HAZLEHURST - Brantley County will send eight wrestlers to the Class A state finals this week in Macon led by Sectional champion Dallon Lowe.
The finals is being held at the Macon Centreplex Thursday, February 13 and Friday, February 14 for Class A through Class 4A.
The top eight grapplers in each weight class from the two Sectionals advanced to the championship.
Lowe, a Class AA state champion last year, captured the 138-pound weight class Saturday, February 8 here at Jeff Davis High School. He will be joined by Payton Perez (175 lbs.), who finished second.
Jonathon Westberry (132), a champion last year, placed third. Rylen Smith (150) finished fifth. Rylan Benton (120) was sixth. Aubrey Carter (285) carded a seventh- place showing. Keller Stringer (106) and Hayden Dearmond (190) earned eighth-place finishes.
Finishing two spots lower in 10thplace were Ty Hughes (157) and Joshua McConnell (165). Also participating were Sawyer Grimsley (126) and Caden Benton (144).
BCHS finished fourth in the tournament of 37 schools represented. The Herons totaled 122 points to trail Sectional champion Commerce (226), Mt. Pisgah Christian (150) and Banks County (135), Finishing behind Brantley County in the Top 10 were Elbert County (119), Mt. Vernon Presbyterian (119), Oglethorpe County (110), Irwin County (108), McIntosh County Academy (105) and St. Francis School (99).
Finishing llth thru 25th were Berrien (73), host Jeff Davis (71), Bacon County (67), Fellowship Christian (62), Rabun County (62), Wesleyan (49), Screven County (41), Mt. Paran Christian (34), Kings Ridge (28), Chattahoochee County (27), Pelham (27), McNair (24), Weber School (18), Charlton County (15) and Fannin County (14).
The rest of the field included Crawford County (10), Towns County (8), Baconton Charter (5), Mount Bethel (4), Bryan County (2), Schley County (2), The Walker School (2), Towers (2), Furlow Charter (l), Savannah Country Day (l), Turner County (l) and Savannah Christian (o).
• Lowe (138; 35-3) placed first going 4-0 in his weight class. Following a forfeit win in the first round, Lowe pinned (59 seconds) Dylan Smith of Banks County in the quarterfinals. He followed with a pin (2:12) of Commerce’s Wesley Usher in the semifinals and a pin (2:20) of Oglethorpe County’s Paris Crowder in the finals.
• Perez (175; 46-5) finished 3-1 with the loss in the championship match after three pins to reach the finals. He pinned (1:38) Pelham’s Enrique Lopez, Elbert County’s Jayden Dubose (3:22) in the quarters and Oglethorpe County’s Klo Say (3:46) in the semifinals. Mt. Paran Christian’s Ryder Shaltenbrand posted an 8-5 decision in the finals.
• Westberry (132; 49-6) lost in the semifinals before bouncing back to finish third. He recorded a 9-1 major decision over Wesleyan’s David Eaton in his first match and pinned (5:36) Berrien’s James Reliford in the quarters. Thomas Morgan of Commerce knocked off Westberry with a 19-3 technical fall in the semifinals. Westberry posted a 16-1 technical fall over Eaton in the consolation semis and garnered a 10-3 decision over Gavin Coleman of Jeff Davis in the third-place match.
• Smith’s (150; 44-8) fifth-place finished started with a pin (1:11) of Irwin County’s Jesus Villalon. After dropping a 172 technical fall decision in the quarterfinals to Elbert County’s Hudson Fleming, Smith pinned (1:24) Mt. Paran Christian’s Wheeler Green and Rabun County’s Rodolfo Ramos (2:17) to reach the consolation semifinals. He lost to Dylan Naish of St. Francis and posted a 13-0 decision over Fleming in the fifth-place match.
• Benton (120, 32-16) placed sixth battling through the consolation bracket after losing a 19-7 major decision to Amishai Weismark of Weber School in the first round. Benton pinned (3:52) Elbert County’s Cooper West, posted a 9-3 decision over Banks County’s C.J. Maynard and scored a 12-0 major decision over Oglethorpe County’s Aiden Dellinger. Weismark scored a 10-2 major decision in the consolation semis and forfeited the fifth-place match.
• Carter (285; 11-9) won his opening match with a pin (3:19) of Mt. Paran Christian’s Brandon Rosado before getting pinned (52 sec.) by Irwin County’s Elijah Fears in the quarterfinals. Carter followed with a 5-0 decision in the consolation round over Rabun County’s Caiden Lovell. He then lost via pin (45 sec.) to Berrien’s Jacob Connell. Carter posted a 15-9 decision over Oglethorpe County’s Tanner McKie in the seventhplace match.
• Stringer (106; 20-12) battled through the consolation bracket after dropping a 17-1 technical fall decision to Oglethorpe County’s Dylan Dunaway in his first match. He pinning Mt. Paran Christian’s Cooper Freeman (40 sec.) and Schley County’s Remington Bellew (2:06) before being pinned (1:22) by McIntosh County Academy’s Lucas Morris. Stringer suffered an 18-0 technical fall to Berrien’s Luke Solomon in the seventh- place match.
• Dearmond (190; 3611) followed an opening forfeit win with a 16-1 technical fall setback to Mt. Pisgah Christian’s Steele Brown in the quarterfinals. Dearmond recorded a 6-1 decision over Jeff Thomas of Towers ahead of falling 6-1 to Irwin County’s Kellen Wynn. Rabun County’s Jakaden Shiflet escaped with a 9-6 sudden victory in the seventh-place match.
• Hughes (157; 17-16) battled through the consolation bracket after suffering a 7-4 sudden victory to Rabun County’s James Ramey in the first round. Hughest alternated wins and losses in the consolation bracket pinning (3:43) Schley County’s Ty Grace before falling by pin (2:53) to Mt. Vernon Presbyterian’s Keon Clealand. After beating Savannah Country Day’s Ramon Barboa 8-1, Hughes was pinned (2:16) by Berrien’s Klay Ladson in the ninth-place match.
• McConnell (165; 2915) followed Hughes’ patch losing his opening match via pin (3:18) to Chattahoochee County’s Jack Russell. In the consolation bracket, Mc-Connell pinned (2:00) Kings Ridge’s Joshua Mc-Connell before suffering a pin (3:30) to Screven County’s Legend Courtney. After pinning (2:03) Baconton Charter’s James Barrow, McConnell was pinned (2:46) by Rabun County’s Harry Word in the ninth-place match.
• Grimsley (126; 23-19) dropped a 6-2 decision in his opening match to Berrien’s Drew Jones. Following a pin (2:03) of Town’s County’s River Chauncey in the consolation bracket, he suffered a 14-4 major decision loss to Mt. Pisgah Christian’s Noah Bellue and a 14-2 major decision to Will Cornish of The Walker School.
• Benton (144; 27-12) suffered major decision setbacks in his two matches falling 16-2 to Commerce’s Hogan Sims and 15-7 to Berrien’s Brady Solomon.
