Eight northeast Georgia area wrestling teams will try to keep their state title dreams alive on Saturday as day 2 of the State Duals gets under way.
Buford (Class 7A), North Forsyth and Jackson County in Class 6A, Jefferson (Class 5A), North Hall (Class 4A), Lumpkin County (Class 3A), Union County (Class 2A), and Commerce (Class A) all advanced to the semifinals during Friday's action.
All eight will be action at various sites around the state looking to get into the finals. Consolation rounds began at 9 a.m. with semifinal rounds expected to start around 10:30 a.m. or later depending on length of matches.
Any loss drops teams into the consolation bracket.
(CLICK HERE TO SEE THE GHSA BRACKETS FOR EVERY GHSA CLASSIFICATION.)
Chestatee in Class 4A and Banks County in Class 2A are still alive in the consolation brackets but cannot finish higher than third.
Buford, North Forsyth, Jefferson, Chestatee, and Lumpkin County all are playing host to their classification tournaments.
FRIDAY'S STATE DUALS ACTION
It was a banner day for northeast Georgia area wrestling teams on Friday in the Georgia High School Association State Duals.
Eight of the 10 teams making the Duals tournaments spanning seven classifications advanced to the semifinal rounds on Saturday. All action around the state at the seven different locations will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday with consolation bracket matches.
Defending Class 5A champion Jefferson opened with a 69-11 win over Chattahoochee and then held off Jones County, 42-28, to advance to the semifinals at The Arena in jefferson.
The Dragons will take on Cass in the semis in a rematch of last year’s final on Saturday.
In Class 7A, host Buford won its opening match with a 72-12 win over Kennesaw Mountain. The Wolves later moved into Saturday’s semifinals with a 79-0 drubbing of Hillgrove in the second round.
Buford will take on West Forsyth in one semifinal while defending champion Camden County will take on Mill Creek in the other.
In Class 6A, No. 3 seed North Forsyth beat Thomas County Central in the opening round and followed with a 52-21 win over Dunwoody to move into Saturday’s semifinals. Jackson County opened with a 54-21 win over Tift County and also advanced to the semifinals with a 37-29 win over Creekview.
North Forsyth will tangle with top-seed South Effingham in the semifinals, a rematch of last year’s final. Jackson County will take on Glynn Academy in the other semifinal.
In Class 4A, host Chestatee beat Southwest DeKalb 60-15 in the first round setting up a showdown with top-seed Central-Carroll. But the War Eagles fell to the defending state champion, 47-15, to fall into the consolation bracket.
Also in Class 4A, No. 2 seed North Hall started strong with a 69-12 victory over Cairo. The Trojans then advanced to the semifinals with a 45-30 win over Perry.
North Hall will take on Northwest Whitfield in the semifinals for a spot in the finals.
In Class 3A, host Lumpkin County, the No. 2 seed, was impressive in taking an 84-0 win over Dougherty in the opening round. The Indians then beat Morgan County 62-17 to move into the semifinals against Franklin County.
In Class 2A, No. 2 seed Union County opened with a 49-25 win over Berrien and then advanced to the semifinals with a 59-12 win over Landmark Christian. The Panthers will take on Toombs County for a shot at the finals.
Also in Class 2A, Banks County began with a 56-24 win over Fellowship Christian in the opening round. But the Leopards dropped a heartbreaking 39-35 decision to Cook in the second round, which dropped them into the consolation bracket.
In Class A, Commerce, the No. 4 seed, opened with a 55-17 win over St. Francis then advanced to the semifinals with a 48-23 win over Heard County. The Tigers will take on No. 2 seed Social Circle on Saturday. The Redskins beat the Tigers in a consolation match in the 2023 State Duals.
