With one more month of wrestling left, the wrestlers have made it apparent that they are serious this year. They have started out their season with many wins against the numerous schools they have wrestled. Their season record is 24-12 as they enter their last few matches. Skylar Grant, Evan Wingrove, and Kaden Taylor have excelled this year with their pins and wins.
They started off their season in December with a Quad meet against Coosa, Armuchee, and Gordon Lee. Senior Andrew Moore led the team by going 3-0 with 3 pins, followed by seniors Grant and Wingrove also going 3-0 with 2 and 1 pin. Grant felt this was the best meet for the team as a whole: “everyone on the team actually tried and didn’t just get pinned; it was also their (Gordon Lee’s) Senior night and we beat them,” he said. Sophomore Kaden Taylor stepped up this year to prove himself by also going 3-0 with 1 pin. Our team defeated all three teams and renewed their season record as 10-6. The next meet had them traveling to McCallie for their invitational, where Heritage placed higher than any other school in the region. Grant and Wingrove finished in third and second place, respectively, with Hunter Baker placing seventh against 39 other schools. The Generals winning streak continued at Dalton, where they won the Catoosa Cup by defeating Ringgold and winning the Catoosa County Wrestling Championship. That said, Coahulla Creek barely won against us 40-31, making the Generals’ season record 17-8. They won their next meet against Pickens, with almost every wrestler finishing 1-0. The Mountain View Duals in Lawrenceville was their next match. They finished 3-1 and fifth overall against 12 teams. Everyone seemed to have a good meet, but the wrestler who stepped up the most was Alex Grayson, as he went 4-0 with 3 pins.
The team’s most recent match was the Region 7AAAA Duals Championship. Reflecting on the match, Wingrove felt as if “our whole team actually wanted it more than any other match this year. We all really tried our best, but did not make it out,” he said. “I feel as a whole our team definitely did the best at regions.” The team went 3-2 and finished 3rd overall in the region. Their season record improved to 24-12 and plans to keep going up.
As the midway point of the season nears, Grant and Wingrove, both seniors on the team, think the team needs to improve on little things to better themselves and the team. Grant said, “The team is mentally weak. They need to improve their mental strength.” Wingrove said, “There’s always things you can improve on [but] I don’t think anyone needs to learn any more moves at this point in the season. I just think everyone needs to keep wrestling. Figure more things out for themselves, especially since some of the kids on the team have only wrestled for one to two years. Just stay in the wrestling room and keep working.” The team has a few more meets left facing Pickens, and then traveling to regions at Sonoraville where the top four will qualify, State sectionals where the top six will qualify, and their last meet will be State at Macon. They don’t plan on making it easy for any other school.
