Warriors complete area sweep, win 7-AAA traditional championship

The White County Warrior wrestling team completed a historic sweep last Saturday in Dahlonega, winning the program's first-ever area traditional tournament title.

The Warriors posted 219 points to hold off Lumpkin County, which finished with 205 points, for the 7-AAA championship. North Hall was third at 197, with Cherokee Bluff (158) and West Hall (138) rounding out the field.

The traditional title came two weeks after the Warriors secured the first area duals championship. The Warriors three wrestlers – Davin Lightsey, Cayden Autry, and JD Trowell – won individual titles, along with four runners-up, five third-place finishers, and one fourth-place finish to give the Warriors a school record 13 wrestlers headed to the Class AAA State Sectionals this weekend in Dahlonega.

“Winning duals and following it up with by winning the traditional (tournament), I could get used to that,” WCHS head coach Patrick Lowendick said.  “We had some lofty goals coming into this weekend. Our team record for advancing to (state) sectionals was 10, we knew we could beat that. Getting 13 guys in is awesome. It shows how much work these guys have put in and how much we've improved from Day 1. Putting seven in the finals was great, that makes it easier for them next week heading into sectionals.”

Isiah Whitlow, Christian Kehely, Jeb Robinson, and Trenton O'Kelly all finished in their respective weight classes, while Kane Lowery, Mason Autry, Jacob Beisterfield, Ashton Pickett, and Jon Scott all finished third, and Tyler Autry was fourth. Tyler Long finished fifth in his weight category.

“Next week we'll be back here (at Lumpkin County), but it will be a different kind of tournament,” Lowendick said. “Survive and advance is a good way to describe it. At this point, we're just having fun, seeing how far we can take it. Taking 13 guys to this point is definitely an accomplishment. Today was the end of the road for some of the guys, but for other guys, it's the launching point for the next two weeks.”

The weekend's state sectional kicks off Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. Lumpkin County will be the host site for three separate events – Class AAA and Class AAAA boy's sectionals, and the combined 3A/4A girl's sectionals. The sectionals, which will feature nine mats in two different facilities on the LCHS campus, wraps up Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m.

The Warriors will have 13 wrestlers in the Class AAA B Sectional, along with Sidney Sullens and Ollie Weiland in the 3A/4A girl's sectional.

Lowendick expects the B sectional to be a battle in every weight class, with wrestlers from Area 2, 4, 5, and 7, ready to fight it out for a chance to compete in the GHSA State Championships Feb. 10-12 in Macon.

The top six wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes will earn a spot in Macon.

The wrestlers from Area 1, 3, 6, and 8 meet up at LakePoint, near Cartersville at the Class AAA A Sectional, with the top six wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes in this sectional also earning a spot in Macon.

“There's been some years where I was comfortable saying if you make to sectionals, you'll make it out,” Lowendick said. “This year, the way it's split up, if we can perform well next week, we'll know where we stand statewide. Our sectional is stacked. I truly feel 11 or so of the 14 state champions could come from our sectional, and maybe 70-75 percent of the state placers.”

Area tournament

The Warriors path to the team championship was led by Davin Lightsey and Cayden Autry in the lightweight classes, and JD Trowell in the heavy weight division, as all three earned individual titles.

Lightsey, a freshman, needed only 56 seconds to pin Lumpkin County's Jacob Matthews in the 106-pound semifinal round match, and then finished things off by pinning Cherokee Bluff's Ethan Morato. Lightsey grabbed a 2-0 lead early in the first period, and then wrapped up his first area title with a pin at the 1:26 mark. Lightsey improved to 31-12 on the year with the win.

Autry, a sophomore, followed the same path as Lightsey, winning a pair of matches to claim his first area title at 120 pounds, after finishing third in the area last year at 113 pounds.

Autry pinned Cherokee Bluff's Jacob Shrirah at the 1:07 mark of the first period to win a semifinal match, and the rolled over Lumpkin County's Nathan Neilson 14-4 in the championship match.

