The 2010 Militia Duals at Gwinnett Convention Center has over 50 teams representing 12 states vying for the coveted custom Militia Duals finalist singlets.

Results are all posted here

 

Silverbacks
103 Griff Higg
112 JR Wert
119 Brett Yarbrough
125 Billy Abrahamson
130 Jacob Aikins
135 Andy Khair
140 Javon Scott
145 Acton Pifer
152 Carey Cloud
152 Hunter Gamble
171 Forrest Przybysz / Randy Roden
189 Hunter Barnes
215 Boyce Cornwell
285 Joe Carmen

GOrillas
103 Romello Swain
112 Peyton Durflinger / Marcus Burden
119 Dale Ressle
125 Jake Orosco
130 Ryan Cross
135 Nolan Meaders
140 Richard Spinx
145 Charlton Benjemin
152 Jared Vinson / Eric Brovont
160 Sean Papcun
171 Tate Murry / Will Johnson
189 Ryan Stenger
215 Desmond James
285 Brandon Butler


Make your uniform payments at the link below no later than June 10th.

Shirt and Fightshort Size

By Brandon Brigman
GNWA Correspondent

Dustin Kawa was the first Georgian to win a national title at the National High School Coaches Association tournament in 1999.

Over the last 11 years Georgia has gradually become one of the better wrestling states, which was evident after this year's tournament.

The Peach State produced its fourth senior national champion in Collins Hill's T.J. Mitchell and had four national champs overall. That goes along with five All-Americans through the four grade levels, making this year's NHSCA tournament the best ever by Georgia.

"To my recollection Georgia has never done that well at a national tournament — ever," GNWA national team coach Lee Roper said. "I think Georgia kids are starting to believe they can compete on the big stage and they should be in the medal rounds."

Mitchell, a Virginia Tech signee, won his title at 125 pounds and joins Kawa (Shiloh), Drake McCoy (Fayette County) and Josh Condon (Harrison) as the only senior national champs from Georgia.

Georgia had two national champs in the freshman division with Morgan County's J.R. Wert (112)) and Northgate's Tyler Askey (140) and in the sophomore division Mitchell's younger brother Drew Ferguson (103) won a national title.

"Tyler, the way he dominated the bracket really stood out to me," Roper said. "He was really dominate and what impressed me was he went out there and ran through the competition.

"Wert, I think he gave up two points the whole tournament. Drew probably had one of the toughest roads to the finals, but he did a great job beating some highly ranked kids.

"T.J., with what he did in all three phases of wrestling — top, bottom and neutral — he really wrestled great. That's what impressed me the most was the the way they won convincingly."

Bremen's Joe Bexley (285) was second in the freshman division, Central Gwinnett's Jacob Aiken-Phillips (285) was third and Tucker's Carey Cloud (152) was eighth in the junior division. Collins Hill's Joel Smith (140), an Arizona State signee, was second and Devante Brown (130) was seventh in the senior division.

The nine total placers at this year's tournament raised the bar for Georgia wrestling, which traditionally has not competed well at the tournament. Georgia had six placers last year, but from 1991-2008 only produced 10 All-Americans.

"I told the whole team, the foundation you are laying for the people behind you, it will only make it better for them later on," Roper said.

NHSCA ALL-AMERICANS
Here's a list of all the Georgia's that have earned All-American status by placing in the top eight at the NHSCA tournament in Virginia Beach.
The NHSCA senior nationals started in 1990. The junior division began in 2006 and the sophomore and freshman were added in 2007.

2010
FIRST PLACE
T.J. Mitchell, Sr., 125, Collins Hill
Drew Ferguson, Soph., 103, Collins Hill
J.R. Wert, Fr., 112, Morgan County
Tyler Askey, Fr., 140, Northgate
SECOND PLACE
Joel Smith, Sr., 140, Collins Hill
Joe Bexley, Fr., 285, Bremen
THIRD PLACE
Jacob Aiken-Phillips, Jr., 285, Central Gwinnett
SEVENTH PLACE
Devante Brown, Sr., 130, Collins Hill
EIGHTH PLACE
Carey Cloud, Jr., 152, Tucker

