GREYHOUND GRAPPLERS
Dreams of wrestling on the biggest wrestling stage in the state of Georgia remain alive for a dozen Greyhound wrestlers.
Wrestling in their gym at Saturday’s region tournament, seven Jones County grapplers won second in their weight class and James Rackley won first place in the 157-pound weight class to spur the Greyhounds to an overall finish of second behind Ola. Most importantly, 12 Greyhounds finished in the top four of their weight class, earning a spot in Saturday’s sectionals at Locust Grove. The top six finishers in each weight class there will then advance to next week’s GHSA state tournament at the Macon Coliseum.
The showing speaks well for the future of the Greyhounds program, as just two of those wrestling this weekend are seniors.
“All of them except two will be back with us next year. We’re definitely excited about that,” Greyhounds head coach Adam Gillhouse said.
Rackley’s win, capped off by a 12-7 win in the first-place match, was part of a day that saw Jones County among the frontrunners in the higher weight classes. Chi Anderson’s runner-up finish in at 175 pounds was a rare setback, coming up short to his opponent from Ola that remains unbeaten. Garrett Green powered through to finish fourth at 190 pounds with Brayden Thompson and Will Agudelo fighting their way through their brackets to finish second at 215 and 285 pounds.
“We would have liked to have more guys win first, but we saw some things they can work on before next weekend,” Gillhouse said.
Jones County, whose state qualifiers also included Jacob Skinner in the 165-pound class, got a robust showing in the lighter divisions as well. Hunter McCleskey got it started at 106 pounds as he finished second with other runners-up coming via Jackson Brown at 132 pounds as well as Arrie Martin and Carson Lumley in the 138- and 144-pound classes. The strong finishes went beyond that, with Aiden Lipford being third at 120 pounds and Robert Scott doing likewise at 150, aiding an overall showing as JCHS held off Locust Grove to win second overall.
