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The champion newspaper.
February 08, 2024
Image 10
The champion newspaper., February 08, 2024, Image 10
About The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 2024)
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Newspaper Page Text
SPORTS
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 8 - 14, 2024 • PAGE 10
Dun woody
reclaims
wrestling title
BY MARK BROCK
Dunwoody High School
had 12 wrestlers place in the
top five of their respective
weight classes on the way to
winning the William Venable
DeKalb County Wrestling
Championships title on Jan.
29 for the fourth time in five
years.
The Wildcats racked up
246 points with three gold
medals, three silver medals,
three bronze medals, two
fourth-place finishes, and
one fifth-place finish to
defeat defending champion
Southwest DeKalb (175.5)
and third-place Marist (174)
in a field of 20 competing
teams.
Dunwoody had a wrestler
finish fifth or better in all
but two weight classes (150,
285).
Dunwoody was led by
three-time county champion
Charlie Ruark. He won the
126-title over Southwest
DeKalb's Jordan Allen by a
score of 11-5. Ruark won the
113-title in 2022 and the 120
gold in 2023.
Andrew Fidler joined
Ruark in the winners' circle
as he pulled out a 2-1 victory
over Stone Mountain's
MeKhel Cills to take the gold
in the 132-weight class.
The third Wildcat
to claim gold was Adam
Gromatzky after he pinned
Decatur's Ronin Simms in
the 165-title final.
Eight Southwest DeKalb
wrestlers placed in the top
six of their weight classes,
including three gold medal
finishes and two silver
medal finishes to garner the
second-place finish in the
team standings.
Three-time county
champion Isaiah Scott
collected his third
consecutive county gold in
the 215-weight class via pin
fall over Stone Mountain's
Alonzo James. Scott won the
215-title gold in 2022 and
2023.
Anthony Colquitt
brought home the gold in
the 157-weight class by
defeating Marist's Parks
Kaiser 6-4 in a highly
contested match. Malik
Colquitt joined the gold
medal winners for Southwest
DeKalb by pin fall over
Redan's LaDamian Stewart
in the 150-class.
Marist's Forrest
Briesacher moved up from
the 106-division to 120
and picked up his second
consecutive gold medal
in the championships.
Briesacher battled
Dunwoody's Alex McKissick
in a 9-6 victory. Marist had
nine wrestlers place on the
day, including two silver and
three bronze medals.
Stone Mountain finished
fourth in the team standings
with 153 points by collecting
one gold, three silver, and
one bronze performance to
go with a fifth place along
the way. Zahyr Cook picked
up the gold for the Pirates
as he took down Marist's
Mason Forsbert by pin fall.
Stephenson was
fifth with 140.5 points.
Stephenson's Artavius
Hughes collected his first
gold medal in three tries
as he pulled out a 12-10
win over Stone Mountain's
Dontavious Perry in the
106-title final. Hughes won
silver in 2022 and bronze in
2023.
Victor Folks gave
Stephenson its second gold
of the meet to go with the
team's three silver medals
and one fourth-place finish.
Folks won a 6-3 decision over
Tucker's Andrew Moreau for
the gold medal.
Arabia Mountain (83.5)
finished seventh in the
team standings with five
wrestlers taking sixth or
better. Langston Blakeley
finished with silver medals
in 2022 and 2023 but came
out on top with a 7-1 victory
over Dunwoody's David
Remigailo to collect his first
gold medal.
Towers (74) took eighth
in the team rankings with
three top-five finishes led
by a gold medal in the
138-division. John Griffin
Dunwoody won its fourth county wrestling championship in five years after falling short in 2023. Photos by
Mark Brock
Charlie Ruark led Dunwoody to
the title and became a three-time
county champion in the process.
Isaiah Scott won his third
consecutive gold in the
215-weight class.
Tyrone Williams won Miller Grove’s
first gold medal since 2016.
became the first Titan to win
gold since Stevenson Derival
claimed back-to-back gold
medals in 2014-15. Griffin
defeated Dunwoody's Colin
Murphy 12-8 to win the title.
Tucker (70) followed
Arabia Mountain and
Towers in ninth place by
collecting a gold, a silver,
and a fifth-place finish in
the individual competitions.
Antez Starks Jr. repeated
as the 285-weight class
champion with a quick pin
of Southwest DeKalb's Amir
Ferguson for the gold.
Miller Grove's Tyrone
Williams captured the gold
medal in the 144-division
via a technical fall over
Lakeside's Bennett Hammett
to become Miller Grove's
third wrestler to claim gold
in the championships and
the first since 2016. Williams
won his first match by pin
and took a convincing 15-5
in his second to reach the
finals. His performance
earned him the meet's Most
Valuable Wrestler award.
SWIMMING Continued From Page 9
Lakeside. Richards finished second for the previous two years
and third in 2021.
The Decatur Lady Bulldogs finished third by pulling in
one gold, three silver, and three bronze medals along the way
to 184 points. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Olivia
McKenly, Laura Durbin, Greta Tell, and Melanie Joyner swam
to gold in the event with a state qualifying time of 1:44.84 to
lead the scoring.
Dunwoody finished fourth for the second consecutive
season with 142 points and picked up 10 state qualifiers
along with a silver and two bronze medals. Diver Morgan
Barrow grabbed the silver in the one-meter diving event with
a 261.90 total. Dunwoody's Eden Dwoskin and Dana Elder
tied for fifth in diving with a state qualifying count of 337.15.
The Tucker Lady Tigers finished fifth overall for the fourth
consecutive season with its highest total of the string with 96
points. Hadleigh McNay led Tucker's run to a pair of medals
and four state qualifying times with a win in the 100-yard
breaststroke (1:09.20) and teammate Kate Nawyn took
bronze in 1:09.81.
Winter Construction invites qualified
subcontractors to submit bids for construction
of the new Dresden Elementary School in
Chamblee, GA. The bid deadline is February
08, 2024, but late submissions will be reviewed
through February 15, 2024. Contact Winter
Construction at aruda@winter-construction.com
for more information