2009
FOURTH PLACE
T.J. Mitchell, Jr., 119, Collins Hill
FIFTH PLACE
Derrick Laney, Jr., 215, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe
SIXTH PLACE
Joel Smith, Jr., 140, Collins Hill
Sam Kuntz, Sr., 189, Peachtree Ridge
EIGHTH PLACE
Drew Ferguson, Fr., 103, Collins Hill
C.J. Collins, Jr., 215, Collins Hill

2008
FIRST PLACE
Josh Condon, Sr., 152, Harrison
SIXTH PLACE
Joey Lazor, Jr., 130, Union Grove
EIGHTH PLACE
Tim Gilbert, Fr. 160, Camden County

2007
FOURTH PLACE
Dorian Henderson, Sr., 117, Columbus
SIXTH PLACE
Paul Sanford, Sr., 119, Northgate

2005
FIRST PLACE
Drake McCoy, Sr., 275, Fayette County

2000
FOURT PLACE
Joey Guiler, Sr., 119, Collins Hill

1999
FIRST PLACE
Dustin Kawa, Sr., 171, Shiloh
SECOND PLACE
Joe Clarke, Sr., 130, Westminster

1991
SEVENTH PLACE
Todd Miller, Sr., 119, Wheeler

NHSCA Nationals – VA Beach, Virginia Trip Itinerary

Below is a schedule of our trip, including activities and competition times. The schedule is an estimate only – the times and information is subject to change as needed.  Below the schedule is also a list of suggested items your wrestler may consider bringing when packing for the trip.

Departure Information
We will leave as one group from Discover Mills Mall March, 23rd at 4PM. Arrive at Disciover Mills by 3:30PM.

Place of Departure: Discover Mills Mall in front of Bass Pro Shops – 5900 Sugarloaf Parkway Lawrenceville, GA 30043 | Click Here for Map and directions

We will leave Discover Mills promptly at 4PM and will arrive at the hotel around 1AM.

Register at this link here> (deadline March 20th)

Weigh-In Information
WEIGH-INS WILL BE +3 (106, 115 etc.)

Underclassmen weigh-ins will be Wednesday March 24th: all Underclassmen will weigh-in from 8AM to 11AM. Shoot to be within 2 to 3lbs over when we depart. We will not practice Tuesday night due to late arrival. *You may not compete lower than your state certification weight.  Should your state not have the eight certification system in place, you may not wrestle lower than the weight you competed at the

2009-10 State Dual Meet Championships or Individual State Championships.

Weight Changes: Changing your weight will cost an additional $50, please be advised wrestlers grossly overweight at the time of departure will be asked to give the coaches $50 to hold to cover the cost of the potential weight change. If the wrestler makes his target weight the money will be returned to the wrestler.

The coaches will encourage all kids to contact their parents upon our arrival.

Hotel and Contact Information
COURTYARD MARRIOTT
VIRGINIA BEACH OCEANFRONT
3737 ATLANTIC AVE
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 23451
www.courtyardoceanfrontnorth.com

 

Coaches Phone numbers:
Cliff Fretwell – 404-394-3252
Tom Mitchell – 404-867-7342
Lee Roper – 770-365-6210

Parents: we encourage you to send a cell phone and charger with your wrestler to be able to call home as needed.

Luggage Try to limit to one large duffle bag / suit case and a carry along bag due to the limited amount of space when traveling.

Meals We will depart and arrive to and from the hotel and venue as a team. We will do our best to coordinate and encourage group and team meals as much as possible.  Meals are not included in the cost of this trip.  Please be sure that your wrestler has plenty of food and spending money for the duration of the trip.

 

Room Assignments We let the kids choose their roommates and trust them to pick peers that have the same goals and aspirations of focusing on this trip and competition to the best of their ability. If there is an incident of misbehavior or disruption, rooms changes will be made and disciplinary action may be taken.

Checkout / arriving home We will check out of the hotel Saturday morning and head for home Saturday afternoon noonish. Our estimated time of arrival will be approximately 11:00 PM. Saturday night. If this time changes we will have each kid inform their parents prior to departure.

