Newspaper Page Text
djmmtal
WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 7, 2007
m*
it JMi | .a '- il
ENI/Gary llarmon
Northside's Bill Walker gets a leg up on Perry’s Drew Benefield in the 119-pound class during the Houston County
wrestling championship held Friday at Warner Robins.
HoCo wins county title
By MATTHEWBROWN
Journal Sports Writer
With some team duals coming down
to the absolute last seconds of the last
rounds of the last matches, Houston
County High emerged victorious by
beating all three county rivals at the
County Wrestling Championships
Friday at Rumble Academy in Warner
Robins.
The Bears first beat Northside 42-
33 after falling behind 27-3. With the
score tied 33-33, Houston won the
next to last match by points to earn
three points. Wes Guenthner, at 152
pounds, clinched it with a pinfall.
That set up an exciting encounter
between the Bears and Warner Robins
High, host for the round-robin event.
When they faced off, both had a 1-0
record, and the winner put itself in
the best position to claim the overall
top prize.
The Bears and Demons set a fast
and furious pace of action with quick
pinfall after quick pinfall. Warner
Robins had the lead at 24-18 when
things settled down and the next
two matches went all three rounds.
Houston County won both to achieve
another tied score.
With the dual tied at 30-all, the
Bears won another match by decision.
That lead was short-lived as Justin
Barnwell, at 152 pounds, turned his
opponent over for a pin and 36-33 lead
for the Demons.
But Daniel Douglas, taking the down
position to start the third period of his
160-pound match, quickly turned his
foe over, got the necessary one-count,
and Houston County was a 39-36 win
ner.
Six from county
to play in classic
Special to the Journal
Brittany Holder and Janay Wilson
of Northside High School and
Cherie White and Kittery Maine of
Warner Robins High School have
been selected to play basketball in
the Middle Georgia All-Star Classic
March 17.
The four - on a team of 10 and
an East and West team divided by
counties - are the Houston County
representatives. They were named
to the East team.
On the boys’ side, the coun
ty’s only representatives are the
Demons’ Pierre Miller and Kenny
Willis. They, too, are slated to play
on the East squad.
The Middle Georgia All-Star
Classic, according to a release,
“showcases the best high school
basketball players in the
See CLASSIC,page SB
Bears coach Heath Burch said it was
a big win for Douglas, who lost his one
on-one encounter against Northside.
“It was our top guys against their
top guys,’’ said Burch. “It could have
gone either way. But we never quit.”
“We beat guys we probably didn’t
expect to beat, and they beat guys they
probably didn’t expect to beat,” said
Warner Robins coach Skip Johnston
after the dual. “That’s the great thing
about this sport. You have two guys,
and only one will be a winner. It’s
a hard one to swallow, but Houston
County wanted it more than we did.”
All the Bears needed to clinch the
revolving trophy outright were a
win against Perry High, which lost
ENI Gary Harmon
Houston County’s Daniel Browder in the 145-pound class puts pressure on
another wrestler.
ÜBTBWKIf jaUfSfcff./^fc^B^
HA| * ■wwwawß fc. * W ** W •' J * ‘ jflgHgraHp
-.::MC.'Mxiiii.r--*- '***"”7*"' IK !** •»Il^B^BEßife:
JjSr it ’*””VKa§l
- ill ill iiiiiiiliMMwA *
_ _ j_ _... -
Sports
its matches to Warner Robins and
Northside. The Panthers and coach
Randy Mizell knew it would be an
uphill battle before the tournament
even began because they were unable
to fill out an entire lineup due to inju
ries and wrestlers not making proper
weight.
But those who did take the mat for
Perry proved hard to handle. In fact,
against Houston, the Panthers had
pins in three of the first four com
peted matches. But with back-to-back
forfeits, a 15-0 lead quickly became
15-12. Perry would lead 21-12 only
to see the Bears win four in a row by
pin.
See TITLE, page SB
Northside recognizes
its gridiron standouts
By MA HUE W BRO WN
Journal Sports Writer
The openingpoetic remarks
of Master of Ceremonies Ray
Horne were strong enough
to put the lights out.
Conrad Nix’s speaking
conditions for about half
an hour was about the only
thing dark about Northside’s
most recent football season.
