It was a tough weekend for the Jackson County Mat Panthers as an odd format in the USMC Raider Rumble at Alpharetta High School gave a couple of JCCHS’ top grapplers fits, and landed the team with a seventh place finish.
“The format had us wrestle in three pool matches on Friday night and then the wrestlers were seeded according to how they did in the pools,” said coach Jason Powers. “Due to the format that was used we got a lot of bad draws that played havoc on some of our better wrestlers Saturday.”
On Saturday, losers in the first two rounds of wrestling were eliminated from the tournament. Kevin Spicer went 3-0 with three pins on Friday, was seeded fourth, drawing the only wrestler he has lost to this year. He lost before placement rounds.
Ryan Shekey also went 3-0 on Friday, and was seeded sixth behind a wrestler that he beat on Friday night due to the point system used.
Shekey faced the eventual tournament champion in the second round, and was put out of the tournament before the placement rounds as well.
“The loss of these two important wrestlers early on Saturday took any chances of placing high in the tournament away,” Powers said.
Placing for the Panthers were Ryan Howe, who took first in the 189 lb. category; Cole Meaders placed fourth in the 130 lb. category; Charles Smothers placed fourth in the 171 lb. category; and Jacob Hyder placed fourth in the 215 lb. category.
In addition to winning in his weight class, Howe was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in the Upper Weight Division for his dominant performance during the weekend.
“(He) has compiled an impressive list of wins this year and remains undefeated thus far in the season,” said Powers. “I am really looking forward to what the rest of the season has to hold for Ryan.”
Powers said the Raider Rumble was another very tough tournament for the Mat Panthers.
“I learned a lot about our strengths and weaknesses this weekend and I plan to improve upon these as the season goes along,” he said. “It’s extremely important to have tough competition throughout the year to prepare us for the Area, Sectional and State tournaments.”
Powers said overall, he was proud of the way the team performed over the weekend.
“We have a lot of things to work on, but I am seeing improvement from week to week with them and that is the most important thing right now.”
Meanwhile the Junior Varsity team traveled to Dacula this past weekend to compete in the Fernando Duals, placing sixth out of 22 teams that took part.
“I am very pleased with the performance of our JV team so far this year,” Powers said. “The talent level of the JV team is very promising for years to come.”
Izzy Carrillo-Garcia, Cody Atkins and Jamari Davis went undefeated through the weekend.
The Mat Panthers were scheduled to face Commerce and Newton County on the road on Tuesday. Results from that match were unavailable at press time.
Up next for JCCHS is a trip to South Forsyth High School for the Santa Slam beginning on Friday.
