Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2007
— CHS Wrestling
Pictured after the Junior Patriot Invitational are, left to right
(front), Nick Henderson, Cody Nation, (back) Coach Darryl
Ellrott, Micah Eason, Kristopher Hart, Chance McClure, Bryson
Standridge and Coach Jessie Fowler.
CMS Wrestlers Fare Well
In First Meets Of The Season
Cont. from Page 1B
Other wrestlers with experi
ence include Dustin McClain,
a junior who will wrestle at 140;
Thomas Sears, who qualified for
state at 145 but was unable to go,
who will compete at 152; Tyler
Austin, who competed at 160,
will start at 171; Phillip Edwards,
who was hurt last year, will com
pete at 145; and sophomore
Terrence Martin, who was also
hurt last year but will compete
at “around 160” this year, Love
said.
“Terrence was hurt and Phillip
was hurt and we ended up sev
enth, about 10 points out of the
top five,” Love noted. “We were
21-9 last year in dual matches.
We’re going to try to build on
that. We lost three or four good
seniors. We’ll try to replace them
and build on that record this
year.”
Love is also looking for some
wins from junior Andrew Minish
or sophomore Jake Hill at 215,
freshman Addison Davis who
will wrestle at 103, and sopho
more Dillion Desean, who will
wrestle at 112 to 119.
Love says the Tigers will be
short a few weight classes at the
Lady Tigers To
Tip Season Off
Friday At 7:00
Coach Eddie McCurley will
lead his Lady Tigers onto the
court for the first time Friday
night at 7:00 against the Banks
County Lady Leopards.
McCurley is in his first year as
the head coach after success
ful coaching ventures at Hart
County, Anderson College and
Gardiner Webb College.
He’ll be trying to turn
around a program that fin
ished the last season with a
2-22 record.
Panther Invitational, but expects
to be able to fill all slots as the
season progresses.
Competitors in the Panther
Invitational include Apalachee,
Banks County, Commerce,
Chamblee, Chestatee, East Hall,
East Jackson, Elbert County,
Gainesville, Gilmer County,
Henry County, Jackson County,
Jefferson-Morgan County, John
son, Kennesaw Mountain, Lake
side, Madison County, North
Myrtle Beach, SC, South For
syth, Winder-Barrow, Wheeler,
West Laurens and Kendrick.
West Laurens won last year,
followed in order by Jefferson,
Gilmer County, East Side, Jack
son County and Kennesaw
Mountain.
Love points out that the Tigers
will run into Jefferson — a peren
nial state power favored to win
yet another Class A title this year
— a number of times during the
season. It’s by design.
“To get better, you’ve got to
wrestle good people, so that’s
what we try to do,” he explains.
The Panther Invitational begins
at 4:45 Friday afternoon. Action
will resume at 9:00 Saturday
morning.
CHS GIRLS BASKETBALL
Date
Opponent Time/Result
Nov. 30 Banks County
7:00
Dec
4
Social Circle
6:00
Dec
7
@Athens Academy 7:00
Dec
8
@Athens Christian
5:00
Dec
11
@Prince Avenue
6:00
Dec
14
Hebron Christian
7:00
Dec
15
@Dawson County
6:00
Dec. 28-29 WJJC Holiday Classic
Jan.
4
Prince Avenue
7:00
Jan.
8
@Lakeview
7:00
Jan.
11
Jefferson
7:00
Jan.
15
Tallulah Falls
6:00
Jan.
19
Athens Academy
6:00
Jan.
22
Towns County
6:00
Jan.
25
@Jefferson
7:00
Jan.
26
@Banks County
5:00
Jan.
29
@Tallulah Falls
6:00
Feb.
2
Athens Christian
5:00
Feb.
5
@Towns County
6:00
Feb.
8
Lakeview Academy 7:00
Feb. 11-13 Region @ Prince Avenue
Feb. 15-16 Region Finals @ Towns Co.
The Commerce Middle School
wrestling team posted a strong
showing in its season opener Nov.
20, winning a number of matches
against Madison County and
East Hall, and placing fourth last
Saturday in the nine-team Junior
Patriot Invitational at Oglethorpe
County High School.
The CMS Tigers will attend the
Union Grove Invitational Satur
day, Dec. 1.
