From the standpoint of competition, it’s arguable that the Greyhound wrestlers by far faced their toughest challenge last weekend just outside of Greenville, SC. The Southern Slam presented the toughest overall field of wrestlers for Jones County. Teams from multiple states brought an excess of 40 individual state champions, multiple All-Americans, and even one world champion.
“All of those brackets are tougher than what we’ll see in the state tournament,” Greyhounds head coach Adam Gillhouse said. In the middle of that, the Greyhounds met the challenge, turning in a top-20 finish among a field of more than 50 teams.
The day also showed how well JCHS is matching up with region front-runner and state duals stalwart Ola with the Hounds finishing just two spots behind the Mustangs. Both teams are working toward Jan. 10, when they’ll take the mat in the region duals.
“I tell our guys all the time that I am one of the most competitive people, but everything until January and February, it’s basically a glorified practice. It doesn’t really matter until you get to the region tournament and beyond that,” Gillhouse said. “I told them the other day that our goal is for five people to beat you. We want to find the best competition that we can.
You can learn from a win, but it’s oftentimes easier to learn from a loss. We came back with a list of stuff we can hit on this week at practice.”
Luke Thompson, a week after his clutch win to clinch the Gauntlet In Gray, led the Greyhounds with a fifth-place finish. “He’s been wrestling really well and has faced some good competition and done really well against it,” Gillhouse said.
“Just like everybody else, there is stuff we need to work on, and he knows it. Him and our other guys, they are excited to come back and wrestle.”
Jacob Skinner, less than a week after an injury forced him to exit the Main Street Dual early, claimed a finish of sixth with Alex Hammond bringing home an eighth-place finish in the 285-pound division.
Jones County wrestles at home on Saturday against Mary Persons in what will also be the Greyhounds’ senior night. Wrestling will begin at 5 p.m. with middle school matches followed by high school action at approximately 6:45 p.m. after senior night recognition.
