Newspaper Page Text
Page 2C
February 9, 2022
Reporter
Two Mat Dogs advance to finals
Two Mary Persons wrestlers, seniors
Anthony Mannella and JT Andrews,
became just the second and third wrestlers
in program history to advance to the State
Traditional Championship last week.
Mannella was the AAA Sectional B
Champion in the 160 weight class and An
drews placed 5th in the 220 weight class.
The Mat Dogs had a few wrestlers that
placed for alternate spots as well, Dylan
Ivey, Dezavion Scandrett, and Cooper
Horton.
“I’m extremely proud of the group of
wrestlers that participated in the Sectional
tournament this past weekend, including
Charley Ryles and Michael Whitfield,”
said MP wrestling coach Barron Ham
lin. “These 7 young men fought a tough
sectional this year, it was a grind every
match. 5 out of 8 teams from the State
Duals Tournament were in this sectional,
including the State Champion Rockmart
HS and State Runner up Gilmer HS with
Top 4 Adairsville HS too. It was a rim of
the gauntlet to say the least.”
Both Mannella and Andrews will wrestle
at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Macon Center-
plex.
Mannella and Andrews become the
second MP wrestlers in program history to
advance this far.
Brycen Young in 2018 was a sectional
champ and placed 6th at the State Tourna
ment his senior year. “Hopefully, we can
have one go further this year,” said Hamlin.
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
Give 15 minutes to help scientists get data in Great Bird Count
Bright red cardinals will be one of the birds easy to
observe in Monroe County during the Feb. 18-21 Great
Backyard Bird Count. (Photo/Terry Johnson)
T he first binding
event of2022 (The
Great Backyard
Bird Count) will
take place Feb. 18-21. It is
estimated that this
year more than
300,000 citizen-
scientists will take
part in this bird
survey.
The Great Back
yard Bird Count
provides a super
way for people of
all ages and abili- jerry yy
ties to identify
birds and spend
a small amount of their
time to help conserve bird
populations. Remarkably,
it does not cost anything
to participate. Basically the
only requirement is that
you dedicate as little as 15
minutes of your time to
count birds.
I do not know of an
other event that takes so
little time yet provides
the opportunity to play a
role in wildlife conserva
tion. The data gathered
this year will help wildlife
biologists around the world
determine the status of
the populations of literally
thousands of species of
birds.
Biologists working for
the Cornell Laboratory of
Ornithology, the National
Audubon Society, and
Birds Canada
spearhead this
monumental en
deavor. The first
GBBC was held
in 1998. It holds
the distinction
of being the first
online project to
involve private
JOHNSON citizenst0
survey birds
and display
the results of their efforts in
nearly real time. The survey
focused on birds found in
the United States. In 2009
Canada was added to the
area surveyed. In 2013
the GBBC went global.
Last year volunteers in 190
countries took part in the
event.
The results of the 2021
GBBC illustrate how
massive the undertak
ing has become. Last year
some 300,000 individuals
reported spotting 6,436
species of birds across the
globe. In the United States
alone participants submit
ted 258,653 checklists.
If you would like to
become a member of the
international 2022 GBBC
Count Team, the first thing
you must do is select an
area to survey. Although
the name of the count sug
gests you can only count
birds seen in your back
yard, such is not the case.
You have the responsibility
of determining the size of
the area where your count
will take place.
Some people do indeed
survey in their backyards.
However, others choose
to survey an entire county,
park, wildlife refuge or
management area, the
route they drive to and
from work, a schoolyard,
you name it. Then simply
tally all of the birds you
can identify during a time
span lasting as little as 15
minutes.
If you survey the area
more than once a day, at
the end of the day simply
add up the total time spent
looking for birds as well
as the species and total
individuals seen. If you
like, you can survey the
same each day throughout
the four-day count period.
You can also survey any
number of places each day.
As such, some people sub
mit 30 or more individual
counts per year.
Once you complete a
survey, simply go to the
GBBC website (birdcount.
org), and enter your data.
Then pull up the map that
records the location of each
site survey. Over the course
of the count, it is fascinat
ing to watch how the map
fills up.
Each year a number of
rare birds are reported. For
example, last year in the
United States and Canada,
some of the rarities seen
included the crimson-
collared grosbeak, golden-
crowned warbler, rufous-
backed robin and wheatear.
I know all of this might
sound intimidating, but
honestly it is not. I have
participated in commu
nity science projects for
decades. As far as I am
concerned, the designers of
this survey have made it as
simple as it gets.
If you cannot make up
your mind whether you
want to take part in the
count, I urge you to go the
GBBC website (birdcount.
org). There you will find a
wealth of information re
garding the count. Then, if
you decide you want to try
it, go ahead and sign in. In
that way you will be ready
to go on Feb. 18.
Oops, I almost forgot, I
should also mention every
one that submits a checklist
this year is automatically
entered in a contest to win
a pair of Zeiss Terra 8X42
binoculars.
Terry Johnson is retired
Program Manager of the
Georgia Nongame-Endan
gered Wildlife Program. He
has written the informative
column Monroe Outdoors’
for the Reporter for many
years. His book, “A Journey
to Discovery,” is available at
The Reporter. Email him at
tjwoodduck@bellsouth. net.
Dogs avenge Jackson loss
to advance to Round 2
The Mary Persons boys
basketball team beat Jackson
80-70 on Monday to advance to
Round 2 of the region tourna
ment and keep alive hopes of
making the state playoffs. The
Bulldogs faced Upson-Lee on
Tuesday night, Feb. 8, with a
playoff bid on the line. Regard
less of the outcome Tuesday,
MP coach Greg Nix said
he’s happy with the win over
Jackson in the tournament just
six days after losing to the Red
Devils.
“I am really proud of our team
for showing toughness,” Nix
said of the win, which came
almost a week after MP lost to
Jackson 74-67 on Feb. 1.
“Last week they out hustled
and out toughed us,” said Nix,
“but last night our players were
determined to win and move
onto the next round to play
Upson Lee.”
Kham Little led the Bulldogs
with 17 points, 7 rebounds and
6 assists. Ty Dumas had 17
points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Maury Lowe had 17 points, 5
rebounds and 4 steals. Jarvis
Germany had 8 points and 6
rebounds. Jake LaVinka had 8
points and 5 rebounds.
With the win, MP improved
to 13-13, 6-9 in the region.
In the Feb. 1 loss to Jackson,
Little had 19 points and Johona
Braswell had 17 points, includ
ing a perfect 3 of 3 on 3-point-
ers and 8 of 10 from the line.
Maury Lowe added 14 points.
On the glass, Little led with 9
rebounds and LaVinka had 7.
MP went 2-1 against rival Jack-
son this season, having beaten
them 68-33 on Jan. 7.
In their regular season finale
on Feb. 4, the Bulldogs hung
with region leader Americus-
Sumter (23-2,13-1 region) for
four quarters before falling
61-52. Little led with 20 points,
Maury Lowe had 10 and Ty
Dumas 9,
Little led in rebounding with
8.
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1 1
nl
Kham little
shoots for
2 of his 20
points in
the loss to
Americus
last Friday.
(Photo/Russ
Campbell)