One of the biggest wrestling

tournaments in the area drew competitors from four of the county's

high schools last weekend to Luella High in south Henry County.

Starr's Mill competed

in the South Metro Tournament and finished in second place out of a field

of 23 teams. Henry County won the event with 265 points, followed by the

Panthers with 219 and Northgate with 160.

Fayette County finished with

120.5 points in seventh place, while McIntosh was 11th with 76 points

and Sandy Creek was 18th with 28 points.

Nine wrestlers reached the

semifinals for the Panthers and five made it to the finals. Seniors David

Woods (145) and Michael Cosper (140) won their weight classes, as did

junior Steven Savage (119).

Senior Tyler Kourajian (130)

easily won his first three matches and

lost a tough final match to

Stafford of Newton, 3-4. Tyler Freeman (152), a junior, also placed second,

losing in the final to the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler,

Chandler Woods of Union Grove.

Finishing in third place were

freshman Derek King (103), sophomore Cory Radcliffe (112), junior Devin

King (125) and sophomore Bradley Conner (215).

Thomas Beck of McIntosh (189)

scored a third-place finish, the highest individual result for his team.

Also placing for the Chiefs were Cameron Hall (160) in fifth and Jeff

Patrie (135) in sixth.

Fayette County got an individual

win from Drake McCoy (275), and other top finishers included Thomas Lowery

(fifth at 112), Zach Stanley (fifth at 145) and Ritchie Powell (sixth

at 152). Sandy Creek placed wrestlers at 103 (Frank, third); 125 (Denny,

fourth); and 145 (Rainey, sixth).

In this week's state coaches

polls, Landmark is ranked fourth in Class A and Starr's Mill is eighth

in AAAAA.

In JV action, Starr's

Mill took control of the county duals and ended the competition Saturday

with a 4-0 record. They beat McIntosh 66-12, Sandy Creek 66-12, and Fayette

53-24.

The championship round was

against Whitewater, who had also won their first their matches. All 13

matches were decided by pins (Starr's Mill forfeited at 189) with

Starr's Mill finishing on top 54-30.

Junior David Drake scored three

falls on the day, one at 152 and two more at 160. Jordan Strain (112),

Keegan Overton (119), Aaron Thompson (130), Jake Collins (135), Jeff Messer

(152), Jeff Partlow (215) and Brooks Parker (275) all went 2-0, pinning

each of their opponents.

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