Grapplers head to Area Duals

Winter break for the Banks County High School Leopard grapplers saw the team competing in two dual meet tournaments, bringing home a second and fourth place finish.

Attention now turns to the Area Team Duals scheduled Friday and Saturday at Fannin County. With the possibility of a snowy forecast, coach Kasey Hanley said that the tournament could be relocated to Dawson County if it does snow.

The region 8-AA duals will provide Banks a crack at both Jefferson and East Jackson. Both schools have been in good matches up to this point. Jefferson as a dominating force in the region stands as the team to beat.

Winter break
During the holidays Banks competed first at the Oconee County Tommy Warren Duals, Dec. 19.

Mat Leopards came in at fourth place after dropping a match to Henry County and Morgan County. Banks defeated Hart, North Oconee and East Coweta to earn the fourth place position.

During the Georgia/Carolina Classic, Jan. 2, Banks finished as runner-up behind a tough Jackson County team. Falling to the Leopards were Hart, Madison County, Oconee and West Oak, S.C. The starters for both tournaments included Mason Patton, Jordan Waters, Tyler Beezley, Fransisco Hurtado, Viet Pham, Justin Fincannon, Homer Carver, Eli Smallwood, Nathan Holloway, Avery Tench, Andy Baker, Hayden Dilbeck, Jeremy Greenway, Paul Newell, Jared Gregory, Clint Caudell, Marcus Adams, Travis Betts, Matthew Patton and Brian Mathis.

Oglethorpe
On Tuesday, Banks headed down the road to Commerce where the Leopards faced Oglethorpe.

The BCHS grapplers wiped the mat with the competition, 79-0 as Brian Mathis, Mason Patton, Bret Wood, Paul Newell, Jared Gregory, Travis Betts and Matthew Patton each added key wins.

The JV grapplers also picked up some valuable time on the mat as the Banks JV wrestled the Commerce JV team. Official score was not kept, but both sides showed a strong effort.

“The guys got some valuable mat time against very good competition,” said Hanley.