‘No Doubt’

Published 11:12 pm Saturday, January 27, 2007

In first place and carrying a cushion of more than 40 points in team standings, Bagley Middle School had little reason to fret heading into the finals of Saturday’s league tournament at Eastbrook.

The Braves wrestled as if nothing was secure, though, and left no doubts about the caliber of their third North Georgia Middle School Athletic League title in four seasons.

That made one final good impression on Bagley coach Nathan Ridley.

“This is the third team I’ve coached that’s won a league championship and I coached a team that went undefeated and won every tournament they were in,” he said. “But no team I’ve coached has wrestled as tough a schedule as this group of kids and I’m as proud of them as anyone I’ve ever coached.”

Bagley was dominant from start to finish on Saturday, including in the championship finals. The Braves won eight of 10 matches — all but one of those by pin — in that round to finish with 256 points, 61.5 ahead of second-place Westside. Bagley also was the only school to place a wrestler in the top four in all 15 weight classes.

Dalton finished third with 149 points and host Eastbrook (145.5) was fourth, while North Whitfield (104), New Hope (43), Gladden (12) and Valley Point (7) rounded out the field.

While the Braves’ substantial lead could have left them short on motivation heading into the finals, they had their own reasons to stay focused.

Their lineup was filled with eighth-graders — all but one finalist was wrestling his last match in a Bagley singlet — so Ridley reminded his wrestlers to be true to themselves and go out with big finishes. And the team never forgot its two-point loss to Westside at last year’s tourney, which came down to the day’s final match.

“Last year, I think we maybe did kind of relax in the finals and, you know, ended up losing,” Ridley said. “This year, our battle cry every time we’d break down was ‘Leave no doubt.’ That was to make sure that they did all that they could and they really took it to heart.”

In the six years Ridley has led the Braves, they’ve finished first or second every season, but this championship set a new high in individual winners.

Dalton Lane, who won the 100-pound weight class for his third individual league title, was part of the school’s last championship.

“We had been thinking about this because we didn’t win it last year as a team,” Lane said. “It feels good to get our title back.”

Ryan Cox (72), Josh Webb (78), Zach Shoemaker (86), Zack James (108), Skyler Young (165), Temon Carnes (220) and Randy Shoemaker (275) also won individual championships.

Although Bagley’s performance was especially bright, Westside didn’t exactly fade despite coming up short in its title defense.

The Rockets sent eight wrestlers to the finals and won six of those matches — Trey Sellers (94), Andrew Bennett (115), Cody Wall (123), Miles Knox (130), Garrett Henderson (154) and Keith Teasley (180) all claimed titles.

That gave the Rockets one more individual title than last year’s championship squad, a good sign for coach Larry Farner in what was essentially a rebuilding year.

“I was very proud of my team,” he said. “We basically replaced all but three wrestlers this year. We had a couple up and down times this year, but when we had our full lineup and everybody was there, we did very well.”

With a 7-0 mark in league duals, Bagley’s toughness shouldn’t have surprised anyone on Saturday, and Farner said he expected a strong showing by the Braves.

“It was amazing,” he said of Bagley’s effort in the finals. “When they do that well, obviously it’s hard to come back on them.”

Eastbrook’s Gerardo Cruz, the only wrestler not from Bagley or Westside to earn a title, won the 140-pound weight class.

Dalton placed 11 wrestlers, the second-most, while Westside and Eastbrook each placed 10.



North Georgia Middle School Athletic League Wrestling Tournament

Saturday

Eastbrook Middle School



Team Standings

1. Bagley — 256

2. Westside — 194.5

3. Dalton — 149

4. Eastbrook — 145.5

5. North Whitfield — 104

6. New Hope — 43

7. Gladden — 12

8. Valley Point — 7



Individual Standings

72 pounds

1. Ryan Cox, Bagley

2. Josh Barnett, Westside

3. Jeremy White, Eastbrook

4. Luis Juan, Dalton



86 pounds

1. Josh Webb, Bagley

2. Austin Kay, Dalton

3. Shawn Estermeyer, Eastbrook

4. Thomas Whitmere, New Hope



94 pounds

1. Zack Shoemaker, Bagley

2. Mario Rodriguez, Eastbrook

3. Dalin McClure, Westside

4. Chris Dodson, Valley Point



100 pounds

1. Dalton Lane, Bagley

2. Dustin Pendergrass, North Whitfield

3. Jon Wilbanks, Eastbrook

4. Orlando Ramirez, Dalton



108 pounds

1. Zack James, Bagley

2. Gerardo Soto, Dalton

3. Dusty Skidmore, Eastbrook

4. Brian Whitmire, Westside



115 pounds

1. Andrew Barnett, Westside

2. Roberto Morales, Eastbrook

3. Omar Hernandez, Dalton

4. Tyler Hawkins, Bagley



123 pounds

1. Cody Wall, Westside

2. Jose Garcia, Dalton

3. Hunter Guinn, North Whitfield

4. Dustin Hardy, Bagley



130 pounds

1. Miles Knox, Westside

2. Harris News, Dalton

3. Jonathan Olinger, Bagley

4. Conner Hayes, New Hope



140 pounds

1. Gerardo Cruz, Eastbrook

2. Renaldo Torres, Dalton

3. James Smith, Westside

4. Justin Chastain, Bagley



154 pounds

1. Garrett Henderson, Westside

2. Dustin Anderson, Bagley

3. Austin Duckett, Dalton

4. Brandon Calderon, Eastbrook



165 pounds

1. Skyler Young, Bagley

2. Adam Selby, North Whitfield

3. Maurice Hamilton, Eastbrook

4. Zach Washington, Dalton



180 pounds

1. Keith Teasley, Westside

2. Jimerson Flores, North Whitfield

3. Micky Guerrero, Bagley

4. Chandler Carpenter, New Hope



220 pounds

1. Temon Carnes, Bagley

2. Travis Mills, Westside

3. Blake Lequire, Gladden

4. Michael Allmon, North Whitfield



275 pounds

1. Randy Shoemaker, Bagley

2. Sinjin Herren, New Hope

3. Tyler Burrows, Dalton

4. Chance Hudson, Eastbrook