GREYHOUND GRAPPLERS
A late schedule change by the Greyhounds last week sent them to the Locust Grove Invitational, and it was a circumstance in which they thrived.
Competing in a field of 18 teams, Jones County won first overall. Unlike most tournaments during this time of year of the dual format, this one was individual-based, putting more of the onus on wrestlers to make their way around the venue during the day. The Greyhounds took the change in stride, claiming seven top-three finishes.
“They were excited because they got to show up an hour later, but the biggest thing was going from duals to an individual tournament,” Greyhounds head coach Adam Gillhouse said. “With the mental shift of how it flows, you move around more by yourself and have to be responsible to know where to go and what’s going on.”
This past weekend sets the table for Friday and Saturday, when JCHS heads south to again compete in the Yellow Jacket Invitational at Jeff Davis High School. It will be warm up of sorts for Jones County, which will stay overnight at the event, just as they will during the postseason. The scheduling of an overnight trip this early is no coincidence for the Greyhounds. “It’s all a preparation for the postseason,” Gillhouse said.
“The first time we travel and stay in a hotel, we don’t want it to be when it counts for state.
We want to get that experience now that way, in the postseason, it’ll help us settle in.” Will Agudelo came away from this past Saturday with a clean sweep of his competition, going 7-0 in the 285-pound class. The other first-place finish came from Arrie Martin with an overall 13-2 mark.
The win was a continuation of an overpowering start for Agudelo, who is taking the spot left from the graduated Grayson Dugger from last season.
“He worked a lot with Dugger last year. Over the summer at camp, he found some things he really liked,” Gillhouse said. “He’s become pretty dominant.”
Aiden Lipford and Hunter McCleskey helped JCHS gain leverage in the lower weight classes as both finished third with 8-6 and 8-7 records in the 126 and 113-pound classifications.
Coming in second were Jackson Brown at 132 pounds and Chi Anderson at 175. Brown went 9-5 while Anderson went 11-2 as a whole, giving the Greyhounds a strong mid-to-upper showing to go with a third-place finish from James Rackley, whose 8-6 record delivered a finish of third, as well.
“Our goals are to get better every week. We got to see some good competition,” Gillhouse said. “We’re making new mistakes. That’s what we talk about, doing something different each time we’re out there. Each week’s we’re being exposed to new things are competing really hard.”
