County to send five wrestlers to Macon including Askey
From STAFF REPORTSsports@newnan.com
KENNESAW — The results from this weekend’s GHSA Class AAAAAA West Sectionals at Kennesaw Mountain High might not have been what area wrestling coaches had hoped.
But they weren’t exactly unexpected either.
They included East Coweta freshman lightweight Dusty Nelson, who placed eighth, and a gutsy effort from Indian 113-pounder Matthew Durham, who finished sixth.
The Indian duo will join Newnan sophomore Christian Shellabarger, who won his opening two matches on Friday to reach the 220-pound semifinals before finishing eighth overall.
At the Class AAAAA West Sectionals at nearby Allatoona in Cobb County, Northgate senior Tyler Askey improved his 2012-13 record to 39-0 while remaining undefeated for his varsity career.
Askey defeated Stephenson’s Darion Perry to win the 170-pound weight class while moving his career record in the GHSA to 191-0. He’ll need three consecutive wins this weekend to become only the third Georgia wrestler to complete his prep career without a loss.
Also advancing for the Vikings was junior lightweight Michael Geres, who placed fifth at 106 pounds after defeating Area 4-AAAAA rival Chris Eulenfield of McIntosh. Geres takes a 37-10 record into the state tournament as four qualifiers from 4-AAAAA advanced in the weight class.
Both East Coweta head coach Josh Herring — who had 11 underclassmen among his entries in last week’s area tournament — and Newnan’s Tom Everett were anticipating an uphill climb for their wrestlers while paired against the best of Areas 4, 5, 7. It encompassed all of Cobb County and Cherokee and half of Gwinnett.
“It’s tough to see it end for a lot of them, especially guys like (senior) Drew (Higgins),” Herring said. “But we’ve got just about everybody except Drew coming back next year. Getting our guys to Macon is what we wanted and we did that.”
East Coweta had five of its wrestlers needing wins to open Saturday’s wrestlebacks in order to clinch berths, with both Nelson and Durham coming through with victories.
Nelson, an Area 3-AAAAAA champion, dropped his opening match to Lassiter’s Winston Troughton, but stayed alive Friday by defeating Habersham Central’s Slade Jarrad.
Newnan will be represented by Shellabarger, a first-year varsity starter who got off to a quick start before hitting a roadblock in the semifinals.
