GREYHOUND WRESTLERS
Jones County put 14 wrestlers on the mat Saturday at Ola for the GHSA Region 2-AAAAA traditional tournament. The task at hand was simple for each Greyhounds grappler. That was to finish high enough to advance to next weekend’s sectionals in Flowery Branch, where the top six finishers in each weight class will punch their ticket to the state tournament Feb. 15-17 at the Macon Coliseum.
Whether it was wrestlers such as Jackson Brown, Robert Scott, Aiden Lipford or Will Agudelo or lesser experienced ones like Landon Lewis, the final result on Saturday for them was the same – that all 14 have a shot to earn a spot in the state tournament.
“We’re excited. One of the big goals is to qualify everyone we take (to the region tournament), and the goal is to qualify 14 again next week and get them to state,” Greyhounds head coach Adam Gillhouse said.
It all added up to a runner-up finish in the region for Jones County to Ola with the Greyhounds’ purple and goldclad fans cheering them on throughout the day. Gillhouse said that support and its visibility made a difference as the tournament continued.
“We were the furthest team away from Ola, and we had the biggest crowd,” Gillhouse said. “That’s a testament to our community and how much they have bought into what we’re doing as a wrestling program.”
The showing was led by three first-place finishes, with Aiden Lipford, David Little and Agudelo collecting region-championship hardware as individuals with wins in the 126-, 157- and 285-pound weight classes.
Hunter McCleskey’s secondplace in the 113-pound class was one of six runner-ups for JCHS. He was joined there by Jackson Brown at 132, Arrie Martin at 138 in addition to Jack Carr, Jacob Skinner in the 165, 175 and 190-pound divisions. Coming in third were Landon Lewis at 106, Robert Scott at 150 and Garrett Green at 215 pounds.
“We have three freshmen that have qualified for sectionals and placed in the top four of one of the best regions in the state. We’re really excited about those guys,” Gillhouse said.
Fourth places by Hayden Denny at 120 pounds and Conner Lipford at 144 pounds rounded out the full deck of wrestlers from Jones County qualifying for sectionals.
Now, the focus turns to next weekend and trying to qualify as many wrestlers as possible, including, some of which having a chance to wrestle at state after doing so last year.
“The expectation is for them to do that again, not just for us, but for them,” Gillhouse said. “That’s an expectation that they have for themselves. It not hoping that we’ll get to state, it’s ‘where do we end up when we get there.’ “
