‘Our guys wrestled tough’

Wolves capture both duals, traditional state championships

he Buford wrestling team won its eighth and ninth state championship titles during the 2021-2022 season by capturing both the duals and traditional titles for Class AAAAAA.

The Wolves captured their eighth title at the GHSA Class AAAAAA State Duals Championships on Jan. 22, 2022, at the Macon Centreplex.

For the first time since the season had begun, Buford had its full starting lineup after gaining several athletes once football season had ended. Buford took advantage of this by knocking off opponent after opponent starting with a 66-15 victory over Lassiter. The Wolves then defeated Creekview by a sizable margin, winning 72-6.

During the final round, Buford faced off against Valdosta. The Wolves secured the win with a 54-17 victory to capture the State Duals Championship.

“Our guys wrestled tough and represented Buford with class,”

Buford wrestling head coach Tom Beuglas said.

Buford would secure its ninth state title Feb. 11, 2022, during the GHSA Class AAAAAA Traditional State Championship competition also held at the Macon Centreplex.

Buford would once again face Valdosta and Creekview as its main competitors. The Wolves finished first with an impressive 100-point lead over Valdosta with a score of 201.5 points. Creekview finished third with 94.5 points.

“We had a great tournament, with 12 of our 14 kids placing in the top five,” Beuglas said.

Buford got first place finishes from Rylan Ibold (106), Maddox McArthur (120) and Drew Gorman (126). Conor McCloskey (170) finished in second place.

Third-place finishers for Buford were Kieron McCormack (113), Gavin Pope (138), senior

Above, Buford wrestlers celebrate their win at the GHSA Class AAAAAA Traditional State Championship comepetition on Feb. 11, 2022, at the Macon Centreplex.

Talen Thompson (152) and Aaron Riner (182).

Finishing in fourth place were senior Tyler Henley (132) and JT McCullough (145), while Grayson Santee (160) and Eddrick Houston (285) placed fifth.

Beuglas said senior leaders Henley and Thompson were instrumental to the team’s success this season.

“Both of these guys have had to overcome injuries (Thompson knee surgery, Henley shoulder surgery) and both came back better than ever this year,” Beuglas said. “Both are outstanding students and both provided excellent leadership for our team. We will miss both as they graduate ... and move on.”

Both Henley and Thompson have had successful high school wrestling careers, each with more than 100 career wins. They attri- bute a large portion of their success to their coaches’ leadership.

“One thing that Coach Beuglas taught me that will always stick with me is how to deal with adversity,” Thompson said. “There were a multitude of times throughout high school that myself or the team faced major setbacks and difficulties, but Coach Beuglas always got myself and the team through it; through his teachings we came out of it greater than we were before. His resilience and ability to lead people through tough situations is something that I admire and have