Mat Canes Finish Second At Region Duals

The Jasper County-Monticello High School varsity wrestling team has now accomplished one of its goals for the 2020-21 season.

The Mat Canes finished second at last weekend’s area duals and have now qualified for state. Coach Andy Rewis said he was pleased by the effort of his wrestlers who earned team wins against Northeast-Macon (60-9), Southwest-Macon (57-15) and Putnam County (45-36).

The lone loss came to host Lamar as the Mat Canes fell 72-12 to the region champions.

“I am proud of our wrestlers,” Rewis said. “One of our goals was to make it to the state duals.”

Several local wrestlers had standout performances including sophomore Gabe Evans, who went 4-0 at 113, and senior Tristan Light, who was perfect 220.

In addition, several Mat Canes were 3-1 at area including Jackson White (120), Anderson Reed (152), Sabreon McGuire (182), Darquan Norwood (195) and Levi Shaw (heavyweight.)

As the team went back to work this week for state, Rewis said he believes the Mat Canes have a chance to do well.

“We are looking to get to the finals and that would be a nice accomplishment considering how young we are,” Rewis said. “We felt like we had a competitive chance last weekend at area. We really didn’t know how strong Putnam was. They are really a lot like us in being young.”

State duals will be Friday, Jan. 22 at Cook County High School. Weigh-ins are at 1 p.m. with wrestling at 2 p.m.