TCHS Wrestles At Onion City Invitational
Courtesy of TCHS
It’s that time of year, sickness is wreaking havoc on the starting lineup for the Toombs County High School wrestling team as they limped into the weekend competition. Despite the circumstances, the Mat-Dawgs were able to outperform 10 of the 11 other teams that attended the Onion City Invitational at Vidalia High School.
“We had several guys out sick this week, but those that were filling in really stepped up their game this weekend. This just proves the strength of our overall program. Our wrestling room is one of the toughest in the area,” said Coach Allen of the weekend.
The MatDawgs placed 9 of the 13 wrestlers entered into the Varsity tournament into the top 4, four of those reached the championship match. Wyatt Bunch and Tyson Brantley had stellar performances. Brantley posted four pins on the day, only being on the mat for a total of nine minutes and eight seconds, two of those falls were against top ranked opponents in the state. Bunch nearly matched Brantley with three total pins and a technical fall, one of which was a top ranked opponent in the state.
Allen added, “These two really led the team this weekend. They proved they are two of the best in the state and will only get better as the season progresses. I am excited for both of these two to lead this program for years to come.”
Other notable performances on the day were Jericho Latoy, Augustus Underwood-Ball, Brock Nobles, and Jahir Lopez. Latoy and Underwood-Ball reached the finals, but fell in their final match of the day.
“Jericho just started wrestling. He is learning quickly, and I think this was a big turning point in the season for him. Augustus has really become a force at the heavyweight class. He is big, strong, and difficult to move around. I look for a great season out of him.” Coach Allen said of Latoy and Underwood-Ball.
The MatDawgs held the lead for most of the day Friday and Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to stay in first until the end. TCHS finished in 2nd place with 185 points behind Tift County with 204.5 points.
Toombs will be in action this Thursday at Vidalia High School for their annual Rivalry Dual. Vidalia will host all levels of the TCHS wrestling program starting out with middle school, junior varsity, and girls at 4:30 p.m. Then the little Mat-Pups will take the mat in a youth exhibition match at 6:00 p.m. The night will end with the Varsity team taking on their cross town rivals to see who takes home the Rivalry Dual trophy at 7:00 p.m.