Autry controlled the match from the start, racking up an 8-0 lead in the opening round. Autry is 34-12 heading into the state sectionals.

Trowell, a junior, was impressive winning his first area title at 285 pounds. Trowell, who didn't get onto the mat until mid-season following football season, needed only 35 seconds to earn a fall in the semifinal matchup with Lumpkin County's Hayden Roy, and then took on Cherokee Bluff's Bob Williford in the championship match. Trowell, who is 9-1 this year, physically dominated Williford, taking a 7-0 lead in the first period.

In the second period, Trowell put Williford on his  back in the opening 30 seconds of the period, and finished off with the pin at 3:08 mark.

Whitlow, Kehely, Robinson, and O'Kelly picked up a ton of points in the team standings for the Warriors by finishing second in their respective weight classes.

Whitlow, who was the 106-pound area title last year, finished second at 113-pounds this year. He got a bye to the finals this year, facing off with North Hall's Matthew Lee.

Whitlow and Lee battled through the first two periods, with Lee taking a 4-2 into the final period. With less than a minute to go in the match, Lee got Whitlow on his back and finished the match with a pin at the 5:33 mark.

Kehely (19-11) earned his first trip to the state sectionals as the runner-up in the 145-pound division. Kehely pinned North Hall's Jackson Martin in the semifinals, and took a 5-4 lead over Lumpkin County's AJ Scott during the opening period of the championship match.

But Scott hit a move midway through the second period and won by fall at the 3:27 mark.

Robinson (22-15) ran into one of the top wrestlers in the  state in the North Hall's Hunter Adams in the finals of the 182-pound division. Adams, the 2021 Class AAA champion in the weight class, earned the area title with a first round pin over Robinson. Robinson earned a spot in the title match by pinning Cherokee Bluff's John Duggan at the 1:18 mark of the seminal match.

O'Kelly (24-9) pinned Cherokee Bluff's Parker Waldrop at the 2:42 mark of the 220-pound semifinal match, but fell to West Hall's David Beverly in the championship tilt.

Mason Autry (21-18) won a pair of matches in the 126-pound division to earn a third place spot. He defeated West Hall's Hayden Rose 11-4 in the opening round, but fell to Lumpkin County's Kerwin Martinez by a 9-2 decision in the semifinals.

Autry won a rematch with Rose in the third-place, notching a fall at the 2:59 mark. He was up 6-1 after the first period, and lead 8-1 when he got the pin with one second left in the second period.

Beisterfield recorded two wins in the 132-pound class to earn a third-place medal. He pinned West Hall's Gerard Muthumbi in 43 seconds in the quarterfinals, but dropped the semifinal match to Cherokee Bluff's Hayden Biggs.

In the third-place match, Beisterfield got in some trouble in the first period against North Hall's Landon Martin, but avoided getting pinned. In the second period, Beisterfield turned the tables on Martin, putting him on his back, and coming up with a pin at the 3:29 for the win.

While Beisterfield was earning his win, Pickett was on an adjacent mat, earning a third-place finish in the 138-pound division. After falling to Lumpkin County's TJ Payne in the semifinals, Pickett picked up his 14th win of the season by pinning West Hall's Anthony Robusto at the 2:51 mark.

Scott dropped a semifinal match to North Hall's Joey Carew in the 152-pound semifinals, but came through with a third period pin of West Hall's Andy Mayo in the  third-place match.

Scott was down 2-1 in the first period, and 4-2 heading into the third period, before rallying for a key pin for the Warriors, ending the match at the 4:42 mark.

Lowery also had to bounce back loss in the semifinal round after falling to Lumpkin County's Austin Evans.

Lowery (20-8) was dominant in the consolation final match against West Hall's Aboubakar Aliou, needing only 45 seconds to record the pin.

Tyler Autry had a 24-second pin in the consolation round over Lumpkin County's Emmanuel Nieto, but was knocked off in the 195-pound third-place match by North Hall's Chase Hall.