HAMILTON — Ware County will be well represented at the Class AAAA state finals after eight wrestlers earned berths Saturday at the state Sectional held here at Harris County High School.
David Muchison (165 lbs.) garnered top honors in the February 8 event with a runner-up showing in his weight class. Gunter Fore (157) finished third with Jordan Maxwell (113) placing fourth.
Also earning spots to the Thursday, February 13 and Friday, February 14 Class 4A tournament in Macon inside the Macon Centreplex were Jaden McKelvin (144), Kayden Drury (150), Cameron Hambrick (175) and Kyler Matthews (285) with seventh-place finishes. Jalen Hampton (215) notched an eighth-place finish.
Just missing a spot were Da’Marion Zanders (126), Rodrigo Reyes (132) and Aaron Bennett (138) in ninth place. Trey Dean (190) placed 10th. Stephen Valdez (106) and Noah Paul (120) also participated.
Ware County placed fifth in the 30-team Sectional scoring 109 points. Cass walked away with the title recording 330 points. Finishing between the two schools were Woodland-Cartersville (203), Central-Carroll (182) and Harris County (114).
Rounding out the Top 10 were Allatoona (101), Perry (87), Southeast Whitfield (87), Benedictine (85) and Dalton (81).
Finishing 11th through 20th were Cartersville (80), St. Pius X (76), Southwest DeKalb (61), Wayne County (57), Cedartown (53), Tucker (52), New Hampstead (35), Marist (32), Starr’s Mill (26) and Lithonia (23).
Rounding out the field were Hiram (14), North Springs (14), Northview (11), Warner Robins (9), Griffin (7), Clarkston (6), Northside-Columbus (3), Druid Hills (1), Jonesboro (1) and Mundy’s Mill (0).
The Lady Gator program was represented by Emalee Hendrix a day earlier at Harris County in the girls’ Sectional. Hendrix (119) lost twice via pinfall (4:25, 40 seconds).
• Muchison (165; 42-17), after opening forfeit win, scored pin falls in the quarterfinals (1:01) and semifinals (1:02). He was pinned (53 sec.) in the championship match.
• Fore (157; 38-8) captured his first match via pin (2:15). After losing by pin (2:32) in the quarters, he stormed through the consolation bracket winning by technical fall (20-4), pin (40 seconds) and notched a 7-4 sudden victory in the consolation semifinals. Fore was awarded the third-place match on a forfeit.
• Maxwell (113; 24-4) followed suit winning his first match by pin (2:38) and losing in the quarterfinals via pin (3:32). In the consolation bracket, Maxwell won by pin (1:45), posted a 6-0 decision and recorded a 14-4 major decision in the consolation semis. He lost the third-place match by medical forfeit.
• McKelvin (144; 35-18) captured his opening match with a pin (1:57) before losing 9-8 in the quarterfinals. He bounced back with a pin (2:18) and lost by pin (1:26). McKelvin posted a pin (1:33) win in the seventh- place match.
• Drury (150; 44-17) followed an opening 20-3 technical fall victory with a loss by pin (4:51). After winning a 13-7 decision in the consolation bracket, Drury lost a 5-2 decision. He won via pin (1:43) in the seventh-place match.
• Hambrick (175; 41-24) began his tournament with a pin (34 sec.) before losing in the quarters by pin (2:50). He recorded a pin (2:21) in the consolation bracket and then lost a 10-1 major decision. He scored a 14-9 decision in the seventh-place match.
• Matthews (285; 23-11) had a long road after suffering a pin (4:43) loss in his first match. He won two consolation matches by pin (45 sec., 1:44) before dropping a 14-1 major decision. Matthews won the seventhplace match with a 6-2 decision.
• Hampton (215; 35-30) also took the long road suffering an opening 11-4 loss. He followed with a 5-2 sudden victory win and posted a 12-6 decision. Hampton lost his next two matches by pin (2:14, 2:30) with the second coming in the seventh-place match.
• Zanders (126; 37-18) suffered a pin (2:55) loss in his first match. He split his first two consolation matches winning by pin (48 sec.) and dropping an 18-2 technical fall decision. After garnering a forfeit win, Zanders won the ninth-place match with a 16-3 major decision.
• Reyes (132; 46-19) dropped a 106 opening round decision. He split his first two consolation matches posing a 20-4 technical fall decision before losing a 17-1 technical fall decision. He responded with two pin (4:17, 1:36) with the second coming in the ninth-place match.
• Bennett (138; 28-21) opened with a 20-1 technical fall victory ahead of pin (1:01) loss in the quarterfinals and a pin (1:34) setback in the consolation bracket. Bennett regrouped with a pin (1:52) and a 19-4 technical fall victory in the ninthplace match.
• Dean (190; 10-14) alternated losses and wins en route to a 10thplace finish. He lost by pin (1:28) in his opening match and posted a pin (1:33) win in the consolation bracket. After losing a 19-9 major decision, Dean recorded a pin (37 sec.). He lost the ninth-place match by pin (2:19).
• Valdez (106; 49-15) lost twice via decision suffering an 11-8 setback in his first match and an 8-1 loss in his second match.
• Paul (120; 19-33) suffered a 202 technical fall in his tournament opener. He recorded a pin (2:06) in the consolation bracket and followed with consecutive technical fall losses (16-1, 18-2).