Competition and Travel Schedule
Tuesday, March 23^rd
Arrival at hotel around 1AM
Weight check then lights out
(we will stop for dinner during the trip up for those that can eat)

Competition Schedule FR-SR
Day 1: Wednesday March 24th : Underclassmen Weigh-Ins 8AM to 11AM
Underclassmen Fresh,Soph. & Juniors)  start wrestling at 2pm up to quarterfinals

Day 2: Thursday, March 25: 9am Day 2: High School Nationals, quarterfinals, consolations, semifinals (Fresh, Soph & Juniors) 2 pm - 5 pm  Senior Nationals wrestler check-in, weigh-in, coach check-in and registration. (Seniors only)

Day 3: Friday, March 26: 10am Consolation quarterfinals (2nd of 4) and consolation semi-finals (Fresh, Soph & Juniors) 7pm  High School Nationals Parade of All-Americans, 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th place matches. Awards presented in all weight (Fresh, Soph & Juniors)10:30 am  Championship rounds up to the round of 16

Day 4: Saturday, March 27: 9 am  Day 2 championship round of 16, quarterfinals, consolation rounds, semifinals, consol. Rounds

Day 5: Sunday March 28th: 9 am  Day 3 conclusion of consolations and All-American rounds 5 pm  Senior Nationals Parade of All Americans, Championship Finals and Awards ** All awards will be presented in all weights at the conclusion on the Finals

The remaining Seniors will depart following the finals for arrival late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

 

Trip Options

Training and Traveling $235.00 Training ONLY $65.00

Wrestler Name

 

 

By Brandon Brigman

GNWA Correspondent

For the last seven years people have been asking Collins Hill wrestling coach Cliff Ramos when he would retire.

That day came Tuesday night.

Ramos announced his retirement to the Collins Hill wrestling program, ending a 34-year coaching career.

“There’s a lot of things. No. 1 and this is in honor of (former Collins Hill football coach) Alan Fahring, I want to spend less time with my family. Whenever someone retries they say they want to spend more time with their family. We always said when we retire we would say that, but he didn’t get a chance because of his cancer.”

The past few years Ramos has taught part-time at Collins Hill. The county is expected to only keep a handful of part-time employees, so that played a factor in his decision. He also wants to travel more and spend more time with his best friend Steve West, but more importantly focus on serving God.

“I don’t know how yet, but I can serve Him more,” Ramos said.

Ramos has certainly been blessed as a wrestling coach.

Ramos started his coaching career in Butler, Mo., in the late 70s, spent five years at East Hall and then spent eight years at Meadowcreek before taking over the Collins Hill program. During that span he collected more than 600 wins and 80 losses.

He built the Collins Hill program from scratch and turned it into the best program in the state. The Eagles have won five traditional state championships and four dual state titles and have finished in the top three at state the last 11 years.

The Eagles have produced 31 state champions and 111 state placers, most notably four-time state champion Tyler Parker.

“I’m so happy to do this in my career,” Ramos said. “There’s a lot of teachers and coaches that have regrets, but I don’t have any. I would do it all again.”

Ramos’ final year as a head coach will go down as the best in Georgia history. The Eagles won the traditional state tournament with 301 points and had six state champions, both were the most ever in Class AAAAA.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with my retirement,” Ramos said. “I think next year’s team will be No. 1 and will be very good. It’s a good way to go out this year and this season is the best ever.”

The state success just goes along with an impressive out-of-state schedule where the Eagles won the Toshiba Midwest Classic, placed second at the Powerade Invitational and third at the Final Four. Collins Hill’s only dual losses were to nationally ranked Brandon (Fla.) by 10 points and Blair Academy (N.J.), who was No. 1 in the country at the time, by three points. The Eagles are ranked No. 9 in the country, which is the highest ranking ever by a Georgia team.

“The past year has been the most grueling year I’ve ever spent in my life,” Ramos said. “Since two days after the state tournament last year to Saturday night I’ve been working.”

Ramos has recommended that assistant coach Josh Stephen take over the program, but a formal decision has not been made by the school. The Missouri native has been involved with wrestling for 45 years and plans to stay involved with the sport in some capacity.

“I would never be a head coach anywhere else than Collins Hill,” Ramos said. “I’ll be a Collins Hill fan, I’ll tell you that. I love Collins Hill wrestling. I’ve been doing it for 16 years and I just love it.”

This story was originally published for the Gwinnett Daily Post

Gary Phillips is in his ninth year at the Georgia High School Association as the Assistant Executive Director. Phillips oversees four sports, including wrestling, cross country, track and field and golf.
Phillips took some time to talk to GNWA correspondent Brandon Brigman on Saturday about the state tournament, the growth of the sport and coaching Georgia legend Hershel Walker.

