On Jan. 14, the wrestling team went to Valdosta to compete in the first round of the state duals. State duals is a team event in which the wrestlers compete separately against other wrestlers, and their results accumulate to determine the winner.

For the first match, the team competed against Dalton High School. After beating Dalton, the team moved on and had to compete against the hosts Valdosta High School in the second match. The team ended up losing to Valdosta, so they were eliminated from the competition. As a result of their loss to Valdosta, they did not qualify for the next round of duals. Head wrestling coach Joe Hulen offered his perspective on the loss. 

“We performed well,” Hulen said. “We missed some key opportunities, but overall, the guys wrestled tough.”

Despite the loss, there were several standout performances. Senior Kemar Plummer went 2-0 in his matches, preventing an early loss to Valdosta. Senior Isaiah Sanders secured a last second victory in his bout. Senior Logan Webster beat the number 2 and 6 ranked wrestlers in 6A, thus solidifying his number 1 ranking in the division.

“I felt good about my performance, but I knew that I still had more things to work on because you can never be comfortable,” said Webster.

 The wrestling team’s next competition is the individual region tournament on Jan. 29 at home.