Local teams start strong

January 07, 2006 12:25 am

— VALDOSTA — The winner’s bracket of the 2006 Valdosta Wildcat Invitational wrestling tournament is full of Wildcats, Vikings and Hornets.
After two rounds of competition Friday, Union Grove sat in first place in the team standings with 58 points, with Woodward Academy only one point behind them, and host Valdosta two points out of the lead. Camden County was fourth (55 points), followed by Lee County (51) and Lowndes (49). Valdosta later took the lead, after the first round of the loser's bracket was completed.
The tournament, which ran until after 11 p.m. on Friday, will resume at 9 a.m. today with the quarterfinals. The double-elimination tournament will go all day, with the finals scheduled to start around 4 p.m.
Many of the local wrestlers have started strong.
Valdosta has nine wrestlers in the quarterfinals. Herb Reinhard (103 pounds), Marcus Morrison (112), Tavaris Sharp (130), John George (145), Paul Bess (160), Will Welch (171), Allen Scruggs (189), Chris Daniels (215) and Corey Wells (275) will all compete for spots in the semifinals Saturday morning.
Lowndes has six wrestlers in the quarterfinals. Josh Key (119), Tomas Chavarria (125), Davon Andrews (130), Jamie Moreno (140), Brent Crisp (171) and Andrew Dunn (215) are all in the quarters.
For Cook, ranked fourth in Class AA, Jernoto Harris (125), Pierce Gossow (130), Delanno Palmore (171) and Matthew Edmondson (189) have all made it to the quarterfinals.
Valdosta head coach Benjy Scarbor said before the tournament that there would be an outstanding group of schools competing, and a number of outstanding wrestlers.
Two of the best wrestlers competing at the tournament are local guys, Matthew Edmondson of Cook and Paul Bess of Valdosta, both of whom were state champions last year.
There are 22 teams competing in the tournament this weekend, its biggest field ever.
Teams have traveled from all over Georgia and northern Florida to compete in the tournament, considered one of the best in South Georgia.
The schools competing in the tournament are: Valdosta, Lowndes, Cook, Union Grove, Camden, Woodward, Lee, Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.), Fayette County, Tift County, Bainbridge, Pace (Fla.), Ware County, Benedictine, Cairo, Marianna (Fla.), Fitzgerald, Thomas County Central, Colquitt County, Irwin County and Fernandina Beach (Fla.).
The award for longest drive to the tournament goes to Hewitt-Trussville, out of Trussville, Ala. The Huskies drove about 370 miles from their Birmingham-area school to compete in this tournament for the second consecutive year. The school is the only one not from Georgia or North Florida competing in the tournament.
Valdosta had to compensate for the larger tournament field by putting an extra mat in the gym.
This is the first time Valdosta has had four wrestling mats set up in the gym, meaning four matches can take place at one time. Matches will take place on all four mats until the finals, when only one will be used.

Photos

Valdosta High junior Tavaris Sharp puts pressure on an opponent that he defeated Friday night at Valdosta High School during the Valdosta Wildcat Invitational wrestling tournament. The Valdosta Daily Times