BB: Great weather this weekend. Take me through the last few days as far as making decisions with the weather, sectionals and the state tournament.
GP: We thought we were in pretty good shape going into the earlier part of the week with the sectinals scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Then here comes the weather reports and immediately the question comes from hundreds of corners of the state, what are we gonna do, what are we gonna do? Thursday we made the decision that we would have to move the sectional tournament to Monday and Tuesday, that there was not much other choice. It look imminate that Friday and Saturday were going to be a problem. Some folks liked it, some didn't. Then we adjusted the time schedule. Instead of starting at 5 o'clock on Monday, we were going to start early in the morning on Monday and end earlier on Tuesday because kids traveling and coming from school. South Georgia coming back from school and the plan was they would be back in school on Wednesday and then come back at 4 o'clock on Thursday (at the Gwinnett Arena) to have weigh ins and start the tournament. Well, it wasn't long after that, actually Friday morning, that it looked like Sunday, Monday night is going to be a problem and what do we do? The last thing I want to do and I told Dr. (Ralph) Sweargin, who's the executive director, I don't want a school traveling four hours on a bus Sunday night, spending money to stay in a hotel and being told Monday morning we're snowed out again, you need to go home. So we talked for a few minutes and I talked to Bud (Hennebaul) and in the mean time he was talking about going to a 32-man bracket if we have to blend the two sectionals. I think by 9:30 Friday morning, we made the decision we have to dispense with the sectionals and go immediately to bring all 32 wrestlers to Gwinnett in AA to AAAAA. Then what do we do with Class A? Because they are on a whole different format because there's fewer schools, few wrestlers in Class A. So we worked that plan out and instead of them bringing eight guys here as they would normally, we let them bring 16 and they reduce their (sectional) tournament from two days to one day. Because both area directors said if we only have to get down to eight men, then we can do this in one day. All that crashes together all at the same time and then you try and send out e-mails, we have an emergency message system we send out to schools, we get it out on our Web site and different other places, we send out to major media major outlets the major changes. That's a long story, but that's what went into discussion. We had to make some decisions about the conduct of the tournament. The Arena has the hockey team (Gwinnett Gladiators) there, so as the hockey team leaves to go on the road, we're coming right behind them to set up all the wrestling mats and have weigh ins on Wednesday night. We have a plan worked out that basically instead of starting 5 o'clock Thursday, we start at 8 o'clock Thursday to get it done and work within that time constraint. So we had to make some other decisions about the tournament. One of the questions we get now, we decided if you're a first round loser in your wrestling match, you are eliminated from the tournament. That's as I told some guys Friday is brutal. That's very tough. A kid comes in and he's got one shot and if he wins he moves on and if he loses he's out. But that with the time, there wasn't any other way to handle the first round. We had to get Class A to eight men alive to stay on schedule and AA-AAAAA 16 men to be back to where we were by 6 o'clock Thursday night.

BB: Did you guys look at any other possible scenarios for the state tournament?
GP: I had a telephone call from a source who said why don't you just take the top two (from each region) and then there's no changes and you got 16 guys. We said that wasn't quite fair if you want to use that word because you got kids sitting out there that finished third and fourth in their area and are in the next round of the state tournament and then we turn around and tell them no you're not. So, we didn't think that was a good deal. At least a kid has a chance. Okay, but it's tough. I understand that. But there wasn't any other way to do it. We can't go beyond Saturday night because of the Arena, because we have other issues for athletics. We don't have any competitions on Sunday, that's a 50-year old rule in the association that's never gonna change in my view. So you got to get done Saturday night and to stay on the schedule and let people go home before 1 a.m. Sunday morning we have to find a way to get it done. Some people don't like it, but when you explain to most folks what you're trying to achieve they understand. It's just nobody dialed this up. We had problems with the state championships in duals. So weather since January 1 has been an issue in this state. Basketball postponement, area duals postponed and we had to hold our breath in Macon with the state duals down there. It was pouring down rain and is it gonna be 31 degrees or 38 degrees. Well, lucking it stayed at 38 and we got it done with two long days there. It's just one of those years.

