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Section
February 23,
2023
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PHS Wrestlers post historic performance
Kaleb Nicholson becomes third
individual state champion in
Pickens history
The PHS Wrestling team
traveled to Macon over the
weekend for the GHSA Tra
ditional Wrestling Champi
onship. A school record nine
wrestlers advanced past sec
tionals to qualify for the state
championship rounds.
After the first day of com
petition, the Dragons had five
wrestlers still in the hunt for
a medal. When the dust fi
nally settled on Saturday, the
team would finish with a
school record five state plac
ers. Kaleb Nicholson would
become the third individual
state champion in Pickens
history. Three Pickens
wrestlers finished runner up
to the state title, Dylan Gon
zalez at 125 lbs, Philip Jax at
138 lbs, and Cason Cannon at
157 lbs. Mason Powell
rounded out the state placers,
finishing 4th overall at 165
lbs.
The Pickens Wrestling
team finished second in the
state in 3 A which is the high
est finish in program history.
Coach Tippens and Coach
Mullins have done a fantastic
job building up quality
wrestlers across the roster.
Congratulations on such a
historic performance.
Kaleb Nicholson winning the state championship. Photos/Amber Cloy Photography
More PHS Wrestling Photos on Page 3B
Rec. dept All Stars win championship
On February 20th the
PCRD 8U Girls All-Star
played in the District All-
Stars Tournament hosted by
PCRD. These girls opened
up with a 19-6 win versus
Gilmer County at 6 p.m.
After a short break, the
girls then faced the Fannin
County Rebels in the cham
pionship game at 7:30. After
two quarters of back-and-
forth action, the team finally
broke thru in the third quar
ter and held on to win the
game 20-15. This is back-to-
back district All-Star Cham
pionship for PCRD in the
8U girls age group.
From all of us at
PCRD...congratulations to
the players, coaches and par
ents for winning the GRPA
District 5, Class C 8U Girls
Championship.
Players are: Braylin
Cline, Amelia George, Ryan
Henderson, Elly Hensley,
Harper Jones, Callie McFar
land, Addyson McGarey,
Brinlee Poag, Camryn
Postell & Leighton Propes.
Coaches: Brian Jones, Zach
Henderson and Amanda
Propes
Dragons punch ticket
The Dragons ventured to
White County for a matchup
with Dawson County in the
first round of the region
tourney. A berth into the
state tournament was at
stake for both teams.
The Dragons came out
hot, jumping to a quick 20-9
lead behind James Tilleys
trio of 3 pointers. Dawson
would battle back to tighten
up the score. The Dragons
responded in the second half
stretching the lead to 20
points before sealing a 75-64
win. This clinched the fourth
consecutive state birth for
the Dragons.
The Dragons were led by
Isaiah Williams with 22
points followed by Jaden
Stewart with 13 points and
seven rebounds. Caleb Lan-
ford added 11 points and
nine rebounds while Mc
Cord Purdy also chipped in
11 points. The Dragons
moved into the semi-finals
to face White County.
The Dragons faced the
White County Warriors for
an opportunity to reach the
region finals. Pickens fell
66-57 to the Warriors who
eventually won the region
championship with a win
over Gilmer. The Dragons
were led by Kadyn Hampton
with 18 points and 12 re
bounds followed by Jaden
Stewart with 16. Caleb Lan-
ford contributed 12 in the ef
fort.
The Dragons wrapped the
region tournament with a
loss to Wesleyan in the con
solation match up for state
seeding. The final score was
63-48. The Dragons were
led by Caleb Lanford with
18 points and Kadyn Hamp
ton with 11.
The Dragons will next
face Monroe Area in the first
round of the state tourna
ment Wednesday at 6:30 in
Monroe.
PHS Wrestling team at GHSA Traditional Championship
PHS Tennis defeats
Gilmer
Last week the boys’ team
had a huge win over Gilmer
5-0. Winners were #1 sin
gles Holton Kaul, #2 singles
Joseph Saltino, #3 singles
Will Leathers, #1 doubles
Levi Kuyper and David Sat
terfield and #2 doubles Kel-
ton Keith and Joshua
Lanford. The boys really
struggled for team wins last
season, so it was very satis
fying to take down the rival
Bobcats. The boys are now
Doubles team - Seniors
Levi Kuyper, left, David
Satterfield.
1-3.
The girls’ team also won
4-0. Wins by #1 singles Is
abella Lowe, #3 singles
Brandy Overton, #1 doubles
Logan Berryman and Ella
Johnson and #2 doubles
Jaiden Stanfield and Court
ney Crowe. The girls are
now 2-2.
