2021 Georgia High School State Recap

photo courtesy of Amber Cloy; www.AmberCloy.Shootproof.com/gallery/ghsastate

Welcome to our first high school state recap of 2020! Last weekend, Macon, Georgia, was the host site for the GHSA State Championships. This marked the high school state tournament season’s unofficial start, and more power states will be in action this week. 

For years The Open Mat has heaped praise upon Georgia for its improvement from an afterthought on the national scene to a key player. Georgia has two of the top 50 wrestlers in the Class of 2021 and four in the top 50 in the Class of 2022. That doesn’t include student-athletes that have gone out of state for high school, either. Georgia’s firepower was on display at the 2020 Super 32 as they put four wrestlers in the finals and two came away with championship belts. 

The lack of a DI program in-state hasn’t had a negative impact on Georgia at the collegiate level either. 12 Georgia natives qualified for the DI NCAA Tournament in 2019 and while that number dropped to nine last season, there was still plenty of talent. Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) earned the top-seed at 184 lbs and missed out on an opportunity to become the first wrestler from Georgia to win a DI title. 

As you’ll notice below, Georgia has six classifications at the public school level, which is way too much. The state’s performance at national-level events has negated that fact, though. 

Georgia also has sanctioned girls’ high school wrestling. The girls are in their third year of competition and the overall talent level in the state continues to increase. Three of the top-31 girls in the Class of 2021 hail from Georgia. 

We’ve combed through the brackets and found some interesting items from the 2021 Georgia State Championships, along with state champions and wrestlers that achieved significant milestones. 

State Champions

106: 1A Kolby Dempsey (Armuchee), 2A Blake Summers (Fannin County), 3A Carson Farist (Gilmer County), 4A Chaz McDonald (Jefferson), 5A Colby McBride (Woodward Academy), 6A Rylan Ibold (Buford), 7A Hunter McCullough (Lowndes)

113: 1A Josh Noble (Mt. Pisgah Christian), 2A Bryan Valladares (Oglethorpe County), 3A Garrett Pace (Rockmart), 4A Davis Dollar (Jefferson), 5A Gavin Hayes (Ola), 6A Blake Brooks (Evans), 7A Jacob Silka (Cherokee)

120: 1A Robert Westbrook (The Walker School), 2A Brenan Sauls (Bremen), 3A Isaac Linley (Adairsville), 4A Malik Hardy (Spencer), 5A Cole Hunt (Cass), 6A Kaleb Davis (Valdosta), 7A Riley Dahlgren (Camden County)

126: 1A Art Martinez (Holy Innocents), 2A Jamal Rucker (Elbert County), 3A Jacob Pedraza (North Hall), 4A Riso Webb (Southeast Whitfield), 5A Amantee Mills (Stone Mountain), 6A Jacob Seymour (North Paulding), 7A Konlin Weaver (Camden County)

132: 1A Tyler Nelson (Mt. Pisgah Christian), 2A Parker Coy (Lovett School), 3A Eli Knight (Sonoraville), 4A Beau Branand (North Oconee), 5A Tucker Kinsaul (Harris County), 6A David Panone (Lassiter), 7A Kaleb Clark (Camden County)

138: 1A Nate Watson (North Cobb Christian), 2A Shane Watson (Oglethorpe County), 3A Jackson Whitmire (North Hall), 4A Josh Kincaid (Madison County), 5A Caden McCrary (Woodland), 6A Andrew Cory (Creekview), 7A Clinton Gilbert (Collins Hill)

145: 1A Jake Swink (Holy Innocents), 2A Hunter Manning (Vidalia), 3A Damon Campbell (North Hall), 4A Seth Larson (Flowery Branch), 5A Michael Kilic (Woodward Academy), 6A Hunter Noland (Dalton), 7A Jeremy Paradice (Colquitt County)

152: 1A Joey Bertrand (Mt. Pisgah Christian), 2A Miles Watts (Rabun County), Dalton Cornett (Adairsville), 4A Sam Johnson (North Oconee), 5A Caleb Henson (Woodland), 6A Dawson Mathews (Alexander), 7A Bentley Wheeler (North Forsyth)

160: 1A Logan Eller (Trion), 2A Matthew Waddell (Pepperell), 3A Joshua Millhollan (Rockmart), 4A Aaron Sheffield (Central), 5A Colby Cochran (Woodland), 6A RJ Weston (Lassiter), 7A Ethan Rickert (West Forsyth)

