Mat Canes Place in Red Skin Rumble

The ‘Canes traveled to Social Circle Saturday, Jan. 28, and competed in the tournament that included 13 teams, and ended up in third place.

Social Circle took first place followed by Morgan County. The ‘Canes were in a position to take second place leading Morgan midway through the matches, but let it slip away at the end.

However they did edge out Newton County, a class AAAA team, which finished fourth.

First place winners in the tournament included Pat Clement in the 145 pound weight class, Oscar Sandoval at 170, and Timmy Postlethwait at 220. Brandon Barger finished in second place at 182. Justin Bradley at 113 and Emory Cline at 126 both finished in third place., and Brian Harper at 152 finished in fourth place.

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With these wins the team has extended its year-to-date record to 45-10.

Earlier last week, on January 24, the ‘Canes celebrated senior night when they hosted Lamar and Baldwin. They defeated Lamar 59-16 and Baldwin 58-4.

The seven seniors on the team all got to wrestle and were recognized in the arena with their families. The seven included four wrestlers who are four year lettermen, and who have been with the team since it’s inception. These were Jonathan Williams, Barger, Matthew Chupp and Postlethwait.

Head Wrestling Coach Andy Rewis said, “The action will get more intense in a hurry when region starts because if you don’t place in the top four your season is over.”

The team had one more chance to hone their skills versus Heritage and Conyers when they traveled to Stockbridge Tuesday, too late to report the results in this edition.

Tomorrow, Feb. 4, the team will travel to Madison to compete in the Region 4-AA traditional tournament to see which teams will advance on to Class AA East Traditional Sectionals scheduled for February 10 and 11.

Coach Rewis added, “I think we are a little more experienced than we ever have been. We have never had five seniors wrestle in one year.

“If we wrestle our best and catch a break we might catch Morgan County, who are ranked fifth in the state. To make it close would be big for our guys going into the sectionals.”