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DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
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Wrestling team gets season started at Pickens
Rio White Dawson County News
Dawson's Luke Lowe pins his Heritage opponent
down shortly before winning the match on
Tuesday, Nov. 15.
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
The Dawson County
varsity wrestling team hit
the mat for the first time
this season at a meet host
ed by Pickens High
School Tuesday, Nov. 15.
With the Tigers facing
Heritage (Catoosa) and
the hosting Dragons,
junior Luke Lowe won the
first of his two challenging
matches while freshmen
Landon Glander and
Mason Rosenberg won
their first career varsity
matches.
Glander won both of his
bathes to lead the way for
Dawson.
While the Tigers fielded
a young team and had a
few weight classes miss
ing from the opening night
of action, head coach
Arron Haynes drew plenty
of positives from the per
formances and is looking
forward to a fuller squad
at the upcoming Dawson
Duals meet.
“We learned just how
much ‘want to’ our team
has in that not a single
person quit on the mat,”
Haynes said. “I felt like
even though we took loss
es, there was a lot of good
that came of the night.”
For Haynes, the youth
of the team presents a situ
ation that is both challeng
ing and exciting.
With all but two players
on the team either first-
year wrestlers or fresh
man, Tuesday’s matches
gave the roster much-
needed experience.
Haynes was impressed
with the effort from his
team in the face of a steep
learning curve.
“There was not a single
thing to hang our heads
about last night,” Haynes
said. “I also saw that our
wrestlers are ahead of
where I thought we were
going in. Moves that
seemed to escape them at
practice showed up when
it counted. I am excited
for the future.”
Next up, the Tigers will
host the Dawson Duals
event and are set to have
most of their weight class
es back in contention.
That event will have
many schools participat
ing and will give Dawson
a broader test of their
skills. Haynes believes
that the team’s efforts at
Pickens were a good foun
dation for the season mov
ing forward.
“Overall, I knew where
we stood going in and we
had a better showing than
I expected,” Haynes said.
“We still have a lot of
wrestling to learn and the
freshmen have to get used
to wrestling juniors and
seniors, but the future both
distant and immediate
looks bright.”
The Dawson Duals
tournament will begin at 9
a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22.
New-look roster for boys basketball
Rio White Dawson County News
The DCHS boys basketball team's bench cheers during the game against River Ridge Saturday, Nov. 12. The
team has many new faces this season.
Tigers seeking bounce-back season under Cottrell
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Head coach Todd Cottrell
and the Dawson County var
sity boys basketball team are
heading into this season with
a new-look roster seeking to
compete in Region 7-3 A.
After winning three con
secutive region titles, the
Tigers went through a period
of transition last season,
using a variety of lineups
consisting of several seniors.
The team struggled early in
the season before becoming
more competitive down the
final stretch of region play.
Despite falling just short
on several occasions, the
team witnessed the emer
gence of Trey Harvey, whose
scoring helped the team keep
up during games.
With those previous
seniors — such as Luke
Mulberry and Lane Perry —
now gone, the team is led this
year by juniors Harvey,
Ethan Parker and Caden
Reed.
That trio will be tasked
with helping set a new stan
dard for the team and helping
the group as a whole achieve
progress throughout the sea
son.
What to expect
With so many new faces
on the team following the
departure of those seniors,
the Tigers’ prospective for
tunes are difficult to gauge.
While the trio of Harvey,
Parker and Reed will likely
account for the majority of
the team’s offense, defense
and rebounding will be two
areas of needed improve
ment.
The Tigers played well
within the region last season
— accounting for five of the
team’s six wins. But the
addition of Pickens and
Wesleyan to the region pres
ents new challenges.
For the Tigers, this sea
son’s journey will be to
forge the identity during
non-region play and contin
ue to play competitively
against region teams. Last
season, White County
proved to be the only region
team that Dawson did not
play closely.
Who to watch for
Harvey and Reed are both
coming off seasons that saw
them earn All-Region
Honorable Mentions. Both
players have shown offen
sive prowess, with Harvey
aggressive inside and Reed
possessing a smooth shot.
Parker will be in an elevat
ed role compared to last sea
son but has also shown a
natural ability to score.
One player who will be set
to contribute is sophomore
Joshua Priest, who picked
up significant minutes as a
freshman last season.
Fellow sophomore Bailey
Swafford could also play a
part from the point guard
position and would be need
ed as an option from the
perimeter.
A new face to the team
who could make a difference
is junior Amari Homer. With
his size and wingspan,
Horner could be a key
defensive asset.
BASKETBALL
Tigers sweep
first day of Roger
Slaton Memorial
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
(Note: The second day of the Roger
Slaton Memorial was on Monday, Nov. 21,
after the DCN print deadline. For updates
on those scores, visit our website at www.
dawsonnews.com.)
After opening the season with home loss
es, the Dawson County boys and girls varsi
ty basketball teams found the win column
by sweeping the opening day of action in
the Roger Slaton Memorial on Saturday,
Nov. 19, against Fidelis Christian.
Coming into Saturday, the girls team had
followed up their opening loss to Creekview
with a 56-41 road win at Flowery Branch on
Tuesday, Nov. 15.
The boys team narrowly lost at Flowery
Branch in a 62-61 defeat and were looking
to bounce back Saturday.
With both teams back at the Ford Phillips
Center for the two-day Roger Slaton
Memorial, the Tigers won in dominating
fashion — the girls winning 66-14 and the
boys winning 81-56.
In their romp of Fidelis, the Fady Tigers
had significant contributions from nearly
everyone on the roster — with all but two
players scoring by the end of the game.
Junior Kindra Coker had the hot hand
early, scoring eight points in the first quarter
to help put the home team up 28-2.
In the second quarter, junior Abby
Samples-Slaton helped continue the aggres
sive start for Dawson, showing her shooting
See Basketball 12B
Rio White Dawson County News
Caden Reed looks to pass the ball dur
ing the opening game of the season.
Reed would lead the Tigers to a
bounce-back victory over Fidelis
Christian with 29-point performance.
Lee shoots perfect score in prone,
leads riflery team in loss to Buford
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Senior Madelyn Fee led the way
for Dawson County’s coed varsity
riflery team during its home meet
against Buford Thursday, Nov. 17,
with the visitors winning 1082 to
1035.
Fee shot a perfect 100 in prone
position as part of a total score of
286 — just eight points short of her
school record 294. She shot 94 in
standing position and 92 in kneeling.
“Overall a disappointing night after
shooting so well during our first meet
against Fumpkin,” riflery coach Maj.
Robert Wiley said. “Fike any sport,
you have good weeks and bad weeks.
We keep track of our wins and losses
in riflery, but in reality, we measure
our success on individual improve
ment.”
While Fee led the way for the
Tigers, other DCHS shooters had
notable scores as well.
Rio White Dawson County News
Madelyn Lee focuses on her target
before shooting from a prone posi
tion. She earned a perfect score of
100 from prone.
Aaron Anderson came close to
Fee’s perfect prone mark with a score
of 98. Trinity Brooks shot a personal
best of 257, and Tristan Brooksher
shot a season-high of 225.
The riflery team will continue its
season Thursday, Dec. 1, with a home
meet against North Forsyth.
Player Of The Week!
Landon
Glander
The player of the week is
Landon Glander, who won
his first two varsity wrestling
matches last week against
Heritage and Pickens.
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