Starr’s Mill placed second in the area 4-AAAAA wrestling tournament over the weekend. The Panthers scored 204 total points, finishing behind Union Grove’s 219 but ahead of Fayette County’s 115.
Starr’s Mill had five area champions; Bradley Conner (275), Brandon Witta (145), Cory Radcliffe (140), Brandon Ferguson (130) and Patrick Waters (112). Other placers for the Panthers were second place finishers Jeff Partlow (215), Chris Sudduth (160), Matt Hartpence (152), John Donaldson (135) and third place finishers Jason Allen (103), Joseph Hoyt (119) and Kevin Thurber (125).
Fayette County had two area champs; Ben Loeffler (160) and Audy Whittington (171). The Tigers also had three second place finishers; Jonathan Beale (275), Michael Bowra (125) and Joel Carnow (103), while Jonathan West (135), and Alex Parsons (189) placed third.
Patrick Blankenbeker (215) will attend the state meet as an alternate.
In the 4-AAAA tournament, Sandy Creek placed fourth and Whitewater placed fifth. McIntosh, Sandy Creek and Whitewater each had at least one area champion. The Chiefs’ Jarrod Chamblee (103) placed first, while Sandy Creek’s Frank Brand (152) and Whitewater’s Chase Penland (125) and Jordan Strain (140) also captured the area crowns.
Other top finishers for Sandy Creek were second place finishers Travis Cooper (171), Samson Horne (189) and Derek Scarborough (215), while Jeremiah Graham (130) and Drew Gunnin (140) both placed fourth. Whitewater wrestlers who placed in the top four were third place finishers Jake Huddleston (130) and Kenny Kellerman (135) and fourth place finishers Luke Wilkinson (112), Jacob Williamson (145) and Jeremy Cole (160). McIntosh had one second place finisher, Richard Hughes (112), one third place finisher Alan Sarvis (119) and one fourth place finisher, Matt Carroll (189).
In the 5-A tournament, Landmark had three wrestlers finish as runners up; Chad Thames (103), Roger Gunter (135) and Tim Creamer (189). The MVP for Landmark was unseeded Roger Gunter for defeating the third seed Commerce in double overtime, pinning Towns Co., and defeating the second seed Eagles Landing by one point to get into the finals.
All of the top four wrestlers in their weight class from the area championships will wrestle this weekend at the Gwinnett Civic Center.