Due to crazy winter weather, not much action took place last week in Gwinnett County. The wrestling sectionals were actually cancelled and the state tournament will be expanded in each classification. In Class 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, the fields will grow from 16-man fields to 32-man fields that were scheduled to begin this past Wednesday. In Class A, the field grew from eight to 16.
Gwinnett County will have multiple representatives in the Class 5A field, with Collins Hill the odds-on favorite to take home yet another state crown. The Eagles, winners of the recent Region 7-AAAAA area title, are led by region titlists Allen Willard, Mac Bennett, Drew Ferguson, TJ Mitchell, Bazell Partridge, Joel Smith, Steven Bradtmueller, Devante Brown, CJ Collins and Thomas Delain. North Gwinnett has two serious contenders in Greg Epps and Carl Rider while Peachtree Ridge will go to the mat with Tsvetomir Petrushev. Parkview has the depth to give Collins Hill a run after winning its seventh straight traditional team title in Region 8-AAAAA. The Panthers have five wrestlers with recent area titles in Jesse Forte, Matt Johnson, Kevin Ulmer, Clint Jones and Ryan McFall. Grayson, Brookwood and Dacula all could place in the top 10 at the traditional state championship meet. One other Gwinnettian to keep an eye on is Central Gwinnett’s Jacob Aiken-Phillips. The senior recently won his third area title at the 285 level. His record is 56-0 with 47 pins.
The state swimming and diving championships started last week but were then put on hold. The diving portion of the championship featured Wesleyan making a huge splash in the rankings. The Wolves claimed both the boys and girls individual championships as sophomore Lauren Hall captured her second straight individual title and Zach Hernandez won for the boys. Hernandez was joined in the finals by teammates Bobby Chambliss (sixth-place finish) and Tradd Cannon (13th place). Those three helped the Wesleyan boys jump out to a lead in the overall standings with 38 points, nine points ahead of Westminster and 18 ahead of Marist. The rest of the competition, however, was put on ice after the wintry weather caused two separate delays to be called by the GHSA. The event was scheduled to get underway after Score Atlanta’s deadlines this past Tuesday. The swimming preliminary heats and finals were slated to begin late Tuesday night.
ON THE HARDWOOD …
The two top seeds in Region 7-AAAAA and Region 8-AAAAA were locked up earlier this week with victories by Norcross and Meadowcreek. The Blue Devils received 34 points from Jeremy Lamb to throttle South Forsyth 83-34. Meanwhile, Meadowcreek received a double-double from Lavon Hooks with 16 and 14 in a 75-53 win over Parkview to take Region 8’s top spot. Central Gwinnett, the No. 2 seed in Region 8-AAAAA by virtue of a coin toss, received 25 points from Jordan Adams and 20 points from Brian Williams in a 93-68 win over Dacula. The final standout performer from earlier this week was Greater Atlanta Christian junior Malcolm Brogdon, as he threw in 29 points in a 65-47 win over Westminster last Monday.
For the girls, Parkview capped up an undefeated season with a victory over South Forsyth while GAC and Norcross locked up top seeds in their respective regions, 6-AA and 7-AAAAA.
IN THE POLLS …
Despite the fact that very little basketball was played last week, the newest rankings were still put forth and Gwinnett County is once again heavily involved in Class 5A and Class 2A. In Class 5A boys, Jesse McMillan’s Blue Devils check back in at No. 5 while Central Gwinnett registers at No. 8. Former Norcross head coach Eddie Martin’s GAC squad is still No. 1 in Class 2A and in Class A, Wesleyan comes in at No. 3. In the coaches poll, Norcross holds on to its No. 1 spot in 5A while Central Gwinnett checks in at No. 9, one spot up from last week. GAC is also No. 1 in 2A according to the coaches. Wesleyan checks in at No. 4 for the coaches.
For the girls, Parkview, Norcross and Mill Creek come in at Nos. 2, 3 and 4, respectively in the AJC’s top 10 for Class 5A. On the strength of their recent OT win over the Wolves, GAC’s No. 2 Lady Spartans have leapfrogged now-No. 3 Buford. In Class A, Wesleyan still ranks as the top team. The coaches poll also lists Wesleyan as the top team in A, but the coaches differ greatly in Class 2A. Buford remains at No. 3 according to the coaches while GAC still hovers near the bottom of the top ten at No. 8. In Class 5A, undefeated Parkview sits at No. 2 with Norcross right on their heels at No. 3. Mill Creek only comes in at No. 6, falling from the No. 3 spot it held last week.
Proctor can be reached at fproctor@scoreatl.com.
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