2020 TEAM DUAL WRESTLING STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
DUAL WRESTLING AREA TOURNAMENTS BRING CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD INTO FOCUS BY CRAIG SAGER II | SAGERC2@GMAIL .COM
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he results from the Dual Wrestling Area Tournaments set the field of teams that will be competing for the ultimate prize this weekend in Macon at the GHSA Team Duals Wrestling State Championships. A total of 50 different Area Tournaments were held across the state this past weekend, and the top two finishers from each area earned spots in the state tournament. Here’s a look back at how the Area Tournaments played out. Five-time defending duals state champion Camden County captured the Region 1-AAAAAAA championship and Colquitt County topped Tift County 57-19 to finish runner-ups to the Wildcats. East Coweta scored a 42-30 win over Newnan for a first-place finish in Region 2-AAAAAAA and McEachern edged North Paulding for its second-straight Region 3-AAAAAAA title. Cherokee took the Region 4-AAAAAAA championship over Lassiter, West Forsyth edged North Forsyth 30-21 for the Region 5-AAAAAAA title, Collins Hill held off Mountain View for the Region 6-AAAAAAA championship. Also, Brookwood dominated rival Parkview 69-12 in Region 7-AAAAAAA’s final and Rockdale County edged Archer for the program’s third-straight Region 8-AAAAAAA championship. Coffee and Valdosta emerged from the Region 1-AAAAAA Area Tournament, Richmond Hill scored a 39-24 win over Brunswick in the Region 2-AAAAAA finals and Evans defeated Grovetown in Region 3-AAAAAAA for the program’s first-
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ever region championship. Stephenson and Mt. Zion earned spots out of Region 4-AAAAAA, Alexander topped South Paulding 36-33 for the Region 5-AAAAAA title and Creekview beat Sequoyah 51-15 for its third-straight Region 6-AAAAAA title. Pope’s 37-31 win over Cambridge gave the Greyhounds this year’s Region 7-AAAAAA championship and Lanier’s 36-30 win over Gainesville gave the Longhorns back-to-back Region 8-AAAAAA championships. In Class AAAAA, Veterans topped Harris County 41-28 for the Region 1-AAAAA championship and Ware County defeated South Effingham to win its fourth-straight Region 2-AAAAA title. Whitewater defeated Starr’s Mill in Region 3-AAAAA and Ola defeated Union Grove for the Region 4-AAAAA crown. Miller Grove and Southwest DeKalb emerged from the Region 5-AAAAA tournament. Also, Riverwood took the Region 6-AAAAA title, defending state champion Woodland-Cartersville topped Carrollton for the Region 7-AAAAA title and Buford took the Region 8-AAAAA championship over Walnut Grove.
MAKING STATEMENTS
Perry made noise with its win over West Laurens for the Region 2-AAAA title. It was the program’s first region title since 1989 and also the Panthers’ first win over the Raiders since 1994. Additionally, Cairo and Columbus emerged from Region
1-AAAA, Baldwin and Burke County earned state berths out of Region 3-AAAA, Woodward Academy clinched Region 4-AAAA with a 56-15 win over Eastside, Central-Carroll clinched Region 5-AAAA with a 60-24 win over Cartersville and Gilmer, Blessed Trinity and North Oconee also won their respective regions. In Class AAA, top-seed Jefferson, No. 2 seed North Hall, No. 3 seed Jackson County and fourth-seeded Sonoraville will have first-round byes. Jefferson enters the tournament with 18-straight duals state titles and was a 44-18 winner over third-seeded Jackson County in the Area 6-AAA championship. In Class AA, Toombs County clinched Area 1-AAAA with a 46-33 win over Jeff Davis. Screven County fell 39-36 to Harlem in Area 2-AAAA, but the runner-up finish gives the Gamecocks their first duals appearance in 14 years. Lamar County and Dodge County emerged from Area 3-AAAA and Bremen topped Callaway 48-28 in the Area 4-AAAA finals. Chattooga dominated Coosa (72-6), Rockmart (60-9) and Dade County (58-15) on its run to the Area 5-AA title and Social Circle claimed its sixth-straight Area title with a 33-24 win over Elbert County. Class A’s Commerce earned the top seed out of Area 6-AAAA and will have a first-round bye with No. 2 seed Trion, No. 3 seed Mt. Pisgah and No. 4 seed Holy Innocents’. Commerce defeated Athens Christian 68-14 to win Area 6-AAAA before the Eagles’ defeated George Walton 39-33 to finish runner-ups.