It was a season honored at
the Northside High School
football awards banquet put
on Monday by the Northside
High Booster Club.
Full lighting was restored
in time for the 2006 Eagle
players to receive a slew of
awards. No award was bigger
than the 2006 Class AAAA
state championship trophy
earned when Northside com
pleted a 15-0 season on Dec.
15 with a 30-6 win against
Marist.
“It took a lot of commit
ment,” said Nix. “We had to
be a lot more focused ... our
guys made it happen.”
Aside from football victo-
Other Eagle award winners from Monday night:
Hustle Award Offense - Brett Moore
Hustle Award Defense - Mitchell Bell and Eric Fields
Most Outstanding Offense - Marques Ivory
Most Outstanding Defense - Deonta Jordan
Quarterback/Receiver - Nick Bass
Offensive Back - Tijuan Green
Offensive Lineman - Jerome Bivins and Robert Crawford
Linebacker - Isaac Wilson
Defensive Line - Anthony Taylor and Marcus Hill
Defensive Back - Charles McKenzie
Special Teams - Devon Pike and Brett Moore
Tim Taylor Christian Athlete - Andrew Hackett and Jonathan
Gordon
Matt Arthur Leadership Offense - Jacobi Rodrigues
Ed Dyson Leadership Defense - Mario Armstrong
WNNG Mike Martin - Damon Lopez
Pat Summers Scholar Athletes - Damon Lopez (senior),
Marques Ivory (junior) and Michael Leotis (sophomore)
Junior Varsity Defense - Anton Williams and Darius Ivey
Junior Varsity Offense - Robert Frish and Xavier Hawkins
WR resident elected to
GSGA Board of Directors
Special to the Journal
The Georgia State Golf
Association held elections
during its annual meeting
this past week. Among the
many decisions - one of
those was to elect Seth L.
Knight, 111 of Columbus and
Green Island Country Club
as president of the organiza
tion - was the naming of five
new members of the Board
of Directors.
Closer to home, those five
include Warner Robins resi
dent - representing Landings
Golf Club-Claire Thompson.
The other members are:
Dave Ballard of Roswell
(Indian Hills Country Club),
Peter Crosby of Savannah
Shelter benefit
The Westfield*Beechwood*Baker
Alumni Association is hosting alum
ni basketball games Saturday to
benefit the Perry Animal Shelter.
Perry Animal Control officer Hanna
Barrett, who is a 2002 graduate
of Westfield where she played on
the basketball team, is pictured
surrounded by FOPAS volunteers
and alumni players. Admission to
the games is sl. Tip-off is slated
for 5:30 p.m. in the Westfield gym.
Westfield’s Debate Team will sell
BBQ plates for $5 and BBQ by the
pound for $lO at the event. Pictured
from left: Westfield Alumni Council
Vice President Chad Bailey; FOPAS
volunteer Wendy Leonard, Rob
Tillman, Perry Animal Shelter mascot
Libby, Hanna Barrett, Ryan Sims,
Michael Morris and Deena Walton.
Wayne Morris Ford is supplying T
shirts for the teams.
ENI/Gary Harmon
PAGE 7B
"It took a lot of
commitment. We
had to be a lot
more focused...
our guys made it
happen.”
Northside head football coach
Conrad Nix
ries, a major speech topic at
this banquet was academics.
Assistant coach Randy Carr,
whose duties includes talk
ing with college recruiters
when they visit the campus
in Warner Robins, said the
first thing people from the
big schools want to see is a
student-athlete’s transcript.
If those numbers aren’t
good, Carr said they will
quickly lose interest.
But in the case of some
one like junior quarterback
See GRIDIRON, page SB
(The Landings Club), Jim
Ingram of Marietta (Indian
Hills Country Club) and
Karen Sellick of Savannah
(The Landings Club).
According to a release
from GSGA, management
of the Georgia State Golf
Association is vested in its
Board of Directors. The
board meets annually to
review the activity of the
Association, transact any
business and elect a new
slate of officers and direc
tors. The GSGA Executive
Committee, which includes
the officers, meets quarter
ly to manage the business
affairs of the Association
between annual meetings.