It’s not Greyson Cochran’s favorite way to wrestle. All eyes focused, both teams present, everything centered on the action happening on the mat.
Whereas a traditional wrestling tournament scatters teammates all over the gymnasium floor, duals foster a kind of athletic pressure cooker.
Yet, with Commerce High School down by one point entering the last third of its lineup, Cochran told his coach he’d get the maximum possible – a win by pin.
“Coach just told me to win the match and I told him I’ll get 6,” Cochran said, smiling. “As soon as I locked him up, I knew it was a matter of time.”
With around a minute left in the third period, Cochran (145 lbs.) overpowered his Social Circle opponent and gave the Tigers the go ahead points in the finals, deciding the Area-2A Duals last weekend.
Cochran’s teammates quickly finished the Redskins off and concluded the Tigers’ undefeated run at Riverside Military Academy.
Commerce defeated George Walton Academy (55-24), Wesleyan (76 – -1) and Social Circle (49-25) to win the area title and advance to the state tournament in Macon this Friday and Saturday. The Tigers are the No. 3 seed and open the meet against Mount Zion at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
The team’s drive ignited with its control of Wesleyan, which ended the match with -1 because of a flagrant penalty.
“We just dominated them. That got us up,” said Chance McClure, who pinned his Social Circle opposition (220 lb.) within seconds of the opening whistle. “It was tight right there (for a little while), a nail biter. But once we got into the meat of our lineup it was done.”
Following Cochran, Josh Westmoreland, Thomas Sweeney and Trent Reddish each secured wins to strengthen Commerce’s lead.
They were not the only ones to post victories. Cody Legg’s performance in the 106-pound class was impressive as he speedily pressed his opponent’s shoulders to the mat for a pin in less than a minute.
But winning is not the only way to boost the team in duals competition. Wrestlers work hard to limit a stronger opponent’s victory by avoiding a pin or what’s called a major decision, which cost more points.
“Each wrestler knows their role,” coach Kendall Love explained. “I was really proud of our effort at the Area Duals. We wrestled a very good Social Circle team in the finals and found a way to win.”
Love said the team is peaking at this point in the season with each weight class filled out, meaning the Tigers surrender no forfeiture points.
That is a huge factor in duals, especially, where teams square off against each other, one by one.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this group at this point. I just hope we can stay motivated and wrestle a good tournament next weekend,” Love said. “If we can do that, I feel like it will be a successful weekend for us.”
Should Commerce defeat Mount Zion, the semifinal round will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The top two seeds in the tournament are Holy Innocents (No. 2) and Bremen (No. 1), three-time state champion in duals competition.
