GREYHOUND GRAPPLERS
The wait finally ends this weekend for the Greyhound wrestlers. Since the season began, the overall goal has been to improve, get better and fine-tune as a team as individuals to be at an apex when matches matter most.
That time begins Saturday at the region duals, hosted by Ola. The top four teams will advance to next weekend’s state dual preliminaries.
“Pretty much everything that we’ve done has been like practice getting ready to wrestle this time of year,” Greyhounds head coach Adam Gillhouse said.
And there’s even more incentive to place higher at region duals. With a region title, Jones County would host the region prelims that’ll send its winner to the state dual championships to be hosted Jan. 21 at JCHS. Last year, the Greyhounds had to go to Villa Rica for dual prelims.
“That’s the goal, to win the region and be at home and not have to travel,” Gillhouse said. “We could be all over the state from north Georgia to as far south as Waycross.”
The Greyhounds final weekend tournament tune up prior to region duals came last week in the Hook ‘Em Holiday Classic, hosted by Lambert.
In a 40-team tournament comprised of powerhouses such as West Forsyth, Jackson County and Glynn Academy, Jones County was 12th overall.
“If you look at the teams that placed above us, it’s a really tough tournament with really good programs,” Gillhouse said. “Being able to compete against them, that was big.”
In most dual matches and tournaments all year long, Chi Anderson has been among Jones County’s top performers. Last week was no different. Of Jones County’s 90.5 points, he accounted for 24 of them, going 6-1 at 175 pounds. After starting his run through the tournament 2-0, a quarterfinal loss put Anderson’s back to the wall.
One win by fall and another by decision moved Anderson to the consolation semifinals, where a win via fall put him into the third-place match that he also won.
“Something we stress every time we go a tournament is to finish higher than your seed, we did that,” Gillhouse said.
“The 175-class had multiple state placers in it, so for him to do what he did. We’re really proud of him.”
In the heavyweight division, Will Agudelo was fifth, generating 15 points through a record of 4-2, one being a win in the fifth-place match.
Multiple Greyhound wrestlers not only earned multiple victories but also picked up valuable mat experience against stout competition.
Arrie Martin and Hunter McCleskey each racked up three wins at 138 and 106 pounds respectively. Picking up a pair of wins in their divisions were Garrett Green (190), Robert Scott (157), James Rackley (150), Carson Lumley (144), and Aiden Lipford (120).
McCleskey’s showing came following a recent move down to 106 pounds since the pre-Christmas tournament in Asheville, NC.
“He’s been kind of trying to make his way down there all year, he’s excited to see what he can do against a bit lighter guys,” Gillhouse said.
“We’ll keep him there for now, it’ll depend on who we are wrestling.”
