GREYHOUND GRAPPLERS
MCDONOUGH - The Greyhounds are two weekends away from hosting their classifications state dual wrestling championships. Following a runner-up finish in the region, they’ll head to Jefferson this weekend competing in a four-team group, with the winner being among the eight teams advancing to wrestle for a state duals championship. If JCHS is among those teams, it’ll be among the eight teams wrestling in Gray for a championship.
“Our guys wrestled really hard over the weekend. They wrestled really well against Locust Grove and were in some tight matches against Ola,” Greyhounds head coach Adam Gillhouse said.
Jones County started strong on Saturday at Ola, first ripping through Warner Robins in a dominant 69-3 win, with the tone being set with pins in the first two matches by James Rackley and Jacob Skinner. Chi Anderson then picked up the win followed by Garrett Green, Brayden Thompson and Will Agudelo staking the Hounds to a 33-0 lead. Other wins on the mat came thanks to Jackson Brown and Arrie Martin for the final 69-3 tally, sending Jones County to the semifinals against Locust Grove, with the winner getting a spot in the region finals.
The competition thickened up against the Wildcats, who after victories by Green 10-6, Agudelo 3-0 and Hunter McCleskey 8-3 as well as a pin by Brayden Thompson moved the Greyhounds to a 22-6 lead prior to the Wildcats rallying to tie it 22-22, putting the fate of the duals match in the final few rounds, amping up the pressure.
Jones County met the moment. A third-period pin by Brown put the Greyhounds in front for good 28-22, and Martin pulled off a stirring win, registering a pin with 10 seconds to go in the match after being down 7-4 to begin the final two-minute period. Carson Lumley followed with a pin for the final win of the duals match for JCHS, which won 40-28 to go to the finals.
“Jackson Brown fought late to get a pin, and Arrie Martin did the same.
Those were really big for us,” Gillhouse said. “Aiden Lipford fought against a returning state champion and didn’t give up a pin. That was really big – that was a two-point difference.”
What’s the reason for being able to get those clutch wins? For one, it’s the approach that the Greyhounds coaches continue to emphasize.
“We’re still processminded. We really talk about controlling what you can control, you don’t want them thinking that if they lose a match, we could lose the dual,” Gillhouse said. “You have to think about what you can control – your effort, attitude and aggressiveness. That’s what you can control, and you just go do what you can do.”
The Greyhounds fell 58-16 to Ola in the finals as the Mustangs took control as the rounds of matches went on, Jones County got a good start, getting a pin by Anderson, Agudelo losing in overtime and McCleskey winning 10-9 for an overall lead of 10-9 through four matches.
The match could have easily been closer, as the Mustangs won twice in overtime prior to getting pins in the final six matches to win.
Now, the Greyhounds turn their focus on returning to the state duals. Jones County’s four-team bracket, in addition to Jefferson, also includes their opening- round opponent Jackson-Atlanta with the other half of the prelim matching Jefferson and MLK.
Seeded second, the Greyhounds will look to advance out of the prelims and to the eightteam state duals next weekend.
“That’s the goal, but like we have talked all year, the goal is to wrestle better the next Saturday than the last one,” Gillhouse said. “We feel like if we can keep doing that, we’ll be successful.”
