By MICHAEL BOYLAN

Sports Editor

McIntosh played host to 14 other wrestling teams on Saturday for the McIntosh Duals. Along with McIntosh were two other top ranked AAAA squads; Harrison and Etowah. Each team had five matches. McIntosh faced Harrison, Etowah, Roswell, Tri-Cities and a combined team of Griffin and Sandy Creek. The Bears and the Patriots did not have enough wrestlers for a full squad on Saturday. Harrsion beat McIntosh by a score of 45-21 and Etowah won over the Chiefs by a score of 41-24, but McIntosh handled their three other opponents at the duals. They defeated Griffin and Sandy Creek, 58-17, they beat Roswell, 45-24 and rolled over Tri-Cities, 60-25.

"Harrison won the Christmas tournament here too," said Coach Hutsell. "And Etowah is just better than us in dual meets." The Chiefs wrestled well, despite missing Lukas Smith at 189 and starting seven sophomores and one freshman. Carlos Dinkins and Matt Waters were the only two Chiefs to go 5-0 on Saturday, Dinkins at 103 and Waters at 275. Five McIntosh wrestlers went 4-1 on Saturday; Josh Rickards at 125, Jonathan Nibes at 130, Eddie Smith at 135, Michael Lee at 152 and Joe Giovinco at 171. Daniel Graham and Larry Fochtman each went 3-2, at 112 and 119 respectively. Clay Carruth went 2-3 at 140, while Brian Childs and Bob Suter each went 1-4 at 160 and 215 respectively.

McIntosh has not been able to have the same team on the mat at anytime this year. Injuries and illnesses have plagued the Chiefs and depleted them from receiving some key points here and there. "Hopefully we'll have a consistent lineup by the Area meet. The area is very competitive between us and Fayette County," Coach Hutsell stated.

Sandy Creek has had their share of roster problems as well. Three wrestlers that were expected to be at the meet were all sick on Saturday, forcing Griffin and Sandy Creek to combine their teams. Coach Belvedere expected that his team would get beat but it was a chance for them to learn against some of the best wrestlers in the state. Ryan Stanfield went 3-2 on Saturday, losing to McIntosh and Etowah. The team worked on set ups for take downs and scoring points in matches. John Hilton, at 103, took all of his matches to the third period and never got pinned in any one of them.

"You get better wrestling good people," said Coach Belvedere. "Some of these guys will be ready for the area tournament." Sandy Creek travels to St. Pius on Tuesday for what should be a competitive match against St. Pius and Eastside. On Wednesday, they will host Westlake and Forest Park. It is an important match because they will be wrestling for seeds in the area meet.

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