GREYHOUND GRAPPLERS
Jones County had little trouble getting the best of Mary Persons in a dual match on Saturday night, prevailing 42-12 in winning all but two of the 11 matches.
That win was not the story of the evening. The headliner? Where the wrestling bout between the teams from neighboring counties took place.
High school wrestling normally takes place indoors, but the Greyhounds and Bulldogs wrestled outdoors on Saturday night in the midst of Saturday’s events that began with the Main Street Gray Hometown Christmas Market, followed by the lighting of the Christmas Tree.
In addition to Christmas, it began to look a lot like wrestling with a mat being set up nearby with a tarp placed under it and bleachers being placed for fans, both ardent followers of the sport and others new to it, looking on as the Greyhounds won the majority of their matches. The on-site set up began Saturday morning with the work being done by Gillhouse’s wife, Megan, family members and other parents of wrestlers.
“We have great parents that help us out a lot, my wife included,” Gillhouse said. “My wife and kids were out there Saturday morning setting things up with a few other parents. It was a great community event that we were excited to be part of.”
Like hockey being played outdoors, the different environment did present challenges.
With Saturday’s cooler temperatures and a bit of dew moisture in the air, the mats did become slick.
“The mat got slick when the dew kind of set in. We’re doing research on how to prevent that for next year because this is definitely something that we want to continue doing every year,” Gillhouse said. “With the mat being slick, they could not do all of the things that they wanted, but they found ways to win.”
Yes, one measure of success from Saturday was the Greyhounds adapting in a unique setting and finding a way to win.
The other? Introducing themselves and the sport to the community that they are part of, some who knew little, if anything, about the sport prior to Saturday.
“We heard from several who had never been to see wrestling before. They kind of happened upon it, and we had kids say that they want to come back and see more wrestling,” Gillhouse said. “It was a lot of fun.”
The Greyhounds picked up a win heading into Thanksgiving last week, taking first at the Battle In The Briar Patch in Eatonton.
Winning first place were Aiden Lipford and Arrie Martin in the 126- and 144-pound weight classes, with Hunter McCleskey, Jackson Brown, Jacob Skinner and Garrett Green winning at 113, 138, 175 and 215 pounds.
“We were excited to go up there. That’s one that we had circled for about a year,” Gillhouse said. “It was a great opportunity for a lot of kids to get lots of mat time; we saw lots of teams that we normally don’t. That’s something that we’re trying to do, see lots of different looks to help us get ready for the postseason.”
