MCDONOUGH, Ga. — The Eastside Eagles and Newton Rams competed at the South Metro Invitational Saturday morning at Ola High School. In the end, wrestlers from both schools placed in the event.
Eastside finished the event in fourth place with a team score of 214.5.
First year head wrestling coach Caleb Payne was pleased with the final results of his team on Saturday.
“We did really well. We finished in fourth place and last year we finished in 14th place,” Payne said. “Much improved over last year, we had eight people place this year as well which is really good.”
For the Eagles, things started in the 106-pound weight class with freshman Micah Mostek (19-1), who entered the meet undefeated at 15-0.
In the bracket, Mostek defeated Morgan County by fall and Locust Grove by decision for a spot in the championship match.
In the final, Mostek was defeated by Rockdale’s Angel Ayala to give the freshman a second place finish.
“He has had a lot of success as a freshman,” Payne said. “He is one of the better freshmen in the area, if not the state, especially in that weight class of our classification. He is only getting better too.”
The other top finish for the Eagles on Saturday came from Damani Fleming (15-4), who finished in second place in the 157 weight class.
After defeating Eagles Landing Christian and East Coweta on falls, Fleming beat Rockdale County on a decision to get to the championship match.
In the final contest for 157, Fleming lost to Ola’s Jared Walker via fall.
Grayson Poynter (18-2) claimed third place for the Eagles in the 120-pound weight class. After losing in the championship bracket, Poynter came away with wins the rest of the way to earn the third place finish over Newnan.
In the 150-pound weight class, Jordan Amedee (12-3) came away with a fourth place.
Nolan Christian (17-5), Hasaan Williams (15-8) and Grayson Carter (16-5) earned fifth place finishes in the 126-, 132- and 175-pound weight classes, respectively.
Dylan Baynes (16-5) came away with a sixth place finish in the 144-pound weight class.
In the girls 120-pound weight class, Amaiah Clayton (1-2) earned seventh place.
Other Eagles who competed in the event were Troy Harper (1-3), Jertavious Allen (13-8), Jamorrie Cole (9-5), Micah Thomas (3-2) and Daizon Epps (12-7).
Cole is another freshman that has impressed Payne so far this season.
“Cole is a freshman wrestling in the 190 [weight class] where there are grown men with a lot more strength than him and he is still battling,” Payne said. “He beat a kid from Eagles Landing who was a state qualifier last year.”
The Eagles are set to compete in the Walnut Grove Warrior Round Robin at Walnut Grove High School on Friday, Dec. 15.
Newton ended the South Metro Invitational in 19th place with a team score of 76 points.
After the event, Newton head coach Tommy Gregory spoke about how the event highlighted areas for his team to work on going into their next meet.
“We were reminded of the fact that we are still a young team. We had a couple of young guys with skill and experience but overall, we are a young team,” Gregory said. “South Metro is a good tournament, one of the best tournaments in Georgia. It is not one you go to and expect to be on top if your team is not well experienced. We left that tournament with a lot on our list to work on.”
For the Rams, their finishes were highlighted by Malachi Riley (35-3) and Dionna Thomas (3-1).
Riley competed in the 165-pound weight class and ended in fourth place. He began the event with two wins via fall over Hampton and Whitewater.
In the semifinal, Riley fell to Woodward Academy.
Riley won the consolation semifinal over Union Grove before falling in the third place match to Whitewater.
Gregory believes Riley has a chance to have a strong junior year for the Rams in the 165-pound weight class due to his attention to detail and commitment to the sport.
“Riley is a junior. The guy that beat him this year is the same guy that beat him last year, so I think that had something to do with his mindset,” Gregory said. “What I like about Malachi is that he knows how to go back and review his film and see the mistakes he made and where he can do more. I think he is going to be fine, I think he is going to be a state placer for us this year.”
Thomas competed for the Rams in the girls’ 155-pound weight class and finished in third place.
In his assessment of Thomas, Gregory feels that she has a clear path to becoming even better.
“She [Dionna] is a first time wrestler. She went in with a couple moves she knows. I think she could have placed first if she had a bit more confidence in her signature move, which is a head lock,” Gregory said. “She is going to be okay, she is a sophomore.”
After falling in the semifinal, Thomas won her consolation semifinal and third place match before losing to East Coweta in the second place match.
The other Newton wrestlers that competed in the event were Jayden Ceretta (1-4), Nicholas Jones (5-4), Jaqeim Snell (12-4), Ja’lon Gordon (12-4) and Zaky Rowe (7-5).
The Rams will get a chance to hit the mats at home on Tuesday, Dec. 12 against McDonough High School.
