The state’s brightest wrestling spotlight arrives later this week, and seven Greyhounds will be part of it.
A total of seven Jones County wrestlers will compete in the GHSA State Traditional Wrestling Championships, which begin Thursday at the Clayton County Convocation Center. This comes as those wrestlers qualified by way of their showing at last Saturday’s sectionals, where Luke Thompson, Arrie Martin, and Noah Pieterick each won first place. JCHS was not just limited to that, however, as four other state qualifiers helped the Greyhounds to the sectional’s thirdbest showing as a team.
Hunter McCleskey was second, Jacob Skinner placed third, with Nate Wilson and Barrett Rosenberger finishing fourth and fifth in their weight classes to also qualify for state.
And for many Greyhounds, the state tournament won’t be a new experience. All seven of this year’s state qualifiers for Jones County wrestled at the state tournament last year. Naturally, the goal is to better last year’s showing, and one wrestler in that group is Martin, who was state runner-up last year and took third the year before.
The state tournament’s bracket format is comprised of 16 wrestlers per weight class, where Class AAAA matches begin at 9 a.m. Friday and quarterfinals at 2 p.m. wrestle backs are at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. with semifinals and consolation quarterfinals starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, leading into consolation semifinals and finals and to the tournament finals at 3:30 p.m.
