The South Metro

Invitational, starting today at Eagle's Landing High

School, will host 22 area high school wrestling teams in

a very competitive bracketed tournament.

It is expected that there

will be 18-20 entrants in each weight class for the

two-day tournament. All four Fayette County teams will be

entered in this year's tournament, previewing the two

region championships and the county championships, which

will be coming later this season.

Two of the top contenders

in the meet would be Fayette County and Starr's Mill. The

Tigers start nine seniors and are led by two-time area

champ Jarrod Bailey. Starr's Mill returns its full squad

in the school's first year with a senior class.

The Panthers will be

wrestling without Clint Barbour until after Christmas.

That still leaves the team with seven state qualifiers

and five all-state wrestlers from last year's squad.

McIntosh and Sandy Creek

have excellent coaching and solid leadership from

experienced wrestlers. Their problem is that both teams

don't have as many experienced wrestlers as they are used

to. The Chiefs have won the South Metro Invitational

eight years in a row, but will have a hard time winning

it this year. Both teams figure to be competitive later

in the season, when their teams have gained experience.

East Coweta also will enter

the tournament and cause some shake-ups at some weights,

especially the middle weights from 135-160. Those weights

will be the turning point for the team that will be

successful this weekend. If you can sweep the middle, you

have a great chance at winning the whole shebang.

The meet will start at 5

p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.

On the basketball courts

this weekend, look for another intra-county rivalry.

Friday night, East Coweta travels to Lovejoy. Both the

boys and girls squads are very strong this year and

Lovejoy will be an obstacle to regional dominance for

both teams.

Fayette County will host

LaGrange and Starr's Mill will host Eagle's Landing.

Eagle's Landing typically fields a very strong and speedy

team, but the Starr's Mill teams have good size and

athleticism. Friday night's games begin at 7 p.m.

Saturday, McIntosh travels

to LaGrange for its final game for a week, while Starr's

Mill hosts Fayette County. Last week's games between

Starr's Mill and McIntosh included a highly charged

atmosphere, countless lead changes, and five overtimes.

Who knows what is in store for this weekend?

Sandy Creek will host

Heritage Saturday. The games at Starr's Mill and Sandy

Creek will begin at 6 p.m., while the McIntosh games will

begin at 7 p.m.

There will also be

significant games Monday evening as Fayette County will

host East Coweta, while Starr's Mill will travel to

Forest Park. Both games are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Sandy Creek will

travel to North Clayton for games beginning at 7 p.m.

As the holiday season

nears, the athletic schedule gets a tad sparse. The games

that are played, though, serve as a small taste of what

is to come in the year 2000.