Dade Finishes Third In Hillgrove Duals

By EDDY GIFFORD
Sports Writer

Dade County High School’s wrestling team began its season on Nov. 23rd at Hillgrove High School in Powder Springs as the team competed in the annual Hillgrove Duals.

DCHS opened the day up against the Pope High School Greyhounds, one of the premier teams in the state of Georgia across all classifications. Dade battled the Greyhounds to a 42-33 loss but had opportunities to pull off the upset.

Dade faced North Paulding in the second round, and Dade won 42-40.

The third-round match up verses Hillgrove B saw the Wolverines cruise to a 66-9 win.

Dade faced Lumpkin County in round four, and Lumpkin jumped on the Wolverines 18-0 to start the match. Dade came storming back to tie it up at 18 with pins by Brandon Willerson, Cayden Cooper, and Zac Smith. Lumpkin took the lead back when the Wolverines had to forfeit the 170-weight class, but Landon Williams pinned his opponent in the second period to tie it up at 24. Cody Williams, Isaac Pangle, and Austin Sorrelle sealed the dual for the Wolverines, but Lumpkin would score six more points when Dade County had to forfeit at 106. Hayden Langley won by tech fall at 113, and Jake Gatlin made quick work of his opponent at 120 with a pin and added six more points for the Wolverines.

Dade won by the final score of 53-30.

The final match of the day saw the Wolverines defeat Adairsville 46-36.

Dade finished 4-1 on the day, and in third place overall. Landon Williams, Cody Williams, and Zac Smith all went 5-0 on the day, and Austin Sorrelle went 3-0 for the tournament.

“You could tell we were out of shape, but the tournament was a good measuring stick for what we are capable of accomplishing. We were missing Heidi Raines at 145, and we had to forfeit 106 and 170 because we are not on weight yet, so that cost us in certain places match up wise. We have a long way to go, but this was definitely a good start to the season,” stated wrestling coach Jeff Poston.