BB: How did you get put in charge of Georgia high school wrestling?
GP: When I interviewed Dr. Sweargin explained what he wanted to do and he wanted to expand the staff a little at a time and put certain administrators in charge of each sport. Before my arrival and Dr. Sweargin being elected as the director, it was three people and they handled everything. They outsourced a lot of different things to some reliable people in the state, but it wasn't really handled in our office. Ralph wanted to bring the major administrator role to the office. So when he offered me the job he said I want you to take cross country, wrestling, track and golf. It kind of came in a package.

BB: When you were assigned wrestling, what what were some of your thoughts about taking over the sport and some goals you had in mind?
GP: Well, to be honest with you, the first thing I tried to figure out was what's the landscape. Where are we and it took a year or so maybe a little longer, we kind of maintained the status quo for two years. As I became more familiar with the personalities around the sport, the officials, other people that are volunteers. I tell people all the time, the day that Bud Hennebaul, Gary Shaefer and Walt Hennebaul approached me at the state tournament and said we want to talk to you is where we did a 180 in wrestling. What people see now is based on that, I don't want to say it was a chance encounter, they initially had some ideas about wrestling. They did it at the state tournament and I said we'll talk and it kind of went on from there. As I got to know these guys and here's a large group of volunteers as we can do this and we can do that. The first year I was in the office, I knew Pete Fritts vaguely. He and I got to know each other a little more and when the duals got to be a different story, that whole area began to expand, too. So there wasn't any real vision, there was no real goal. What Dr. Sweargin said is 'We want wrestling to become a more prominent sport in this association.' and we need it to rise to a higher level because it was kind of stuck off in another level like some other sports are now. That was the whole goal.

BB: So how do you view the sport now compared to nine years ago when you took over? Do you think it is more prominent?
GP: Oh yes. I mean this may be a bias on my part, but yes. I mean what element of public perception we can capture is much larger now. Bringing the state state championships to central sites where you see all the competitors in one place, really changed the dynamics. Before we had five championships all scattered in somebody's gym all over the state. Maybe we got a story in the paper about this one and not that one, depending on where you were. It's much different. I think the notoriety the kids receive is more heightened. It's easier for kids to be noticed in the sport because the college coaches can come and see all of them in one place.

BB: You sort of eluded to it, but what do you like about having all five classifications in one place at the Gwinnett Arena?
GP: Well I think it's the unifications of your efforts. We have a large core of volunteers, but we don't have to find hundreds and hundreds of them to operate the tournaments. We've expanded the intensity, the effort to get to the state finals by what we did last year with the sectionals. Here's the other thing and I don't claim any responsibility for this. When I was appointed wrestling we had 280 schools, probably not that many, but 250 schools in wrestling. Now we have 320, so the schools that have wrestling are growing and the number of kids. We had over 9,000 kids in wrestling in Georgia last year. When I took over it was in the 6,000s, so its grown proportionality in that respect. Lots and lots of schools in the association, here's a new school being built they are going to have wrestling, here's a private school they are going to have a wrestling program. So its growing in that respect, too.

BB: Next week after the tournament is over, there's going to be a bunch of people that say we would love to see one state champion per weight class. Why don't we have that now and would that ever change?
GP: The history lesson here is that Georgia attempted to do this in basketball years ago. After the state tournament they took all the basketball teams and had them play down to one champion in boys and girls and people didn't like it. I remember it because I was a coach back then and it was always the biggest school always won, whatever that was. It was AAAA for AAA, I don't remember, but the biggest school always won. Our attitude is that while there is an element of people that want to see this single state champion, we feel like we're better off as an association and the sport is better off with five champions. Where do you stop is one of the questions we have. What if you do it as an individual activity and I know some states do that, but their focus is a reverse from ours. Those states that come away with one weight class state champion, their big championship is the team duals and oh by the way we have these individual champions. In Georgia since the individual championship was here for years and years and years before the dual ever came, the spotlight is on the reverse. So we don't see it serves a purpose necessarily to go back and while we like the dual concept, it will be a while before it can challenge notoriety of the individual tournament.

BB: Are there any additions or rule changes to the sport on the horizon?
GP: Not really. I have formed over the last four years an advisory committee and so I bring that committee together after the state tournament and we talk about tweaks in the rules and what me might do. If the national federation doesn't change the rules of the game too dramatically then all we do is try to do what we did. The sectional concept we put in last year came from this committee because we thought with the growth of wrestling and the number of kids and the number of teams the state tournament here in Gwinnett was just too big. It's half a day Wednesday, all day Thursday, all day Friday and all day Saturday. It's too big. So we said what about a sectional tournament and dividing the state into halves. We worked out a plan, this area here, that area there to come away with the sectional plan. That was a major change two years ago and I thought it was very successful last year. I believe it raised the intensity and what it took to be a champion last year. It was off the chart compared to the years before.

