If you have any questions about how the Bryan County High School wrestling team is doing just check out its mode of transportation.
The second-year team will be taking a school bus down I-95 when it goes to the GHSA Class A Sectional Traditional wrestling tournament to be held Friday and Saturday at Brunswick High School.
The Redskins had five boys finish in the top four in last weekend’s GHSA Class A Area 3 tournament at Screven County. The top four finishers qualify for the sectional tournament where the top six go to the state tournament in Macon on Feb. 10-12.
In addition, three others finished fifth and will be alternates should someone in their weight class should not be able to participate. Adding a new wrinkle this year will be two wrestlers in the girl’s division which means Coach Zach Ledbetter will be taking a total of 10 athletes to the tournament.
“Last year we went by car,” Ledbetter said. “We only had two wrestlers going and we could all get in one car.”
“This year we’ve gone from a car to a bus,” Ledbetter said. “Moving up to getting a bus is one of the highlights of the season. We’re making progress.”
Richmond Hill will also be making the jaunt to Brunswick for the Class 6A tournament and Coach Bill Evans will be traveling with a full house. The Wildcats had 12 of 14 qualify in the Region 2 tournament with two others going as alternates. They’ll have one girl participating.
While having that many qualifiers is not unusual for the Wildcats it is a major step forward for Bryan County where wrestling, with 23 on the team, is second only to football in the number of participants.
“It’s very satisfying to see something that was only a thought two years ago reach the Sweet 16 this year in Duals and now to a bus,” Ledbetter said. “We’re the fastest growing sport at Bryan County High School.”
Sophomore Raul Parrish (15-11) was the top performer for the Redskins as he took second in the 170 lb. class. Parrish was seeded fourth and had to defeat No. 1 seed Brogan Flannigan of Calvary Day School to gain the finals where he lost to Angel Cardenas of Dublin.
Tarrell Singleton was third at 220. Fourth-place finishers were Jaylen Davis (132), Miguel Bustamante (138) and Jett Lewis (285). Alternates are Riley Shuman (106), Jorge Jimenez (152) and Lawrence Lowe (195).
Alysa Burnsed (132) and Kaylami Zambrana (172), a pair of freshmen, will be participating in the girl’s tournament.
In team scoring the Redskins finished fourth in a 10-team field with 113 points. Screven County had 227 points followed by Montgomery County (193) and Dublin (187).
Richmond Hill had only one first-place finisher with sophomore Trey Bowkett taking first at 170 lbs., but the Wildcats showed their usual depth in having seven second-place finishers, two in third place and three in fourth.
Taking second-place were Cody Willoughby (113), Colin Dragon (126), Jackson Crawford (138), Gavin Hill (152), Caleb Gonser (195) and Thomas Crawford (220).
In third place were Caden Whitaker (145) and Alex Gerlach (285) while Devin Wright (132), Owen Osden (160) and DarVante Menzie (182) were fourth.
Izzy West (112) will be the Wildcats lone girl wrestler while Mathew Josefik (106) and Roman Slaughter (120) are alternates.
In team scoring Richmond Hill had 180 points to finish behind Brunswick (206) and South Effingham (205).