MACON — Jefferson received a state-championship caliber performance from its wrestlers in the consolation rounds while its hammers delivered in the championship finals as the Dragons put the finishing touches on an 18th-consecutive traditional state title Saturday in Macon.
“It’s like it just keeps building and building,” Dragon coach Doug Thurmond said of the streak. “It’s going to end, but Lord knows it didn’t end this year, and I’m proud of them and, I don’t know, it’s crazy. Would I have ever thunk this? No. Not in a million years. But it’s just a lot of hard work that a lot of the boys do.”
The Dragons totaled 228.5 points to finish 38.5 points ahead of second-place West Laurens, which challenged Jefferson’s historic streak for much of the first two days of the tournament.
Four of five of Jefferson’s championship finalists won state titles — Tyson Thurmond (106), Ian Statia (126), Dawson Bates (132) and Cole Potts (138) — while Jared Blackburn (120) added a second-place finish. Coy Strong (145), Ryan Hurd (160) and Mason Corbett (170) netted third-place finishes in the consolation finals.
Mason Mingus (113) finished fourth and Nolan Sorrow (152) and Gavin London (285) placed fifth.
The Dragons led the Raiders by a slim 10-point margin entering the consolation semifinals but sent four wrestlers to the consolation finals, extending the team’s lead to 29.5 points by the end of Friday.
“That was really big,” Thurmond said. “It was a 10-point lead and 10 points can be had really quick. They (West Laurens) had just as many people there in the wrestlebacks as we did. And the thing was, our boys stepped up … The wrestlebacks were amazing.”
The momentum from the consolation finals carried over to the championship finals with the four individual championships — two of which came in head-to-head bouts with West Laurens wrestlers. Blackburn, the team’s second-place finisher, ran into an undefeated wrestler from Woodward Academy, Vincent Mannella, in the finals.
“I hate it for Jared … he had a tough bout right there,” Thurmond said. “As far as the four state champs, that’s wonderful.”
For more coverage of Jefferson’s state championship, see the Feb. 14 issue of The Jackson Herald.
The Jefferson wrestling team is presented with the Class AAAA traditional state championship trophy Saturday in Macon. The Dragons extend their historic streak of traditional state titles to 18. Photo by Ben Munro
They are calling Commerce wrestling a dynasty with their 5th straight championship. I think Jefferson has redefined the term dynasty in GA high school sports. I think it will be difficult for a program to even get to double digit consecutive titles, let alone the 17 and 18 Jefferson has compiled.
Again, congrats to the Jefferson community and the wrestling program. Simply amazing.