SHARPSBURG, Ga. — Newton County was well-represented at the South Metro Invitational last Saturday.

In a pool of 24 teams, the Newton Rams and Eastside Eagles both finished inside the top seven in the team rankings for the event.

Newton was the only one of the two that left with a first place finish, but both squads posted quality results in Sharpsburg.

Eastside Eagles Results

Eastside took 13 wrestlers to the South Metro Invitational and over half of the team placed.

As a team, the Eagles finished in sixth place.

The top of the placements came from Griffin Norris, who secured second place in the 144 weight class.

After an opening bye, Norris defeated Dutchtown’s Robert Darden by fall(10-2) and then beat East Coweta’s Logan Hartz by fall to advance to the final.

From there, Norris was defeated via fall by Newnan’s Aiden Tories(2-9).

The Eagles earned a pair of third place finishes from Alvin Cole and Gray Parker.

Parker wrestled in the 106 weight class and advanced to the quarterfinals after a pair of byes.

Against Newnan’s Kai Gronberg, Parker lost via fall(4-9), which sent him into the other part of the bracket to compete for third place.

From there, Parker beat Locust Grove’s William Wise via 11-3 decision before he avenged his loss to Gronberg to earn third place.

Cole wrestled heavier in the 165 weight class and started his day with a bye before he defeated Putnam County’s Kole Wheat by fall(13-4). 

In the quarterfinal, Cole was defeated by East Coweta’s Deonta McIntosh via 5-11 decision.

With his back against the wall, Cole grabbed back-to-back wins to earn a spot on the third place match. There, Cole defeated Eagles Landing Christian Academy’s Rush Phelps via fall to grab third place.

Cadieu Dunlap and Naszier Craft earned fourth place finishes for the Eagles.

Craft competed in the 150 weight class and started with a bye before he defeated Pike County’s Joshua Moon via technical fall(22-7).

Craft then lost to East Coweta’s Ben Thrailkill via fall(0-3), which sent the Eagle to the third place bracket.

Back-to-back wins via fall followed for Craft as he earned his way into the third place match before he fell to Etowah’s Ryder Chumley.

In the 190 bracket, Dunlap started with a streak of wins.

Dunlap first defeated Newton’s Zaky Rowe via 14-9 decision before he beat Putnam County’s Bryson Brown in a technical fall(17-2).

In the semi-final, Dunlap fell to Woodward Academy’s Chandler Bell via 5-4 decision.

Dunlap defeated Locust Grove’s Preston Childs in the third place bracket, but ultimately fell to Newnam’s N. Williams in the official third place match.

Rylan Daniel(138) and Charles Henderson(132) took home sixth place finishes for the Eagles.

Newton Rams Results

The Rams did not have as many placements as Eastside, but Newton did come away with a first place finish as well as a pair of second place finishes.

As a team, Newton finished in seventh place.

Five Rams placed in total, but Dioanna Thomas secured the first place medal for the girls’ 155 weight class.

Thomas advanced quickly to the semifinal with a bye and a forfeit win.

From there, Thomas defeated Woodward Academy’s Isa Amezqua in 46 seconds to secure her spot in the first place match.

Up against another Woodward Academy wrestler, Nina Hylton, Thomas secured the win via fall(9-4) to win the bracket.

Jahphia Butso claimed one of the two second place finishes for Newton as she finished as the runner-up in the girls’ 125 weight class.

After an opening bye, Butso defeated Locust Grove’s Dasia Foster via fall(7-4) before she beat Putnam County’s Michell Hernandez in a 15-12 decision.

In the first place match, Butso lost to Union Grove’s Carley Martuzas via technical fall(18-3).

The other second place finish for the Rams came from Jordan Moreland in the 175 weight class.

Moreland competed in one of the only two first round matches for the bracket and secured a quick win via fall over Etowah’s Bryson Graves.

Moreland then won back-to-back matches via fall to earn his way to the semi-final. There, Moreland defeated Woodland’s Noah Duncan.

In the first place match for 175, Ola’s Jeremy Reagin had the upper-hand as he won via fall(6-1).

Newton received another quality finish in the girls brackets from Sydney Wile, who earned third place in the girls’ 100-105 weight class.

After an opening bye, Wile defeated Putnam County’s Lily Jump via fall in only 35 seconds.

However, a loss to Woodward Academy’s Violet Webb sent Wile to the third place bracket.

From there, Wiile defeated Stockbridge’s Kylie Francis before she beat Jump once again to grab third place.

Chesley Hunter wrapped up Newton’s placements with a fourth place finish in the girls’ 170 weight class.

Hunter lost her first matchup of the day to Newnan’s Abby Quintero, but she won back-to-back matches in under a minute to find her way into the third place match.

Against Etowah’s Ana Hernandez-Acosta, Hunter lost via fall.