Tommy Carney and Doug Taylor, Peachtree City residents who attend Woodward Academy, distinguished themselves by placing first and third, respectively, in the Class AAAA competition of the recent Georgia High School State Traditional Wresling Championships held at the Gwinnett Sports Arena.

Carney is the son of Thomas and Judy Carney of Peachtree City. He is currently a junior at Woodward Academy. He won the 135 pound weight class with a close 5-3 (overtime) decision over Tim Allen of Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School. Carney has been a starter on Woodward’s War Eagle wrestling team for the past three years. As a sophomore, he was the individual state runner-up at 145 pounds to Greg Hopkins, a three-time State Champion from Ringgold High School.

Entering this year’s Geogia High School State Traditional Wrestling Finals, Carney sported a season record of 57 wins and only five losses, before achieving the state championship title. Carney missed Woodward’s prestigious War Eagle Classic in late December 2006, due to an upper respitory illness. Had he not missed the tournament, he would have been in contention to break the all-time Woodward Academy single-season individual victory record. Carney will return for his senior year at Woodward Academy hoping to duplicate his 2007 success.

Taylor is the son of Tom and Beth Taylor also of Peachtree City. He entered Woodward Academy in the beginning of his sophomore year. He was required to “sit out” that year on varsity due to the Georgia High School Association rule on migration. After wrestling on the JV team and attending several wrestling camps over this past summer, Taylor started his first year on the Woodward varsity with modest results.

A combination of personal injuries, and cautious offensive wrestling technique, prevented him from reaching his full potential as a prominent high school wrestler. It was not until shortly after the beginning of the calendar year that he started to open up and achieve success.

Following a strong showing at the highly competitive Valdosta High School Invitational in early January, Taylor finally turned the corner and began to produce sustained winning results. In the state championships, Doug defeated three area Champions and an area runner-up en route to his third place medal in the 140 pound weight class.

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