McIntosh High School will be the site for one of the season’s largest and most competitive wrestling tournaments in the Atlanta Metro Area. Thirty-one teams from South of I-20 will be competing in the South Metro Tournament starting Friday at 5 p.m. and continuing on through Saturday. Area teams competing include McIntosh, Starrs Mill, which is ranked 10th in AAAAA, Sandy Creek, Fayette County, East Coweta, Newnan, Northgate, which is ranked sixth in AAAA, Whitewater and Woodward Academy, which is ranked third in AAAA.

“The South Metro is one of the premier High School Wrestling Tournaments in the State,” said Mcintosh coach Nick Bellantoni. “We are thrilled to be hosting it at McIntosh so that we can show everyone our new facilities. Each year there are a number of schools at the South Metro that compete for the State Championships as well as quite a few individual wrestlers that qualify for State and come home with medals.”

McIntosh is going into the South Metro after competing in early season tournaments at South Gwinnett and Lithia Springs as well as a number of dual meets. Sophomore Matt Carroll earned a first place finish and sophomore Richard Hughes took third place at the Lithia Springs Invitational.

“We have been having some success so far in the season. As a team we are still a bit young, starting at times seven sophomores and two freshmen. But I am expecting this team to start to cut down on the number of mistakes and to stop giving up easy points,” said Bellantoni. “It is time for the entire team to start stepping-up.”

The McIntosh Takedown Club invites the community to come to the High School to see some of the best high school wrestling in the State. The doors will open at 4 p.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. on Saturday.

The McIntosh High School wrestling team traveled to Sandy Creek on Tuesday and lost their match 42-29.

“Sandy Creek is fielding a tough team this year and it looks to me like they have several wrestlers that will be competing for medals at the State Meet in February,” said Bellantoni. “My hat off to Coach Scott Smith, he is obviously doing a great job with his team plus Willis-Cruz at 145lbs and Cooper at 171 are very tough wrestlers.”

Taking wins for McIntosh were sophomores Jarrod Chamblee (103), Richard Hughes (112) by pin, Jessy Toscano (125) by Technical Fall, Erik Willanzheimer (160) by pin and Matt Carroll (189) by pin.

“Coming off of a very tough weekend at the Lithia Springs Tournament and then having to take on Sandy Creek was a challenge,” said Bellantoni. “But it just shows how strong the wrestling in Fayette County has become. We welcome the test.”

Starr’s Mill and East Coweta both competed in the Walton Duals last week and were swept. The Panthers lost to Centennial (42-25), Collins Hill (57-12), Cass (41-27) and Ringgold (56-18). The Indians lost to Valdosta (37-26), Pope (69-10), Valdosta (56-19) and Sequoyah (53-25).
The Panthers beat Woodward Academy 40-24 on Wednesday and lost to Jefferson 49-18.

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