MACON —
Lowndes and Valdosta will each have a representative in the Georgia High School Association’s Traditional Wrestling State Tournament championship finals today at the Macon Centreplex.
Reigning state champion Matt Moody of Lowndes, and Clarence Williams of Valdosta will each wrestle in state championship matches today, after claiming victories in the semifinals Friday night in Macon.
The finals begin today at 3 p.m., following the consolation semifinals and finals.
Moody, who entered the tournament undefeated in the 152-pound weight class, made another appearance in the state semifinals this year, where he faced Mountain View’s Sterling Pyles. He won 17-7 to advance to the state championship, where will face Zach Wright of Gwinnett County’s Archer High School.
Moody defeated Wright in the sectional finals last weekend. Wright is a member of Archer’s wrestling team, which won the Dual State Wrestling championship earlier this year.
Williams will face Thomas Bullard in the state championship of the 145-pound weight class.
Moody beat Eric Lewis of Roswell and George Johnson of Coffee to advance to the semifinals Friday night. Williams reached the semifinals after victories over Brent Crowder of North Cobb and Nick Vogel of West Forsyth. In the semifinals, Williams faced Karar Alasady of Peachtree Ridge.
Valdosta’s Reggie Dennis also advanced to the state semifinals in the 120-pound weight class, where he fell to Ryan Milhoff of Collins Hill. Dennis started the state tournament with a win over Mountain View’s Kenny Cook and followed it up with a quarterfinal win over Austin Fornell of Johns Creek. Dennis will face Paul Pellitier of Lassiter in the consolation semifinals.
In Class AA, Berrien’s Hunter Kelley, who entered with a perfect 32-0 record, won his first round match in the 120-pound weight class. Kelley beat Jacob Bumgardner of Bremen in the first round, advancing to the semifinals where he faced James Hite of Lovett. Results from Kelley’s semifinal match were not reported by time of press.
Lowndes’ David Ison advanced to the quarterfinals Friday, where he lost to Jacob Murphy of Walton. Ison beat Jamez Taylor of Campbell in first round match of the 132-pound weight class.
He then beat Kasey Gutierrez of Mountain View in the consolation match, advancing forward to the consolation bracket semifinals, which will be held this morning.
In the semifinals of the consolation bracket, Ison will be joined by teammate Austin Ogburn.
Ogburn lost his first round match in the 195-pound weight class, but advanced deep in the consolation bracket after recording three victories.
Ogburn lost to Christian Wade in the first round, but bounced back to defeat Valdosta’s Darius Brown in the consolation bracket.
Brown lost to Etowah’s Maverick Rechsteiner in the opening round. Ogburn then defeated Grayson’s Tommy Aluko and Hardaway’s Dylan Porter in the consolation bracket.
Valdosta’s Marcus Norman lost to Murphy in the first round and then lost to Taylor in the consolation round of the 132-pound weight class.
Eric Brown of Valdosta also lost in the opening round then again in the consolation bracket. Competing in the 138-pound weight class, Brown lost to Wheeler’s Aaron McGilvery by a 10-4 decision. He then lost to Mathew Wilkins of Central Gwinnett in the consolation.
Carl Jackson of Lowndes also competed in the 145-pound weight class. Jackson lost in the first round and in the consolation round. He lost to Collins Hill’s Michael Roquet in the first round and Jeremy Tuzilla of Campbell in the consolation bracket.
In the 160-pound weight class, Jarvese Gilliard of Valdosta lost to Patrick Mannella of Hardaway in the first round and Austin Richardson of Alcovy in the consolation bracket.
In the Class 6A 182-pound weight class, Lowndes’ Brandon Bell, a state runner-up last year, was upset in the quarterfinal round by DJ Newberry of Brunswick.
Bell started the night with a win over Octavian Jarda of Mountain View. He then lost to North Gwinnett’s Timi Akinniranye in the consolation bracket.
In the 220-weight class, Lowndes’ Sam Washington lost to Hargrove’s Peyton Hewitt in the first round before falling to Camden County’s Alec Davis in the consolation bracket.
In Class AA, Cook’s Raheem Coxfield dropped his opening round match to Rhett Delk of Wesleyan. Coxfield bounced back and defeated Mikey Moran in the consolation bracket of the 170-pound weight class.
In the 182-pound weight class, Berrien’s Ivan Herrera lost to Lovett’s Corey Erdoes in the first round and to Murray’s Clayton Thronbury in the consolation bracket.
Information and results was provided through the American Taekwondo Association Wrestling Web site.
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