Tift Middle Blue Devils win state wrestling title
Published 5:00 pm Saturday, January 15, 2022
- Stages of emotion: Tension hangs in the air for Tift County as Jefferson is on its way to a decision to knot the score at 18-18. Coaches Britt Wilson, Zac Martin, Rayder Schemmel and Billy King seem frozen in place.
TIFTON — Move over old tradition, here comes the new. Tift County Middle wrestling won its second state championship in three years Saturday, defeating Jefferson Middle at the Tift County High School gym, 48-38.
Tift won its first title in 2020. Jefferson was the defending state champions.
Asked to compare the two squads before the meeting, Tift wrestling coach Billy King put it, “They’re awesome. But we’re awesome, too.”
The Blue Devils certainly started out awesome, starting with pins in their first three matches from Bryan Melton, Kobe Pierce and Xavion Knight for a quick 18-0 lead. Of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy the rest of the day.
“Exhausting,” was Coach Zac Martin’s first reaction to how he felt after the championship. The pins were a good start. “We’ve been so solid in our mid-weights and our heavies,” said Martin. They had to carry the day.
COVID knocked out a handful of Tift wrestlers, including both heavyweights, he said. “It kind of put us in a bind where we had to ask people to wrestle up and move people around and they did a phenomenal job. They did anything we asked them to do.”
Most importantly, the Blue Devils did not eat many pins. Each team won eight matches, but Tift won by pinfall in seven of them (the eighth was a forfeit, also good for six points). Jefferson had four pins. The teams were tied after seven matches, 18-all. Tift then won the next two by pin. The 30-18 lead was more than the Dragons could make up, though they did close to 30-27.
“We came up with some huge matches,” Martin said. “We avoided being pinned.” He praised the work of Cedric Snead in one of these matches. Snead wrestled against an opponent Martin said was one of the best in the country.
To get to the finals, the Devils had to win several duals. They opened with a bye, then defeated Clear Creek Middle of Ellijay, 70-14. In the semifinals, they won over Chestatee Middle, 57-27.
Full roster for the Blue Devils are: Bo Bryant, Duncan Walker, Grayson Del Toro, Reid Tubbs, Cole Rutland, Jaxson Hughes, Caden Amarrow, Andreas Soto, Austin King, Tucker Lovett, Jamari Johnson, Nakalym Acree, Keegan Goodman, Dezmond McWhorter, Snead, Javon Bateman, Anthony Pace, Braden Harris, Marketus White, Nicholas Newsome, Melton, Sherrod Rich, Pierce, Dustin Alexander, Knight, Grant Alexander and Samantha Vicars.