BB: That was my next question. Do you like the sectionals and can we expect to keep that?
GP: We don't have any plans to change it. The voting membership of the GHSA like it, the executive director likes it. I think for the largest part, so does the wrestling community.

BB: As long as it's not snowing.
GP: (Laughs) Yes, that's true. As long as we don't have a flood or snow or something like that.

BB: Compared to other sports, how do wrestling fans compare? To call them passionate might be an understatement.
GP: That would be an understatement. It's like some of the other sports we have now that it's highly developed, the youth program is essential to the skill you see when these kids are in high school. Most of these guys have been in kids wrestling in some fashion all the way up. The parents have taken all around the state, all around the country when they were little guys and so yeah they are extremely, highly connected to the sport. If you get a loyal fan you got one. We have volunteers here that their kids are grown and gone and they are so tightly connected to wrestling that they want to be involved.

BB: You were inducted into the Georgia chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame last summer. What did that mean to you?
GP: I tell you what, I was absolutely shocked. I had no idea that anybody had thought about that for me at all. I was shocked and overwhelmed. As I said when I was given my plague, I was in awe of being in the company of not only the guys that went in the hall of fame with me, but all the guys that had been inducted before. These prominent names in the sport in Georgia and some of them are known all around the country. Good grief and then they are going to say I deserve to stand in the same place as them, that was very gratifying. My parents, both are living, were elated. My brother said 'Where did that come from?' It was great for our family. My son was very proud, so it was a totally enriching experience.

BB: You spent five years as a head football coach in the late 70s and early 80s. What made you get out of coaching?
GP: This is a long story, but I had a principal one time when I was teacher say 'What are you going to do for the rest of your life?' I said I want to coach and he said 'You don't want to coach until you're a real old man. What do you want to do?' He kind of guided me and opened my eyes that there's other things you can do in education. So I started graduate school and thought about school administration. As I got a little further in coaching I was offered administrative jobs on several occasions that I turned down to stay in coaching. About the third offer I got, I thought maybe somebody is talking to me and I need to listene to the message. At that point I made a decision to leave coaching and became an assistant principal before I became a high school principal. It was just that message, someone tapping me on the shoulder.

BB: You won a football state championship in 1979 at Johnson County High School. What do you remember about that season?
GP: Well, it was great. We had a good football team the year before and got beat in the semifinals with some kids hurt and banged up, we didn't play very well, but we had a lot of kids coming back. We talked the whole spring practice, the whole summer, we can't let that happen again. We have talent on this team, but we can't get ahead of ourselves either. Again, that was a fulfilling experience. As a coach that's your goal, win a state championship. I was a track coach, so we wrapped two state championships in track around the one in football. That really made things great. We had great kids and we played under a huge spotlight and our kids responded. That's what I thought was our strength of our team. Our coaches challenged the kids, not only the big names on the team, but the other guys. I firmly believe had we not done that job in the background we would not have won.

BB: You had future Heisman Trophy winner Hershel Walker on your team as your running back.
GP: That's what I'm talking about. He drew all the attention and he drew a lot of attention as a junior and over the summer people were calling from the NCAA, the papers and from colleges saying we want to find out about this guy. We felt like we needed to do a good job with everyone else around him. He's going to take care of business because we need to do a good job with everyone around him. I'd see some examples as a young kid and coaching where you have this great player and the team fails. I related that to people individually and to our coaching staff and we all rallied. We all made a pack, 40 football players and six coaches and we're all in this together and we have one goal. We made it.

BB: When it came game time though, you had to feel pretty good about your chances of winning with the best player in the state.
GP: When I would watch us warm up, I'd look over and he was No. 43 then, I'd feel pretty good about our chances. I was never really bold enough to say we got this one in the bag, but I felt good about our chances. I kept telling everybody we give the ball to the big guy, we're going to be okay.

