Lowe finishes runner-up in 138-lb. division
MACON — Dalton Lowe, Jonathon Westberry and Payton Perez posted Top 5 finishes here at the Macon Centreplex in the Class A Traditional state wrestling championships.
The Thursday, February 13 and Friday, February 14 performances helped Brantley County to a 12thplace finish with 58 points in the standings with a field of 60 schools being represented.
Lowe, a Class AA state champion in 2024, finished second in the 138-lb. weight division. Westberry, also a Class AA state champion a year ago, placed fourth in the 132lb. class. Perez finished fifth in the 175-lb. division.
The trio were part of eight grapplers representing the Herons’ program at the state finals. They were joined by Keller Stringer (106), Rylan Benton (120), Rylen Smith (150), Hayden Dearmond (190) and Aubrey Carter (285).
Social Circle won its third consecutive Tradtional title and eighth over the last 11 years totaling 184 points. The Redskins were followed in the Top 10 by Toombs County (132), Mount Pisgah Christian (101.5), Gordon Lee (96), Bremen (87), Banks County (69.5), Elbert County (69), Heard County (69), Trion (66) and Mount Vernon (64).
Placing 11 thru 20 were Vidalia (61), Brantley County (58), Commerce (56.5), McIntosh County Academy (52), St. Francis (45.5), Christian Heritage (43), Chattooga (40), Irwin County (40), Temple (40) and Dublin (34).
Finishing 21-30 were Rabun County (31.5), Oglethorpe County (30), Fellowship Christian (28.5), Wesleyan (28), Lamar County (25.5), Jeff Davis (21.5), Dade County (21), Fitzgerald (20.5), Mount Paran Christian (19.5), Bacon County, (18.5) and Screven County (18.5).
Also competing were Pepperell (14), Bowdon (11), Fannin County (11), Berrien (10), Landmark Christian (9), Towns County (8), Haralson County (6), McNair (6), Armuchee (5), ECI (4.5), Pelham (4.5), Central-Macon (3), Dodge County (3), Kings Ridge (3), Southwest Macon (3), Swainsboro (3), Mount Zion-Carroll (2.5), Crawford County (1), East Laurens (1) and Jasper County (1).
Not scoring were Baconton Charter, Charlton County, Chattahoochee County, GMC, Gordon Central, Northeast Magnet, Putnam County, Treutlen and Weber School.
• Lowe (138; 38-4) reached the finals with three pin fall wins. He pinned (1:50) Haralson County’s Tito Lopez, Central Macon’s Anthony Adorno (2:31; quarterfinals) and Bremen’s Luke Johnson (5:32; semifinals). Social Circle’s Curtis Duren scored a 10-2 major decision in the championship match.
• Westberry (132; 53-8) had to battle through the consolation bracket following an 18-1 technical fall opening victory over Gordon Lee’s Jenz Martin. Bremen’s Tucker Karr followed with a pin (5:23) in the quarterfinals.
Westberry won three consolation matches starting with a pin (3:48) of Elbert County’s Sawyer, a 4-0 decision over Mc-Nair’s Houston Simmons and a consolation semifinal 12-9 win over Gavin Coleman of Jeff Davis. Mt. Vernon Presbyterian’s Pace Lilenfeld posted a 1510 decision over Westberry in the third-place match.
• Perez (175; 49-7) won his first match via forfeit and followed with a 11-3 major decision against Commerce’s Caden McWilliams in the quarterfinals. Vidalia’s Gabriel Hightower notched a 7-1 decision in the semifinals.
Perez fell 3-0 in the consolation semis to Gordon Lee’s Layne Vaughn before recording an 18-2 technical fall over Landmark Christian’s Brady Robinson in the fifthplace match.
• Stringer (106; 20-14) lost his opening match via pin (45 seconds) to Social Circle’s Gable Hargrove and suffered a 21-6 technical fall decision to Screven County’s Zykelle Frano in a consolation bracket matchup.
• Benton (120; 33-18) suffered a pin (1:40) loss in his first match to Dublin’s Terrell Williams. He bounced back to record an 18-0 technical fall decision against Oglethorpe County’s Aiden Dellinger in the consolation bracket before losing a 12-4 major decision to Commerce’s Emory Moss.
• Smith (150; 45-10) dropped a first round 12-8 decision to Vidalia’s Alexander Muzafarov. He won his opening consolation match with a 15-0 technical fall over Commerce’s William Cox. Bacon County’s Ashton Anderson pinned (4:09) Smith in the ensuing round.
• Dearmond (190; 3613) suffered a pin (1:03) in his opening match to Vidalia’s Jack Godbee and lost a tough 5-4 decision to Gordon Lee’s Mason Dougherty in the consolation bracket.
• Carter (285; 11-11) suffered an 18-2 technical fall setback in Round 1 to Vidalia’s Levi Palmer followed by a pin (1:19) loss in the consolation bracket to Berrien’s Jacob Connell.
