Area produces several state placers

The Whitewater Wildcats exceeded expectations again providing a number of upsets and placing fifth as a team at the Georgia AAAA State Tournament at the Gwinnett Arena last weekend. The team finished with two 2nd place finishes and a 4th place finisher.

Andrew Parsons (120) seeded fourth from sectionals beat former state champion Griffin Higginbothom from Union Grove in quarterfinals and was able to make it to the finals Saturday night. Parsons was able to comeback from behind, but eventually lost to state champion Roman Boylen from Alexander 6-3.
Austin Penland (138) ran through the brackets, winning his first three matches to get to the finals. His opponent was Chad Starnes, a 3 time state champion. Austin kept Starnes at bay for sometime and showed a lot heart. In the end, Starnes won 4-2, but Penland gave him his closest match of the tournament.

George Harris (285) took the long route to place at state. Harris lost his first match and had to work his way up through the consolation bracket. He then won four matches in a row including a pin at 1:30 in the 1st period. He then moved on the to the match for third place, where Harris took on Demarcus Hamilton the #1 seed from the West Sectional. Harris stood with Hamilton through the first period, but Hamilton won 3-0. Harris took 4th place in the state finals.

Northgate’s Tyler Askey was the individual champion at 170. It was his third straight state title. He finished the season with a record of 53-0. He faced Starr’s Mill’s Luke Runyan in the final and beat him on a fall at 1:06. Runyan’s second place finish was Starr’s Mill’s only state placer.

In Class AAAAA, Newnan’s Andrew Sowerbrower placed sixth at 113, while Caleb Spinks placed sixth at 138.

In Class AAA, Sandy Creek’s Trei Johnson placed sixth at 120.

In Class A, Landmark Christian’s Caleb Greer took second at 120.