BB: How long do you see yourself with the GHSA and being in charge of wrestling?
GP: I've never been a guy that has talked about limits. Whether it's coaching or other jobs I've had, so I really don't know. I like what I'm doing, I'm older than I'm going to tell you (laughs), but I'm going on 40 years in high school education. I feel good about everything we're doing, so I feel like we're going to stay and until I don't have any more fun. And that's the way I've done it. You asked me this question earlier and I didn't say this, but at the time I was offered a job in administration I was beginning to wonder how much longer will I be able to do this as a coach. At the time Dr. Sweargin talked to me and interviewed for the GHSA job, I was at the point in school administration that I had been a high school principal for 15 years and I was thinking how much longer am I going to do this? So when that question comes back again and I think it might, then I'll start looking to do something else or retire or go out and play golf and sit on the front porch. I don't have the question in my mind. Those are the two instances that the question was there all the time. It became immanent, so as my dad says if you don't like what you're doing, if you're not having any fun with what you're doing, then you need to find another job.

By Brandon Brigman
GNWA Correspondent

Collins Hill coach Cliff Ramos has heard all the talk about his Eagles wrestling the nation's No. 1 team.

But Ramos is adamant that Saturday's tournament at the 9th annual Final Four of High School Wrestling Championships is not about just wrestling top-ranked Blair Academy (N.J.).

"A lot of people don't realize it's not about Blair," Ramos said.

Ramos feels like the Eagles' first-round match against No. 24-ranked Long Branch (N.J.) would be bigger for the program.

"If we win that dual, that would be the biggest win for a Georgia team ever," Ramos said. "I'm not even concerned about Blair because no one is going to touch Blair."

Ramos did concede the novelty of wrestling the nation's No. 1 team was pretty thrilling for his program.

“That is cool,” Ramos said. “We won’t back down. It’s a little different though. They would beat a lot of small college teams.”

Blair, the No. 1 ranked team by Amateur Wrestling News, features seven wrestlers nationally ranked, including three of the country’s No. 1 wrestlers.

“Blair has a good shot of shutting out everyone,” Ramos said. “If we could win two or three matches I would be overjoyed."

No. 14 Collins Hill does not have any wrestlers ranked by AWN, but does feature college signees Joel Smith (Arizona State), T.J. Mitchell (Virginia Tech) and C.J. Collins (Fort Hays State).

"I have watched them thanks to Flo wrestling," Blair Academy coach Jeff Buxton said. "They have a solid team. I like their 112, 125, 215 and 145 and we're going to try and match our best with their's. They have 14 solid kids on their team. We've prepared a lot for them just like we have for all the teams."

The eight-team tournament features five teams that are nationally ranked. Along with Blair Academy and Collins Hill, No. 19 Bishop Lynch (Texas), No. 21 High Point (Pa.) and No. 24 Long Branch (Pa.), Benton
(Pa.), Easton (Pa.) and Franklin (Ma.) are in the tournament.

Collins Hill has traveled a national schedule this season, winning the Toshiba Midwest Classic in Kansas City and placing second at the Powerade Invitational. The Eagles lost to No. 4 Brandon (Fla.) by 10
points in a dual last month.

“We went to Kansas City and that was tough. We went to Powerade and that was really tough. This is another level,” Ramos said.

Collins Hill has been one of the top teams in Georgia over the last 10 years. That in-state success and recent national exposure is what attracted the Final Four to invite the Eagles.

"We look at rankings, rosters and who's coming back," said Bob Ferraro, the Executive Director of the National High School Coaches Association. "Collins Hill is a team that has been good for a long time, not just the last two years. They are always on the radar when you look at the top teams across the country.
"They're on the national radar the last few years and are deserving to be invited."

The Final Four begins Saturday at 11 a.m. All of the matches will be aired live on the NHSCA.com Web site. The finals will be televised on DirecTV and Dish Network on Jan. 28 at 8 p.m. and on America One affiliates Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. The following are Georgia television stations scheduled to show the finals according to NHSCA.com.

CSS Atlanta GA
W35BB Dublin GA
WBEK Augusta GA
WCGT Columbus GA
WMGR Bainbridge GA
WNEG Toccoa GA
WSST Cordele GA

Here's some other comments from the teleconference the NHSCA held with coaches from the Final Four.

Ramos on competing in the Final Four
"We're really looking forward to it. There's not a lot of strong teams in this part of the country, so we need to face some teams that are as good or better than us and I think we will. We're looking forward to it."

