Collins Hill continued its wrestling dominance Saturday in the GHSA Team Duals State Class AAAAA Championship when it knocked off Camden County to take their eighth straight wrestling title and 11th overall.
Last weekend, the Eagles won the team championship at the State Traditional Finals at Gwinnett Arena. Tonight, they had little trouble in the Duals at Mountain View High School, taking down the Wildcats 42-21 in the championship match. Valdosta took the third spot by beating West Forsyth 57-21.
Typically, the Duals precede the Traditional Championships by almost a month but had to be rescheduled because of bad weather in January. It left many teams having to change its strategy. For Collins Hill, however, they changed nothing and continue to roll over the competition. They opened Saturday’s matches with a win over Stephenson, and then beat Valdosta before taking out Roswell to get to the finals against Camden.
“They really stepped up for the team,” said Eagles coach Josh Stephen of his wrestlers. “These guys delivered. Camden came in and moved some of their wrestlers between weights but we kept our guys at the same weights and it worked.’’
In last week’s Traditional Finals in Gwinnett, Collins Hill put seven wrestlers in the finals, winning two matches (Sean Russell at 103 pounds and Bazell Partridge at 125) and won the overall points race by 93 over Camden and 109.5 over Valdosta.
Collins Hill finished the season 32-2 and their only two losses were during trips outside Georgia when they lost to No. 1 teams in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Class AAAA
After taking first in the Traditional Wrestling Championships last week, the Pope wrestling program was denied its second title on Saturday, as the Woodland (Bartow) Wildcats defeated the Greyhounds in the semifinals and captured the Class AAAA Dual Wrestling Championship two rounds later Saturday in Ola.
The Woodland championship comes eight years after its last title, which it captured in 2003. Loganville and Whitewater, the champions from 2010 and 2009 respectively, were both shutout this time around. Alexander captured second place in the meet while the
Wolverines from Union Grove closed out the standings in fourth place. Despite taking home third when many thought his squad would be standing atop the podium at the end of the day, Pope head coach Jim Haskins was more than happy with his team’s overall effort.
“We wrestled great today, had a great year and won a Traditional State Championship,” Haskins said Saturday once the dust had settled. “We got into the semis with Woodland, but we are a team without much experience and our youth really showed up today. I’m still really
proud of the team, though, for battling back and getting third.”
The 2011 Dual Wrestling Championship is Woodland’s second since the GHSA started recognizing the event in 2002.
Class AAA
A week after winning the Traditional team championship, Gilmer won its fourth state duals title and second in a row with a 34-25 victory over Heritage-Catoosa. Joey Ray won the 140-pound match in overtime to clinch the title for the Bobcats. West Laurens topped Henry County 39-29 in the consolation match.
Class AA
Jefferson defeated Sonoraville 37-18 in the championship for the school’s 10th straight state duals title and a 40-0 record this season. The two teams were tied at 18-18 before Jefferson pulled away, as the Dragons had 10 of 14 individual winners in the finals. Greater Atlanta Christian defeated Banks County in the consolation match, 34-19.
Class A
Bremen won their third Dual wrestling title in a row with a 42-30 win
over Commerce Saturday night. The host Blue Devils clinched the match
when Zach Young pinned his opponent in the 119-pound match and gave
his team a decisive 42-12 lead. Gordon Lee won the consolation match
over Holy Innocents’.
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