170: 1A David Bertrand (Mt. Pisgah Christian), 2A Ty Morris (Bremen), 3A Charlie Henkel (Franklin County), 4A Luke Cochran (Jefferson), 5A Gunner Filipowicz (Woodward Academy), 6A Tate Evans (Richmond Hill), 7A Ben Williams (Milton)

182: 1A Erik Dodder (Mt. Vernon Presbyterian), 2A Cody Williams (Dade County), 3A Hunter Adams (North Hall), 4A Nolan Pozzobon (Marist), 5A Matthew Singleton (Woodward Academy), 6A Jackson Wakeland (Glynn Academy), 7A Avery Krippner (Forsyth Central)

195: 1A Zach Sharp (Trion), 2A Thomas Godbee (Vidalia), 3A John Lovett (Pike County), 4A Shoshoni Williams (Perry), 5A Jaxon Smith (Woodland), 6A Josh McCutchen (Valdosta), 7A Landen Moss (Brookwood)

220: 1A Elijah Burns (Commerce), 2A Ty Veatch (Chattooga), 3A Devin Sullens (White County), 4A Jose Leon (Southeast Whitfield), 5A Noah Hoffmeier (Cass), 6A Brock Bibbee (Carrollton), 7A Jonathan Chesser (Walton)

285: 1A Jakob Frates (Commerce), 2A Jaylin Burns (Vidalia), 3A Jaxx Knight (Sonoraville), 4A Chase Horne (West Laurens), 5A Beau Shugarts (Greenbrier), 6A Madden Sanker (South Paulding), 7A Dylan Fairchild (West Forsyth)

Girls

102: Kennedy Shropshire (Mountain View)

112: Dianna Holmes (North Gwinnett)

122: Amani Jones (Ola)

132: Catherine Mullis (Baldwin)

142: Samantha Scarbrough (Harris County)

152: Sidney Sullens (White County)

162: Caitlyn Mixon (Ware County)

172: Dream Santiago (Alexander)

197: Amariah Marenco (Carrollton)

225: Isabella Redlinger (Chestatee)

Team Scores

1A: 1) Mt. Pisagh Christian  256, 2) Trion 205, 3) Commerce  202.5, 4) Social Circle  187, 5) Wesleyan  149.5

2A: 1) Fannin County  186, 2) Lovett  172.5, 3) Oglethorpe County  154.5, 4) Banks County  148; 4) Elbert County  148

3A: 1) Rockmart  202.5, 2) Sonoraville  197,  3) North Hall  194, 4) Gilmer County  171,  5) Adairsville  138.5

4A: 1) Jefferson  265, 2) North Oconee  177, 3) Flowery Branch  150,  4) West Laurens  117.5, 5) Central 108,  5) Northwest Whitfield  108

5A: 1) Woodland  243, 2) Cass  202, 3) Woodward Academy  182, 4) Harris County  166, 5) Ola  162.5

6A: 1) Buford  183, 2) Lassiter  171, 3) Richmond Hill  138.5, 4) Cambridge  129, 5) Brunswick  125.5

7A: 1) Camden County  253.5,  2) West Forsyth  152.5, 3) Lambert  117.5, 4) Colquitt County  105, 4) North Forsyth  105

Girls: 1) Chestatee  103, 2) Alexander  89, 3) Greenbrier  86, 4) Veterans  79, 5) Carrollton  75

Team Race

Two of the best team races came at the 2A and 6A level. Fannin County’s run through the consolations ended up being one of the difference makers. They had a pair of wrestlers, Kainan Henson (120) and McCay Turner (160), that finished in third. Henson lost in the semis while Turner came back after falling in the quarters. Kolten Stephens (113) was defeated in the second round and advanced to the third-place bout. Fannin County’s only state champion was their 106 lber, Blake Summers, who defeated an opponent from second place Lovett in the finals. It was the first title in school history. 

Also winning their first traditional title was 1A’s, Mount Pisgah Christian. Four of their five state finalists came away with championships.

Buford had the title basically locked up over Lassiter before the finals began, because of some unsung heroes in the consolation semis. Both Tyler Henley (126) and Grayson Santee (152) were squared off with opponents from Lassiter in their bouts. Not only did both win, but they also registered pins. Like Fannin County, Buford’s 106 lber, Rylan Ibold was their lone state champion. Their title was the fourth in school history and the first since 2018. 

Camden County won their seventh state team title. They also had the largest margin of victory (101 points) of any of the state championship teams. Six of their wrestlers made the state finals, while three came away with titles and two more were third.