After winter break they
start region play against
Dawson County.
Doubles team - Sopho
mores Kelton Keith, left,
and Joshua Lanford.
L-R: Senior Holton Kaul, freshman Will Leathers, and
freshman Joseph Saltino.
Get your tickets now. March 3 is right
around die corner
Call 706-889-6368.
Or contat local DU chapter on Facebook @ Pickens County Ga
Ducks Unlimited Chapter
Racing Across america
Race Recap - 2023 Daytona 500
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100 Campus Drive
Jasper, GA 30143
Friday - March 3, 2023
Doors Open - 6pm • Dinner Served - 7pm
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Private table with 8 seats
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Your company logo / info on
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Gun Raffles
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Individual—$65
Couples—$110
Greenwing—$45
By Alex Korowotny
Racing Sports
Correspondent
After a season full of great
racing, safety problems with
the NextGen car, and an in
credible wall-ride move that
will be forever talked about
in NASCAR history, we have
made it to a new season with
the 2023 Daytona 500.
The race started at 3:17
p.m. with Bowman on pole.
Bowman and his teammate
Larson battled side-by-side
for the lead for a bit. Bell and
Almirola worked their way
up to the front to lead laps
shortly afterwards. The first
set of green flag pit stops
happened with different man
ufactures pitting at different
times, and after the cycle of
pit stops concluded, Hamlin
was the new race leader. He
and Briscoe woidd then bat
tle side-by-side for the lead a
bit. On the final lap of Stage
1, Keselowski went to inside
of Truex to take the lead and
win the stage.
Stage 2 started on lap 72
and Keselowski woidd con
tinue to hold the lead for the
next 30+ laps. Pit stops
started on lap 107 with differ
ent manufactures pitting at
different times again, and
Logano would come out with
the lead. The first caution for
incident happened on lap 118
when Harvick bumped Red
dick a little too hard in turns
3 and 4, which took out Red
dick, Elliott, and Jones. On
the restart, Chastain woidd
get the lead from Logano and
win Stage 2.
Stage 3 officially started on
lap 138. After a caution for
debris one lap later, Almirola
and Buescher would lead be
fore the final set of green flag
pit stops with 25 to go. After
pit stops were done, Burton
was the leader and then the
caution flew for a midti-car
incident. On the next restart,
Allmendinger, Keselowski,
and Busch swapped the lead
and looked to be Busch’s
race before Suarez spun out
with three to go, bringing out
the caution. On the next
restart with two to go, Sten-
house would take the lead
from Busch and Logano be
fore a big accident occurred
involving drivers like Ke
selowski, Hamlin, and
Byron. On the final restart of
the race, Stenhouse held onto
the lead, and on the final lap,
another big accident oc-
Continued on Page 5B
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
Return of
theX
The XFL returned to
action again over this past
weekend, and while it
may be preferable to the
return of an ex-spouse or
significant other, should
anyone get excited about
this third incarnation of a
spring league football?
Remember Vince
McMahon of professional
wrestling fame started an
unsuccessful league by the
same name which gave us
one uninspiring season
over two decades ago.
Then, a resurrected XFL
premiered in 2020 but dis
continued games in mid
session because of Covid.
Now, it is back under the
ownership of actor and
former professional
wrestler Dwayne “the
Rock” Johnson and his ex-
wife Dany Garcia who is a
successful businessman
executive and former
bodybuilder and various
other investment groups.
The league consists of
eight teams which are
slated for 10 regular sea
son games each and two
week playoff schedule.
A premier on the same
weekend as NBA All Star
festivities and the Daytona
500 may not have been the
best decision either. In
2020, viewership fell from
over four million fans to
1.2 million after four
weeks.
As of press time, offi
cial television ratings
were not available, how
ever attendance for the
opener in Arlington, Texas
fell 30 percent below the
2020 XFL opener in the
same stadium. Besides,
here in the south, the
weekend weather gave us
the glorious sensation of
springtime, therefore few
people stayed indoors for
third rate football.
How many failed foot
ball leagues must fans en
dure?
No spring or summer
league has survived since
the old USFL of 40 years
ago. The original USFL
attracted top players and
had significantly better
funding than anything
since. The world and fan
tastes evolved since the
1980s too.
These upstart football
leagues usually open well
but always fade. There’s
simply not enough big
names or compelling
teams to carry them. Once
the NCAA Basketball
Tournament, the Major
League Baseball season
and the NBA playoffs get
underway, nobody cares.
Why waste time?
I do not care a thing
about the XFL already.