Berth at state on the line as Hounds host region duals
A very unlucky draw deprived the Greyhounds from wrestling in last year’s AAAAA duals. Now, with a new format to qualify teams for state in place, Jones County is out to ensure that it does not miss out on the opportunity again.
“It’s double elimination, but the top two go to state. The big thing is that you want to be in that finals match,” Greyhounds head coach Adam Gillhouse said. “The goal is to make the state duals and be in that gym in Jefferson next week.”
Jones County hosts the Region 2-AAAAA duals Saturday morning, starting at 9 a.m. The double-elimination format will match up wrestling teams from the region against one another. The top two finishers at day’s end will advance to the State Duals Jan. 20 in Jefferson. That format is a departure from last year, when each region’s top four teams advanced to sectionals with the top team from each going to state. JCHS, despite finishing second in the region last year, ended up matched up with eventual state champion Jefferson.
On Saturday, JCHS gets to go for a trip to state in its home gym. It’s an opportunity that Gillhouse says that the Greyhounds are relishing.
“It’s definitely big for our kids. Our fans, they travel so well. It’s nice to give them a weekend at home so they don’t have to travel,” Gillhouse said. “The last time we hosted duals here, it was a great atmosphere, and we hope to replicate that.”
The double-elimination format will require teams to quickly bury previous matches during the day, thinking ahead to what’s next and not behind. The good news for the Greyhounds is that they deliberately scheduled tournaments with that element in mind.
“We really spent a lot of time trying to replicate events as much as we can,” Gillhouse said. “At Jeff Davis, we had nine duals in two days and saw some really good teams. Being able to bounce back and wrestle again like we did, that’s definitely something we’ll lean on.”
Jones County will have at least one thing in common with most teams on Saturday – they’ll be chasing Ola. The Mustangs are ranked first in the state and regarded as the team to beat. That also means that even if Ola is Saturday’s overall winner, the runner-up will also advance to state, drawing focus on potential matches between the Greyhounds and teams such as Locust Grove and Union Grove.
“Ola is the No. 1 team in the state. Everyone in the state is chasing them, and I feel like we are closer than we’ve been,” Gillhouse said. “If we get to that match, anything can happen. If everyone does their job, we feel like we’ve got a good shot.”
