GREYHOUND GRAPPLERS
The Greyhounds had a home tournament feel this past weekend, excelling close to home.
Taking part in the Smackdown In The MacTown Invitational on Friday at JCHS and Saturday at Mount de Sales, the Greyhounds were head and shoulders above the competition, winning first overall as a team and winning six first-place medals in respective weight classes.
It followed up last Tuesday’s home meet against Putnam County, where late wins by Aiden Lipford, Peyton Thompson, Jackson Brown and Arrie Martin helped lock up a 40-30 win in front of a home crowd.
“Overall, it was a good week,” Greyhounds head coach Adam Gillhouse said. “We didn’t feel like on Tuesday that we wrestled as good as we could have. They really responded well to some tough coaching on Wednesday and Thursday and wrestled well Friday and carried that into Saturday.”
With the focus shifting to Mount de Sales on Saturday, Jones County maintained its upper hand with Hunter McCleskey finishing first at 113 pounds, Lipford and Brown second at 120 and 132 pounds, Martin winning first at 138 pounds, Robert Scott being third in the 150-pound division with three more first-place finishes coming from James Rackley, Anderson and Will Agudelo in the 157, 175 and 285 weight classes.
“McCleskey, he beat Blake Jones in the semis. That was a really big match and he just fought hard,” Gillhouse said of the win over his Mary Persons opponent. “Will won against the Sparks kid from Mount de Sales. He’s a really good wrestler and that was kind of the match everyone had been waiting on to see. It was just two guys fighting hard.”
JCHS also registered the event’s most pins with 28, according to trackwrestling. com in what was also a tournament with local pride on the line as it was comprised on teams from middle Georgia.
In addition to wanting to get match victories, another pressure point was how the Greyhounds would fare in settings that they may face later in the season when the stakes are higher against region and state tournament foes.
“That’s something we talk about a lot, what we do now that prepares us for later,” Gillhouse said. “On Friday, Chi was up pretty big, and we ended up telling him to take his guy down and get a major decision. We didn’t need that win then, but we might later on this season.”
In addition, the tourney also pitted JCHS against Mount de Sales, a team that the Greyhounds frequently work out with in the offseason, according to Gillhouse.
“There were lots of teams there from middle Georgia. Our guys know most of the guys with Mount de Sales, so to wrestle them, that’s fun,” Gillhouse said. “It’s a big pride thing to be able to wrestle well against teams from middle Georgia.”
