-
Morgan County senior wrestler Christopher Morgan tries to force his opponent to surrender this past weekend at the Class AAA state duals tournament, held at Lumpkin County High School. CONTRIBUTED -
Mat Dog junior Paul Bessette tries a move on his opponent as he attempts to win by pin. CONTRIBUTED
The Morgan County wrestling team recently finished fifth at the Class AAA state duals. The Mat Dogs traveled to Lumpkin County Friday to compete against seven other teams, going 3-2 over the weekend.
Morgan County wrestling rattled off victories over Pike County, Coahulla Creek, and Harlem, but lost to eventual Class AAA champion and host Lumpkin County, as well as third-place finisher Bremen.
While it wasn’t the result head coach Duane Turner wanted, he was proud of his wrestlers’ efforts.
“It went well. We ended up getting fifth in the tournament. Fifth at state is pretty good,” Turner told the Lake Oconee News. “I’m pleased with that. It’s not where we want to be, but it’s a good stepping stone for the next step in our progression as we continue to build this program back up.”
In the opening round on Friday, Morgan County defeated Pike County, getting out to a large lead early. However, the Mat Pirates made a run at the Mat Dogs, who held on to win 42-30 in the end.
Turner’s squad won three out of the first four matches against Pike County. Jamari Mundy started with a victory, and then Caleb Turner and Christopher Morgan closed out the match with two wins.
“We started on a good note and ended on a good note,” Turner said. “That made for a successful victory against Pike County.”
Morgan County next faced Lumpkin County, which came out on top easily with a 62-17 result.
The Mat Dogs only won three matches in the loss, with Turner, Miles Butler, and Paul Bessette claiming victories. The rest struggled against Lumpkin County, a powerhouse program in the state.
The loss to Lumpkin County Friday moved Morgan County into the consolation bracket, where it fared well. The Mat Dogs defeated rival Harlem and Coahulla Creek before losing to Bremen.
Even though they finished fifth, Turner said Saturday’s results made him content.
“It’s always good to beat Harlem, our biggest region opponent. It was a quick turnaround (from Friday), but was good for us,” Turner said. “And then we wrestled Coahulla Creek, who all the experts had picked to beat us, but we ended up beating them. We were not expected to beat them, so that was exciting. We beat them by a pretty wide margin and that was an eye-opening result for us.”
Morgan County routed Coahulla Creek, defeating the Colts 45-27 to move on to face Bremen. The Mat Dogs did, unfortunately, fall short of making the consolation bracket championship round, though.
Bremen, which is another one of the state’s renowned programs, defeated Morgan County, 47-27.
Turner enjoyed seeing his wrestlers battle it out with the third-place finisher, despite coming up short.
“Bremen is a very, very good team and is one of the top teams in the state,” Turner said. “But we battled them and it came down to three matches left. We trailed 30-29 but ended up losing all three.”
Bremen secured the last three matches by a technical fall, pin, and the other by a major decision.
Now, Morgan County has started to focus on the traditional area tournament, which it will host on Feb. 3. The traditional sectionals round will take place at Coahulla Creek and the finals in Macon.
“We’re now done with team stuff,” Turner said. “The rest of the season is about traditional or individual wrestling.”