Lassiter finishes second in Class AAAAAA traditionals
Feb. 14—Lassiter led the way for Cobb County at the Georgia High School Association State Wrestling Championships in Macon over the weekend.
The Trojans' second place finish in the Class AAAAAA event marked the team's highest finish since the 1988-89 season, and they had three wrestlers who competed for individual state titles. Walton earned the best finish in Class AAAAAAA, coming in ninth, with Jonathan Chesser winning an individual title.
"We are really pleased with our finish," Lassiter coach Matt Brickley said. "But would have liked to have another 13 points. With county and state, it's been a great year."
Robert Weston pinned Alexander's Dylan Burton to claim the 160-pound championship. In his four matches, he had three pins and won his semifinal match against Nick Barton from Cambridge by technical fall.
David Panone beat Buford's Nick Cambria 3-0 to win the 132-pound title. Panone had a pin, won by technical fall and then beat Cullen Kane from Cambridge by major decision, 14-1, in the semifinals to reach the championship match.
"That's pretty much what we thought would happen," Brickley said. "(Panone and Cambria) wrestled earlier in the year and it was like a carbon copy of that match. (For Weston) nobody has scored on him all year."
Francisco Valle had two pins and beat Valdosta's L.B. Nelloms 2-0 to advance to the title match before falling to South Paulding's Madden Sanker, to finish in second place.
"Frankie had a great weekend," Brickley said. "(Sanker) came out firing, but Frankie had some early success moving him around in the first period. But it changed when (Sanker) got on top. Frankie is right at 280 pounds, but (Sanker) has to be 6-foot-5. It isn't often when someone makes Frankie look smaller."
Buford won the team portion of the tournament with 183 points, Lassiter had 171 and Richmond Hill was third at 138.5. Pope was 10th with 97 points, and it was the only other Cobb County team to finish in the top 10.
Joey Robinson led the Greyhounds with a second place finish at 126 pounds. After two pins, Robinson beat Creekview's Walter Wilkie 8-6 to advance to the final. There he dropped a 5-1 decision to South Paulding's Jacob Seymour. Pope's Jacob Robinson also claimed a fourth place finish at 113-pounds.
Wheeler's Zyan Hall won by technical fall and pin before beating Evan Kurtz from Cambridge 2-0 in the semifinals. Tate Evans defeated Hall in the title match 8-5.
Kell's Patrick Parlato was the county's final runner-up, claiming second at 145-pounds. Two pins and an 8-7 decision over Sequoyah's Charlie Throne earned Parlato's spot in the final, where he fell to Dalton's Hunter Noland.
Sprayberry's Josh Sanders also earned a third place finish at 120-pounds.
Camden County won the Class AAAAAAA title, followed by West Forsyth and Lambert.
The Raiders were led by Chesser, who won by major decision and pin before defeating Dylan Spelios from East Coweta 9-2 in the semifinals to reach the title match. There, he downed Camden County's Garrett Gaston 8-3 to win the championship. Walton's Logan Madsen earned fourth place at 152 pounds.
Hillgrove's Connor Powell had a pin and then came from behind in the third period to defeat Etowah's Austin Wilson 6-5 to advance to the semifinals. He beat Grant Turner from Mill Creek 7-0 before dropping a 3-1 decision to Camden County's Konlin Weaver 3-1 in the title match.
Marietta's Miller Huffman (170) and Avant Stepherson (138), along with McEachern's Ese Dubre (220) all finished fourth.
