedigree.

“We always have to protect, because “Pride comes before the fall.” We talked about humility yesterday, because you have to stay hungry.”

Snider was also complementary of the Colonels, saying how would not be surprised if the “Cats” clashed with Cass for a fourth time in the Finals.

“I think this Cass team is high quality and will be very difficult to beat, and I can expect to see them in the State Finals.”