Buxton on if he feels any extra pressure of being No. 1
"No, not really. What I try to do is put them against great competition to make them better and this is certainly one of those events. We don't talk about it much. Our goal is to get better each week and
produce 14 prep national champions."

Buxton on Collins Hill
"Collins Hill is a little like Highpoint and wrestle similar on top. I'm excited about wrestling them."


SCHEDULE
11 a.m.
Mat 1: Blair Academy vs. Benton High School
Mat 2: Collins Hill High School vs. Long Branch High School
Mat 3: Bishop Lynch High School vs. Franklin
 
1 p.m.
Mat 1 - Easton vs. High Point
Mat 2 - Blair vs. Collins Hill
Mat 3 - Benton vs. Long Branch

3 p.m.
Mat 1 - Bishop Lynch vs. Easton
Mat 2 - Franklin vs. High Point
Mat 3 - Blair vs. Long Branch

5 p.m.
Mat 1 - Benton vs. Collins Hill
Mat 2 - Bishop Lynch vs. High Point
Mat 3 - Franklin vs. Easton
 
7 p.m.
Mat 1 - NJ Team (Blair, High Point or Long Branch) vs. Phillipsburg (NJ)
Mat 2 - Pool winner A vs. B
Mat 3 - Pool A vs. Pool B (one team from each pool)

By Brandon Brigman
GNWA Correspondent
 
When T.J. Mitchell pinned Pope's Louis Lombardy in the Class AAAAA dual state finals on Saturday, the Collins Hill senior joined a prestigious group.
Mitchell's pin helped the Eagles claim their third-straight state title and gave him his 200th career win. Mitchell joined Kennesaw Mountain's Ryan Maus, who also picked up his 200th victory at the state duals.
"I don't know how to explain it. It's a pretty high honor," Mitchell said. "It's right up there with winning state. I didn't even know I had that many wins. If I had to guess I would have thought it was around 180."
Mitchell, a two-time state champion, improved his career record to 200-9 with his four wins from the state tournament. His loss as at the 2008 traditional state tournament is his only defeat to a Georgia wrestler. The Virginia Tech signee is 37-3 this season at 125 pounds.
"It's a quite an elite group to be in," Mitchell said.
Maus, a state runner-up last season, defeated Valdosta's Deion Bradley with a second-period pin to collect his 200th victory.
The senior is 42-1 this season with 19 pins and holds a career record of 203-35 with 88 pins.

By Brandon Brigman
GNWA Correspondent

Loganville has had four head coaches in four years, but it looks like the Red Devils finally have their man.
In his first season as the Red Devils' head coach, Pat McCance led Loganville to the Class AAAA dual state championship on Saturday at the Macon Centreplex.
"It's been like a blur. This season has just gone by so fast," McCance said. "The kids have done a heck of a job responding (to the coaching changes). They are just a great group."
Loganville needed a little excitement to win its first state title. Will Hale's decision in the final match at 103 pounds gave Loganville the 33-28 win over Alexander.
"He's been our anchor of the team as far as being consistent," McCance said.
Alexander held a 12-0 lead to start the dual before Loganville got wins from Aaron Quade (major decision), Zack Wolaver (pin), Matt Cragin (major decision) and Jeremiah Vaught (decision).
The dual went back-and-fourth in the final seven matches with both teams bumping wrestlers in the lineup.
"We knew it would be a tough dual," McCance said. "We knew they would bump some weights and we would bumps some weights, but we felt like if we could keep it within two points we would have a shot."
Loganville led 30-22 after John Smith came up with a big win at 215 pounds. An Alexander pin at 285 made it come down to the final match for the win.
"If we could stay close, we felt confidnent (Hale) could us a decision," McCance said.
And the sophomore delivered with a 4-1 victory to lock up the state title.
"I did not think we were the favorite (coming in the tournament), but I thought there was four or five teams in it that would make it a dog fight," McCance said. "It was a very strong field going into the tournament."
Jon Williams (major decision) and Justin Fancher (pin) also had wins for Loganville.
The state title was not only the first for Lognaville, but the first for McCance as a head coach. Prior to coming to Loganville last year where he was an assistant, McCance spent 15 years as an assistant at McEachern. He helped the Indians to eight state titles at the Cobb County school. This was McCance's first state title as a head coach, giving him nine for his career. Now he just needs another ring for his last finger.
"That's a goal for the future," he said with a laugh.