The Greyhounds took to the mats near Florida’s Gulf Coast over the weekend, reeling in strong finishes as a team and individuals against teams from five states.
With only one other team in the field of the Beast of the Beach Tournament at Fort Walton Beach, Fla., being from Georgia, the event didn’t hold much of a measuring stick of teams that the Greyhounds will have to contend with in the postseason.
It did, however, lay out the challenge of making strides toward the new year, and JCHS showed its mettle within that setting, advancing to the tournament’s championship round and placing sixth overall.
Arrie Martin and Noah Pieterick were among the event’s top performers. Martin’s combined time needed for a technical fall in the tournament with 3:38, good for ninth overall. His 86 points earned was also the seventhbest. Pieterick needed only 15 seconds to take his opponent down via fall in one of his wins, the 9th-quickest wrestler to do so in the tournament.
Those showing helped pace the Greyhounds as they made their way into the event’s championship round, beating Florida High School 50-22 before bouncing back from a 50-22 loss to Tallahassee before topping Hardin Valley by a score of 50-23.
In the dual format of wrestling, points gained in match victories add up, sometimes meaning the difference between a win and loss. The win against Florida was a prime example, as a pair of wins by David Little and Martin stopped four losses in a row for JCHS in the dual. Jones County tacked on wins early in the match by Luke Thompson, Hunter McCleskey, Pieterick, Nate McDaniel, Little, Martin and Hunter Hardwick.
Seeking a bounce-back after the loss to Tallahassee, JCHS earned it from the start with McCleskey, Pieterick and McDaniel registering wins for a 3-0 start to the dual. That strong start continued on with six wins in a row padding the advantage via victories by John Rackley, Martin, Little, Hardwick, Jacob Skinner, and Thompson.
The Greyhounds will stay active during the Christmas break, going to this weekend’s Raider Classic at West Laurens. That’ll tee things up for the key part of the season, as JCHS hosts the Gauntlet In Gray on Jan. 4 before the region duals at Locust Grove on Jan. 11 that will determine spots in the state duals the next weekend at Ola.
