WARNER ROBINS — Brantley County’s Maggie Devine and Aurora Edwards grabbed gold with firstplace finishes here Friday at the GHSA Area 1 girls’ Traditional tournament hosted by Houston County.
The individual titles helped the Lady Herons to a fifth-place finish in the 44-team event garnering 120 points.
Devine captured the 170-pound division while Edwards topped the 190-lb. class to earn spots in the state Sectional tournament being held Friday, February 7 at Houston County.
The top four wrestlers in each weight classification advanced to the Sectional. The top four at Sectional advance to the state finals slated for Thursday, February 13 through Saturday, February 15 in Macon.
Devine and Edwards were two of seven wrestlers for the Lady Herons’ program. Kiara West (110) placed fifth with Chelsea Turner (235) finishing sixth. Also participating were Cheryl Tenzca (100), Mallory Crosby (115) and Celia Flowers (155).
Richmond Hill topped the tournament field with 179 points. The Lady Wildcats were followed in the Top 10 by Tift County (163), Northside (135), Long County (120), BCHS (114), host Houston County (103), Camden County7 (100), Lee County (92), Veterans (83) and Jenkins-Savannah (74).
Finishing 11-20 were Thomas County Central (60), ECI (45), McIntosh County Academy (45), Glynn Academy (43), New Hampstead (42), Warner Robins (42), Colquitt County (39), Ware County (34), Coffee (31) and Vidalia (31).
Placing 21-30 were Wayne County (29), Perry (25), Toombs County (22), Montgomery County (21), Lowndes (19), Bryan County (12), South Effingham (12), Effingham County (6), Bacon County (5) and Johnson-Savannah (3).
Not scoring were Brunswick, Islands, Metter, Richmond Academy, Savannah, Savannah Classical, Savannah Country Day, Screven County, Statesboro, Swainsboro, Treutlen, Valdosta and Windsor Forest.
Devine (170; 27-0) continued her winning streak with four pins. She opened with a 29-second pin of Brunswick’s Cheyenne Troche. Devine followed with a pin (5:08) of Anaya Stringer of Jenkins in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she pinned (1:54) Richmond Hill’s Isla Stotts. Devine finished off here tournament run with a pin (4:09) of MCA’s Jerilyn Bryant.
Edwards (190; 29-3) also went 40 winning the title in sudden victory. She started her bracket with a quick pin (17 seconds) of Johnson of Savannah’s Terri Jones. Edwards pinned (37 sec.) A’yanha Walton of Warner Robins in the quarters and Long County’s Saala Tiapula (1:24) in the semis. She finished with a 6-3 victory over Tift County’s Debraysia Doward in the championship match.
West (110; 3-2) placed fifth after reaching the semifinals. She opened with a pin (6:13) of Bacon County’s Torri Eason and followed with a pin (2:58) of Long County’s Hayley Jones in the quarterfinals. Toombs County’s Jasmine Villegas pinned (46 sec.) West in the semis. Camden County’s Kyrie-Jade Atkinson followed with a pin (41 sec.) in the consolation semifinals. West finished with a forfeit win in the fifth-place match against Richmond Hill’s Unique Resto Solis.
Turner (235; 7-6) finished sixth after posting a 3-3 record. She opened with a pin (1:29) of Houston County’s Addison Davidson before falling via pin (1:03) to Long County’s Tymiah Powell in the quarterfinals. Turner bounced back with consecutive pins over Lee County’s Zoey Webb (3:33) and Bacon County’s Zoey Stone (35 sec.) to reach the consolation semifinals. Turner lost to Northsides Amarii Reese via pin (1:15) and then to New Hampstead’s Kennedy Harris by pin (43 sec.) in the fifth-place match.
Tenzca (100; 0-2) fell twice by pin losing to Camden County’s Breanna Higgins (1:55) in the quarterfinals and Northside’s Josilyn Duncan (2:00) in the consolation bracket.
Crosby (115; 2-2) opened with a pin (3:51) of Coffee’s Baylee Lott before falling via pin (38 sec.) to Thomas County Central’s Stella Harper. Crosby quickly pinned (15 sec.) Houston County’s Sofia Garcia in a consolation match before being ousted via pin (45 sec.) by Long County’s Aaralyn Ruise.
Flowers (155; 2-2) escaped with a 2-0 decision over Lee County’s Adrianna Webb in her opening match. She lost in the quarterfinals to Richmond Hill’s Rymonea Rivers by pin (1:23). Flowers followed with a pin (57 sec.) victory in the consolation bracket over Long County’s Ava West before bowing out by injury default against Alaiah Briscoe of Jenkins.