It was a three-peat for 5A state champions Woodland Cartersville. The Wildcats had a comfortable 40 point win over Cass, the same team they defeated in the regional tournament and finals of the dual state tournament. Four Woodland wrestlers won championships and two others (Hayden Santora - 106 and Charles Higdon - 220) finished in third place. 

Rockmart ended a huge drought with their dramatic win over Sonoraville in the 3A tournament. Two state champions (Garrett Pace - 113 and Dalvin Millhollan - 160) proved to be the difference makers in a 5.5 point margin of victory. Five others made the medal stand as well for a Rockmart team that last won a team title in 2003. It is the tenth in school history. 

This marked the third time that the GHSA has offered an official girls state tournament, but the first time team score had been kept. Chestatee will go down as the first girls’ state championship team as they crowned an individual champion at 225 lbs, Isabella Redlinger, and two other state finalists (Catarina Velasquez - 102 and Ashley Godinez - 152). 

Milestones

Two-time state champions: Cole Hunt (Dalton), Amantee Mills (Stone Mountain), Caleb Henson (Woodland), Noah Hoffmeier (Cass), Jacob Silka (Cherokee), Ben Williams (Milton), Jonathan Chesser (Walton), Dylan Fairchild (West Forsyth), Beau Branand (North Oconee), Aaron Sheffield (Central), David Panone (Lassiter), Andrew Cory (Creekview), Hunter Noland (Dalton), Robert Austin Westbrook (The Walker School), Jakob Frates (Commerce), Braden Sauls (Bremen), Thomas Godbee (Vidalia), 

Three-time state champions: Jacob Pedraza (North Hall), Eli Knight (Sonoraville), Josh Kincaid (Madison County), Jake Swink (Holy Innocents), Michael Kilic (Woodward Academy), Clint Gilbert (Collins Hill), David Bertrand (Mt. Pisgah Christian), Matthew Singleton (Woodward Academy), Jaxon Smith (Woodland), Eliah Burns (Commerce), Chase Horne (West Laurens), Jacob Seymour (South Paulding), Dianna Holmes (North Gwinnett), Amani Jones (Ola)

Four-time state champions: Caden McCrary (Woodland)

Stacked Brackets

We mentioned this in our 2020 recap. Though Georgia has a ton of firepower and depth, most of those studs did not meet on the state level due to having so many classes. 

The 6A 126 lb bracket featured a pair of undefeated wrestlers vying to repeat as state champions. Ultimately it was Jacob Seymour (South Paulding) who kept his perfect record intact by defeating Joey Robinson (Pope). The title was Seymour’s third. 

At 120 lbs in the 1A division, returning state champion Robert Austin Westbrook was on the same side of the bracket as two-time champ Dawson Legg (Commerce). Westbrook coasted to an 8-2 decision before teching Seth Huskins (Trion) in the finals. 

Upsets

A defending champion went down in the opening weight class in the girl’s division. Athena Mack (Stephens County) fell in the semifinals to Catarina Velasquez (Chestatee) by fall and then dropped the third-place bout to Lisa Glymph (Marietta). 

The 195 lb bracket at the 6A division saw returning champion Kaleb Walley (Rockdale County) lose by fall in the finals to Josh McCutchen (Valdosta). While Walley won the same weight class in 2020, McCutchen came up from 170 lbs, where he finished sixth. 

Odds and Ends

The Sullens siblings of White County became Georgia’s first brother/sister tandem to win state titles in the same season. Sidney, a two-time runner-up, was finally able to break through and claim a girl's championship at 152 lbs. Devin was the 220 lb champion in the 3A classification. 

Catherine Bertrand (Mt. Pisgah Christian) competed in the boys tournament and took third at the 1A 106 lb weight class. Last season, Catherine was fourth. She finished the year with a 47-6 record and is set to compete for Presbyterian College next year. Her brother, David, a state champ at 170 lbs, will also attend Presbyterian to wrestle and play football. 

Like last season, no girl's team produced more than one state champion. That was a stark contrast to 2019, when Hiram had three champs. 

Freshmen that began their quest for four state titles with one in 2021 include: Konlin Weaver (Camden County - 7A 126), Riley Ibold (Buford - 6A 106), Seth Larson (Flowery Branch - 4A 145), Carson Farist (Gilmer County - 3A 106), Garrett Pace (Rockmart - 3A 113). 

None of the girls titles were won by freshmen. 

For the second year in a row, the University of North Carolina has signed a four-time state champion from Georgia. This year the Tarheels inked Caden McCrary, while they brought aboard Gavin Kane in 2020. 



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