The Jackson County Mat Panthers had one champion and a fifth place result at Saturday’s AAA State Tournament at the Gwinnett Arena.
Ryan Howe brought home the state championship in the 189 lb. class, while Izzy Carillo-Garcia placed fifth in the 135 lb. class.
Jackson County amassed 44 points during the tournament, trailing overall winner Eastside High, Lafayette, Heritage, Woodward Academy, West Laurens, White County, West Forsyth, Carrollton, Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe, Lumpkin County, Pickens County and Ridgeland.
Jackson County’s Ryan Howe won the AAA state title in the 189 lb. class at Saturday’s State Tournament. Photo by Al McLeod
Mat Panthers place 13th at state tourney
“The tournament definitely had its highs and lows,” said coach Jason Powers. “We had one wrestler miss weight on Thursday at the weigh-in and that is virtually unheard of so the tournament really didn’t start out too well, but it quickly got better after an excellent first round performance.”
Four of the six Mat Panthers competing won their first round matches, putting them one match away from medaling. Those six included Howe, Carrillo-Garcia, Kevin Spicer and Jacob Hyder.
“The two wrestlers that lost did an excellent job,” Powers said. “Charles Smothers lost his match in overtime to the eventual state runner-up and Tre’ Horton lost a two-point decision to the eventual state runner-up as well.”
But that’s when the problems started for Jackson County, Powers said.
“From this point on, we did not wrestle to the best of our ability. Kevin Spicer had an extremely tough draw with the eventual state champion in the second round, which he lost to by four.”
Spicer then lost in a close match with Ben Yu of Flowery Branch that knocked him out of the tournament.
After the loss in round one, Smothers lost a decision to Joyner of Woodward, who went on to finish fourth. Tre’ Horton lost to the eventual sixth place finisher from Westover High School in the second consolation round. Jacob Hyder lost to the eventual state runner-up in the second round, and then lost to the eventual fourth place wrestler from Columbus High School.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
Four of the six Mat Panthers competing won their first round matches, putting them one match away from medaling. Those six included Howe, Carrillo-Garcia, Kevin Spicer and Jacob Hyder.
“The two wrestlers that lost did an excellent job,” Powers said. “Charles Smothers lost his match in overtime to the eventual state runner-up and Tre’ Horton lost a two-point decision to the eventual state runner-up as well.”
But that’s when the problems started for Jackson County, Powers said.
“From this point on, we did not wrestle to the best of our ability. Kevin Spicer had an extremely tough draw with the eventual state champion in the second round, which he lost to by four.”
Spicer then lost in a close match with Ben Yu of Flowery Branch that knocked him out of the tournament.
After the loss in round one, Smothers lost a decision to Joyner of Woodward, who went on to finish fourth. Tre’ Horton lost to the eventual sixth place finisher from Westover High School in the second consolation round. Jacob Hyder lost to the eventual state runner-up in the second round, and then lost to the eventual fourth place wrestler from Columbus High School.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
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#1
Kalen Searcy
on
02/27/09 at 09:09 AM
[Reply]
Ryan ...We are all so proud of you for the person you are and your accomplishments. You are the "Pride of the Panthers"!