The tournament hosted by Habersham Central was as tough as any the Apalachee High School wrestling team will likely face during the regular season.
The Sham Slam featured some of the top ranked schools from various classifications and gave the Mat Wildcats a true test this past weekend. Apalachee’s Zak Moore placed third at 125 while Aaron Segars was sixth at 135.
“I was not disappointed with anyone’s performance,” said AHS coach Jim Stoudenmire. “We are moving along in the right direction. We have several first-year wrestlers and some freshmen who saw some tough competition. When you walk in the gym and see teams like Jefferson and Collins Hill, you know it is going to be a challenge.”
The Wildcat coach said, however, it is good every once in a while to face opposition like his team did this past weekend.
“It was tough for our younger wrestlers but it will help them prepare for what they have to do to get better,” Stoudenmire said. “There was not a bad team there. We wrestled about as well as we could in most spots.”
Aaron Roberts, Chris Hamrick, Tony Hoard and Matt Harmon also wrestled well at the Sham Slam, the AHS coach said.
Coach Chad Horne’s Winder-Barrow High School wrestling team also competed at Habersham Central.
Devan Espinosa placed sixth at the tournament compiling a 3-3 record.
“We were not quite ready for that tournament, but it did let us know that we still have a lot of work to do to get better,” Horne said.
In the past two weeks, the Mat Bulldoggs have faced Dawson County, Salem, Johnson and Dutchtown. WBHS recorded wins against Johnson (63-6) and Dutchtwon (48-30) during that span.
Top performers during the past two weeks have been Jake Bergen (three pins), Taylor Keinat (two pins), Zach Gutierez (two pins) and Will Whisenant (4-2 overall record).