“With eight mats and 32 teams,
it’s the largest and toughest mid
dle school tournament in the
state,” commented Coach Dar
ryl Ellrott. “Four our kids to get
to the next level and be competi
tive with programs like Jefferson,
Bremen and Gordon Lee for the
state championship, this is the
sort of thing we need to do.”
The Tigers will have a large, if
inexperienced team, 32 individu
als, compared to 18 last year.
“Even though we’re bigger, we’re
still young and inexperienced,”
Ellrott pointed out, “with almost
60 percent of our roster being
first-year wrestlers. We think
we have some really good kids,
though, with really bright futures
if they stick to the support.”
Ellrott noted that the addition
of former Jefferson wrestler (and
state champion) Jessie Fowler
is having an impact on the pro
gram.
The first meet was a tri-meet
with Madison County and East
Hall.
“Although score is not typically
kept in middle school matches,
we won the first 15 consecutive
matches and 18 of the first 20,”
Ellrott said. “A total of 45 matches
were wrestled that night, so we felt
good about our performance.”
Six Tigers won medals at the
Junior Patriot Invitational, where
Commerce finished fourth be
hind Clarke County, Banks Coun
ty and Athens Christian.
Micah Eason won first at 175
pounds, Chance McClure cap
tured second at 155, Cody Na
tion second at 155, Kristopher
Hart third at 105, Nick Hen
derson third at 95 and Bryson
Standridge fourth at 145.
— CHS Men's Basketball
Cont. from Page 1B
—Taylor Gary, Flint, Cohen Cook
and Chase Keller.
“Taylor and Cohen are the only
two who have played any varsity,”
Bridges said. “For the most part,
they played five guys last year,
and all of them were seniors.
There’s not a lot of experience
here.”
Bridges expects his guards to
be the strength of the team.
“Hopefully, we’ll get good guard
play from Cook and Gary; that’ll
be our strength. I expect Drake
Cash and Matt Adams, both ju
niors and forwards, to step up
and be key players,” he said.
Last year’s Tigers were 7-17, so
there’s ample room for improve
ment.
CHS BOYS BASKETBALL
Date Opponent Time/Result
Nov. 30 Banks County 8:30
Dec. 4 Social Circle 7:30
Dec. 7 @Athens Academy 8:30
Dec. 8 @Athens Christian 6:30
Dec. 11 @Prince Avenue 7:30
Dec. 14 Hebron Christian 8:30
Dec. 15 @Dawson County 7:30
Dec. 28-29 WJJC Holiday Classic
Jan. 4 Prince Avenue 8:30
Jan. 8 @Lakeview 8:30
Jan. 11 Jefferson 8:30
Jan. 15 Tallulah Falls 7:30
Jan. 19 Athens Academy 7:30
Jan. 22 Towns County 7:30
Jan. 25 @Jefferson 8:30
Jan. 26 @Banks County 6:30
Jan. 29 @Tallulah Falls 7:30
Feb. 2 Athens Christian 6:30
Feb. 5 @Towns County 7:30
Feb. 8 Lakeview Academy 8:30
Feb. 11-13 Region @ Prince Avenue
Feb. 15-16 Region Finals @ Towns Co.
“It’s kind of early,” the coach
pointed out. “The biggest thing for us to improve on is our shooting.
We don’t shot the ball very well. We didn’t shoot the ball very well this
summer either.”
On defense, the Tigers will run a lot of zones and will try to keep
them changing to keep the offenses off balance.
“I don’t think we’re quick enough to stay with anyone man-to-man,”
Bridges explained.
Right now, the new coach is pleased with his Tigers’ work ethic.
“I think the guys work hard,” he said. “I’m pretty excited about the
way they’ve tried to learn the new offense and defense. They’re really
good kids.”
The Lady Tigers’ game begins at 7:00, the men taking the floor im
mediately at its conclusion.
Sleigh Bell 5K To
Be Held On Saturday
The East Georgia chapter of
the American Red Cross will
hold its 22nd annual Sleighbell
5K Run/Walk Saturday, Dec. 1.
The event will be held at the
pavilion at Pittard Park on
North Church Street, Winter-
ville .
Registration begins at 7:30
a.m. and the race starts at 8:30
a.m.
Proceeds will benefit local
disaster services of the East
Georgia chapter of the Red
Cross.
For more information, or to
register, visit www.sleighbell.
org or call 706-353-1645.
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706-367-5233
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