Lee County wrestlers finish sixth in Class AAAAAA

MACON — Sparked by five state placers, including a state runner-up, Lee County’s wrestling team finished off another strong season Friday night at the GHSA Class AAAAAA State Championships at the Macon Centreplex.

Lee County finished in sixth place, just one spot off a school record fifth-place effort from 2016. The Trojans, who had 84.5 points, were just a 1 1/2 points off fifth-place South Effingham (86) among the 33 scoring teams. Buford was a runaway winner with 201.5 points, Valdosta (106.5) was second, Creekview (94.5) was third and Brunswick fourth (89.5).

Of the five individual placers (top six) for Lee County, four were top four finishers, the most since the 2016 team had the same amount.

Senior Drake McMinn earned runner-up in the 138-pound class, while juniors Riley Brewer and Aiden Chilson finished in third in the 120 and 170 weight classes, respectively. Senior Justin “J.J.” Gregory placed fourth at 152 and sophomore Alex Tabb was fifth at 113 pounds.

For McMinn, Brewer, Chilson and Gregory, the finishes were career best at state. Tabb matched his fifth-place finish of a year ago.

McMinn, a signee of Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla., etched his name in the Trojan record book during the meet. He became the first Lee County wrestler to be a three-time state placer, adding to a fourth-place finish in 2020 and a sixth-place effort in 2019.

He also became the school’s leader in career wins with 166, edging past Rashad Anthony (2012 graduate) and Connor Cloud (2011 graduate), who both had 165. McMinn earned the historic record with a semifinal win over Creekview’s Josh Bledsoe.

“It is a good feeling that I will be remembered as someone from Lee County that rose in wrestling and who motivated and pushed people,” McMinn said. “I am thankful to be a Lee County Trojan.”

Chilson also set a Trojan school record, earning two pins during the tournament to bring his season total of wins by pins to 44. That eclipsed the previous record of 42 by Ethan Dooley.

For both McMinn and Chilson, the high finishes were a bit of redemption for both wrestlers.

“Last year, I didn’t place, so I am just glad I went from not placing to a state finalist,” McMinn said.

Chilson finished fifth at state a year ago when COVID restrictions limited the rounds, resulting in him not wrestling after the first day.

“It feels pretty good,” Chilson said. “After getting fifth last year, coming and wrestling on the second day feels good. It also feels good because the time I have been putting in has paid off.”

Brewer, who finished fourth at state last year, was also “excited” about improving.

“I feel like I learned a lot and did pretty good (this year),” Brewer said. “I know things I am good at even more and what I need to work on (for next year).”

McMinn reached the finals at 138 with two pinfalls and a victory by major decision. He pinned Johns Creek’s Parker Pratt in the second period in the opener and followed with a 14-2 decision over Buford’s Gavin Pope before pinning Creekview’s Bledsoe with 22 seconds left in the match.

In the final, McMinn wrestled Lassiter’s David Panone in a rematch of last week’s sectional contest between the two won by Panone in sudden death overtime.

In Friday’s finals match, Panone earned a two-point takedown 19 seconds into the match but McMinn picked a one-point escape 12 seconds later to make it 2-1.

The Trojan wrestler was awarded a takedown and Panone a reversal as time in the period dipped under 20 seconds, but during a break in the action, the officials conferred and said McMinn didn’t have upper body control during a merkle move, negating McMinn’s points. Panone was awarded two points for a takedown since the two were in the neutral position prior to the action.

The Lassiter wrestler, who choose bottom to start the second period, padded his lead to 9-1 with a reverse and three-point near fall in the first 30 seconds. McMinn earned a two-point reverse to cut the gap to 9-3 going to the last period.

Starting the period in the bottom position, McMinn earned a reverse with 1:10 left in the match, but couldn’t turn Panone over. Panone gave up a stalling point with five seconds left, but finished the match with a 9-6 win.

“I just wasn’t on my game,” McMinn said. “He caught me off my game in that first period and from there I had to play catch up. I was starting to pick up my game and felt comfortable. I tried to turn him, but couldn’t.”

Brewer captured third place with a second-period pinfall versus Effingham County’s Conner Nevin.

The Trojan junior earned a takedown midway in the first period to take a 2-0 lead.

“I hit a slide by and circled around until I got the two,” Brewer said.

After Nevin deferred the option to start the second period, Brewer chose the neutral position. Neither wrestler could do much for most of the period before Brewer earned a takedown and quickly turned it into a pin off a slud (nearside) cradle.

“I snapped him down, grabbed his ankle, and circled,” Brewer said. “I shoved the ankle and locked up the cradle.”

The pin came 3:24 into the match.

Brewer opened the tournament with a 2-0 decision over Lanier’s Cabe Doker before losing to Chattachoochee’s Durben Carpenter 11-1 in the semifinals. He bounced back with a first-period pin (1:15 in) over Sequoyah’s Jake Labasi to reach the third-place match.

Chilson won his third-place finish off a first-period medical forfeit from Sequoyah’s Ryan Throne.

“The first couple of seconds we were rolling around and went out of bounds,” Chilson said. “(After the restart), I ended up taking a high crotch (takedown) and dumping it. Somehow he landed on his ribs bad and busted up his ribs and he had to medical forfeit.”

Chilson opened the tournament with an early-second period pin (2:31) over Paulding County’s Lewis Leadbeter before losing to Buford’s Conor McCloskey 11-2. He battled back for third with a pinfall (1:40 in) over Brunswick’s Sebastian Hutchinson, a 10-4 win over Valdosta’s Cedric Stewart and a 15-0 win over Lassister’s Anthony Fiorenza to reach the third-place match.

Gregory finished fourth after going 2-2 in his 152-pound weight class. He opened with an 11-3 major decision over Valdosta’s Greg White but lost to Creekview’s Andrew Corey 17-1 before winning by injury default, 1:09 into the match with South Effingham’s Enrique Santana. He then lost to Buford’s Talen Thompson 10-2 in the third-place match.

Tabb, in the 113-pound class, opened with a 3-1 loss to Lassiter’s Carter Brickley before winning two matches off a 12-1 decision over Rockdale County’s David Ayala and 4-2 over Carrolton’s Buck Merritt.

Tabb, though, lost to Buford’s Kieron McCormack on a first-period pin. He was supposed to wrestle Brickley for fifth place, but GHSA officials wiped out all fifth-place matches, declaring co fifth-place finishers.

In other Lee County results, Bradyn Suber went 1-2 at 182 pounds, while Karol Olalde (106), Dallas Brewer (145), and Davis Chatman (160) all went 0-2. However, of those eight losses, seven were by decisions with only one loss by pin.

In fact of Lee’s 15 individual losses, only two were by pin. The other 13 were decisions, though one was a tech fall (15-point win) and several were major decisions (8 to 14 points).

“I am pleased with how we did,” Lee County head coach Chris Morton said. “The kids battled hard. It’s not an easy thing that’s for sure.

“I feel bad for Suber and Dallas (two seniors). Suber’s shoulder popped out during his second match (on Thursday) and he couldn’t perform to par after that. Dallas didn’t wrestle to his potential at all on Thursday and that hurt us as well.

“Of course, we would have liked to have had Drake win that title as a state champion, but he wrestled hard and that’s all I can ask for from my wrestlers.”

Atlanta Takedown AssociationDavid Mundee

David Mundee

Sylvia Grinage