Adversity in the way of injuries and ailments prevented the Greyhounds from finishing as high as expected at this past weekend’s Raider Invitational at West Laurens, as Jones County battled to finish fourth overall.
In the midst of all that, multiple Greyhounds stepped up with a total of five wrestlers making their way to the finals of their weight-class bracket, one of which won with Luke Thompson claiming a first-place trophy, wrapping up his day with wins via fall and major decision.
Hunter McCleskey, Noah Pieterick, David Little and Hunter Hardwick also battled to finish second with Dawson Walker placing third.
Walker’s 23 points scored in a single match was fifth among all wrestlers at the tournament with Arrie Martin and McCleskey within the tournament’s top five in terms of the least amount of time needed to register a pin.
“It was good for us, overall,” Greyhounds head coach Adam Gillhouse said. “We had a few injuries and ailments, which kept some guys out of the championship bracket that affected the team outcome, but anytime you can get that many of guys in the finals, that’s exciting.”
Indeed, with region duals the weekend of Jan. 11 at Locust Grove quickly approaching, building on the mentality of gaining as many points as possible is key for all teams during this stage of the season, and JCHS is no exception.
It comes after a challenging span of the season in which the Greyhounds have faced a stern test of competition at tournaments in Florida and South Carolina.
“The big thing for us this time of the year is wrestling really clean,” Gillhouse said. “We’ve been through a really tough stretch, so it’s important to try and gain some confidence and clean up mistakes.”
