BRUNSWICK -- Richmond Hill got off to a 12-0 start after three matches but could not sustain the momentum and wound up dropping a 34-30 decision to Creekview in its opening match of the GHSA Class 6A state duals tournament last Saturday at Brunswick.
The Wildcats, who won the state duals championship in 2018, also lost their first-round match in the consolation round as Lassiter cruised to a 43-31 win, according to team and individual results posted on Track Wrestling.com.
The state championship was won for the second straight year by Buford which defeated Valdosta. Like Richmond Hill those two schools will be moving up to 7A last year. Camden County won the Class 7A title, its eighth straight championship, two in Class 5A and the last six in 7A.
In the match with Creekview the Wildcats got a major decision 16-6 win from Roman Slaughter at 120 pounds to start the day, Colin Dragon (126) followed with a technical fall 16-0 win and Devin Wright (132) picked up a win by decision.
The Grizzlies won the next seven matches before the Wildcats rallied to cut the deficit on pins by Alex Gerlach (220), Mathew Josefik (106) and Cody Willoughby (113) in three of the final four matches.
Dragon, now 48-4 on the season, opened the matchup with Lassiter with a win on a pin and Jackson Crawford followed with a win by decision. It was all Trojans from that point on.
Lassiter had a 31-9 lead when the Wildcats picked up three straight wins by Caleb Gonser (195), Thomas Crawford (220) and Gerlach on forfeits. In the final match of the day Slaughter picked up four points with a win by major decision.
Next up for Richmond Hill and Bryan County wrestlers will be region and area traditional tournaments this weekend where the top four wrestlers in each weight class will qualify for the state tradition tournament in Macon on Feb. 10-12.
The Wildcats will be wrestling in the Region 2-6A tournament at Brunswick while the Redskins, in their second year of competition, will be competing in the Class A Area 3 tournament at Screven County.