Sandy Creek

Coach Damian Belvedere is the fourth wrestling coach in

four years for the Sandy Creek Patriots and he knows his team will

take their lumps early. "We have a tough schedule, facing

Woodward and Eagle's Landing early," Coach Belvedere said. "A lot

of these guys are young and need to learn to wrestle in my

program. This team needs mat time more than anything."

Sandy Creek returns four wrestlers who qualified for the

states last year; Seniors Blake Gordon and Chris Sizemore, junior

Ryan Brown and sophomore Larry Wright. Senior Andrew

Holcomb and junior Johnny Parmer have some experience for the

Patriots but the rest of the team is fairly new. The team will learn a

lot from Coach Belvedere, who assisted Coach Hutsell at

McIntosh for about 10 years.

Coach Belvedere feels the Patriots have some kids that will

be good in the future. Junior Ryan Stanfield, wrestled in his

freshman year but took his sophomore year off. Coach Belvedere

describes him as a hard worker who has a winning attitude.

Brandon McCleod will be wrestling in the heavyweight division for

Sandy Creek. They think he will be down to 275 by January and will be

a good addition to the team.

Sandy Creek traveled to Woodward Academy last

Wednesday to face both Woodward and Stephens. The Patriots lost

to Stephenson by a score of 39-31. "That was a tough loss for

us," explained Coach Belvedere. "We forfeited two weight classes

in that match and if we didn't have to do that, we probably would

have won. We gave them 12 points." Chris Sizemore won his

match against Stephenson in overtime, as an arm injury started to

bother him. Ryan Brown won his matches against both schools, while

Johnny Parmer, John Hilton and Ryan Stanfield all wrestled well.

Sandy Creek then lost to Woodward, 60-9. "They schooled

us.They weren't a very old team but those kids start wrestling in the

seventh and eighth grade," Coach Belvedere said. "I'm pleased with

the kids, they kept coming after them. It's just going to take some

time for us to develop."

Starr's Mill

The Starr's Mill Panthers have opened up the season 5-0. Last

Friday the Panthers traveled to Jonesboro to face both

Jonesboro and Stockbridge. Starr's Mill won both matches, defeating

Jonesboro 43-18 and Stockbridge by a score of 51-26. Freshmen Evan

Beckett and Scott Hartpence pinned their opponents in the 119 and

125 pound groupings. Sophomore Drew Cofty and

Christopher Coleman pinned their opponents in the 140 pound and 152

pound divisions while sophomore Ariston Bowers won by a decision

of 21-10 in his match in the 145 pound division. Junior

Akhil Chhabra won by forfeit in the 171 pound division while

junior Stephen Behringer won by a decision of 13-10. Sophomore

Tony Tofanelli pinned his opponent in the 275 pound division.

The Panthers continued to dominate in their match

against Stockbridge. Junior Gary James won his match in the 112

pound division by a 4-1 decision while Freshman Scott Hartpence

pinned his opponent in the 125 pound grouping. Sophomores

Jason Kiefer, Drew Cofty, Ariston Bowers and Christopher Coleman won

their matches by pins in the 130,145 and 152 pound

divisions respectively. Juniors Akhil Chhabra, Stephen Behringer

and Clint Barbour pinned their opponents in the 171, 189 and

215 pound weight divisions. Ariston Bowers, Stephen Behringer

and Drew Cofty are all undefeated this season .

Both Sandy Creek and Starr's Mill have been preparing for

the South Metro tournament at Fayette County High School on

Friday and Saturday. McIntosh and Eagle's Landing will also attend.

<!--##############