EJCHS wrestlers see positives in tourney

Twenty-one area schools competed in the two-day event including Jefferson, Commerce and Jackson County.

East Jackson head coach Zach Morrison said he was very pleased with his team’s effort at the tournament.

“Overall I think it was a very positive day for our team,” he said. “As young as we are, and as inexperienced as most of these freshmen and sophomores are, I think we wrestled very well.”

EJCHS had several wrestlers earn top-ten finishes in their weight classes, including Jeff Chandler (3-1), who earned a second-place finish in the 285 lb. class.

While Morrison was pleased with the overall effort, he pointed out several things that his team needs to work on.

“There are a lot of things that I saw and coach Pruitt saw that we are going to work on this week and install,” Morrison said. “We got tilted a lot. Jackson County likes to tilt non-stop. We have to defend those better. We also have to defend legs better. Jefferson was riding a lot of legs. We want to be ready for the next time we see these guys so we have to work hard at practice. I have some assistant coaches that are doing a great job and our kids are working their butts off. I think we are going to continue to get better.”

Chandler will get a chance for a rematch with his Clarke Central opponent when the Eagles travel to Apalachee High School this weekend (Dec. 7-8) to wrestle in their next tournament.