By Staff Reports

 

 

DUBLIN – The Southland Wrestling Team put on a strong showing last Saturday, finishing in third at the Trinity Christian tournament.

The Raiders finished just behind second-place finishers John Milledge Academy. “I am very proud of how hard these guys fought and how well they represented our school today”, Southland Head Coach Mike Smith said.

The Raiders had two wrestlers in the finals and four more in the consolation finals. Southland had six top-four finishers at the tournament with two more barely missing the medal round.

Southland Wrestler Cole Landreth won the tournament’s Most Outstanding Match Award.

Landreth defeated the 145-lb. defending state champion in the semifinals to advance to the finals. Landreth’s opponent in the finals was another defending state champion: William Gay of Trinity Christian. It was a tough start for Landreth in the championship match. Gay nearly pinned him in the first period. As the second period started, Gay had a commanding 7-0 lead over Landreth. However, Landreth came on fire in the second period, scoring six straight points to cut Gay’s lead to 7-6 at the end of the second period. In the third period, Landreth completed the comeback when he pinned Gay for the win. Landreth defeated two defending state champions on his way to finishing in first place in his weight class.

The Raiders had other wrestlers who had strong showings. Morgan Youngdale finished second in his weight class, while Stephen Barnes and Ragan Norman finished in third place in their respective weight classes. To round out the Southland performances, Cayce Joyner and Tanner Pritchett finished fourth in their respective weight classes.