COVINGTON, Ga. — Many things went Eastside’s way on Saturday for the Region 8-AAAA traditionals.
The Eagles hosted the event for the second consecutive year. By the end of it, they were hoisting the first place trophy as the region champions.
But that was not all.
Along with the honor of calling themselves region champions, every Eastside wrestler that competed on Saturday qualified for the Class AAAA sectionals, too.
Three Eagles shine, earn first place
A trio of Eagles earned first place honors to lead the way in Eastside’s win on Saturday.
The first was sophomore Micah Mostek in the 106-pound weight class. Mostek earned a bye to open the match before taking down East Forsyth’s Colton Mink to advance to the championship round.
From there, Mostek won by fall over Landon Barrett from Madison County.
The wins on Saturday for Mostek mean that he will compete in sectionals for the second time in only his second high school season. Currently, Mostek holds a 25-3 record.
Another winner from Saturday’s meet was senior Nolan Christian in the 126-pound weight class.
Christian was one of the many seniors being recognized on Saturday during senior night.
By meet’s end, Christian continued his dominant stretch as he captured the 126-pound championship for the region and moved to 33-6 on the season.
Christian earned an opening bye before defeating Walnut Grove’s Noah Van Name and Flowery Branch’s Preston Valentine.
Another one of Eastside’s seniors, D’Elisson Lamadieu, also captured the top prize for his weight class on the same day he was recognized for his Eagles’ career.
Lamadieu advanced on an opening bye before defeating North Oconee’s Owen Maddox and Flowery Branch’s Gage Breakfield to win first place in the 157-pound weight class with a 15-6 record.
Other finishes for the Eagles
While the Eagles only captured three first palace medals on Saturday, many wrestlers came close as the majority of the team made it to the championship round for their weight classes.
Sophomore Charles Henderson was one of four wrestlers in the entire event that competed for the 120-pound crown.
Henderson opened the event with a win via fall over the Falcons’ Jake Goodwin.
At the championship round, Henderson fell to Walnut Grove freshman Keegan Dawkins to earn himself second place.
In the 132-pound weight class, Eastside’s Hassan Williams started the day off strong with a bye and a win over Warriors’ Elijah Booth.
From there, WIlliams lost in a 7-6 decision to Kyle Maddox of North Oconee.
For sophomore Rylan Daniel, the opening matches ended fairly quickly in the 138-pound weight class.
Against the Broncos’ Deacon Hensley, Daniel earned a quick win by fall in the opening minute.
In the next round versus Titans’ Anson Young, Daniel did it again as the sophomore won by fall in only 41 seconds.
Daniel’s final match of the day ended in defeat as he fell to Walnut Grove’s Ezekiel Adams in the championship round.
Senior Dylan Baynes had one of the loudest ovations of the day when he took the mat in round two.
The cheering seemed to help the 144-pound senior, who defeated North Oconee’s Pressly Villaveces in just 40 seconds.
In the championship round, Baynes ultimately lost to Walnut Grove's Graham Dawkins.
For 165-pound Malachi Riley, the day started off with a bye before defeating the Warriors’ Grant Allen in a physical match.
Riley went on to lose by majority decision in a battle with Falcons’ Jason Clark in the final round as Riley earned second place.
Sophomore Jamorrie Cole opened the day strong as he advanced quickly following a forfeit win from Cedar Shoals’ Reece Rodriquez.
From there, Cole defeated East Forsyth’s Adrian Reyes to advance to the championship round for the 190-pound weight class.
Ultimately, Cole lost by fall to the Falcons’ Griffin Harper.
The third place finishes for Eastside started with freshman Hezekiah Williams, who had a strong day in the 113-pound weight class.
Hezekiah opened with a win via forfeit over Cedar Shoals’ Scott Starr. From there, Hezekiah lost to Madison County’s Brodie Drake in the semi-final match.
In the consolation bracket, Hezekiah won back-to-back matches over Warriors’ Colt Drossman and Titans’ Ashton Strickland.
Senior Jordan Amadee ended the day with a third place finish for the Eagles.
Amadee opened his day with one of the quickest matches of the day as he defeated Flowery Branch’s Carter Holmes by fall in only 38 seconds.
After that, Amadee lost by technical fall to North Oconee’s Jake Hall.
From there, Amadee, ripped off a pair of wins over Elijah Vickery of Madison County and Alex Winship of East Forsyth to earn third place.
Freshman Cadieu Dunlap had a strong day for Eastside before earning third place in the event.
Dunlap began with a 8-5 decision win over Cedar Shoals’ Desmond Moss.
In the following round, Dunlap fell to the Broncos’ Jackson Moffit to place the freshman in the consolation bracket.
Dunlap earned a win over North Oconee’s Drayton Brown before beating Moss for the second time in the same event — this time via fall — to earn third place.
Senior Malachi Thomas wrapped up the third place finishes for the Eagles.
Thomas, who competed in the 285-pound weight class, began the day with a win via fall over Madison County’s Douglas Ray.
However, Malachi fell in the ensuing round to the Falcons’ Eli Poole.
In the consolation bracket, Malachi defeated East Forsyth’s Lorenzo Rivera and Ray again to earn third place.
The final placement for Eastside came from senior Micah Thomas, who earned fourth place in the 215-pound weight class.
Micah opened his day with a win over East Forsyth's Michael Winner.
Micah went on to lose to Flowery Branch’s Jackson Prehar in the semi-final.
In the consolation bracket, Micah, defeatedCedar Shoals’ Derrion Colbert before falling to Walnut Grove’s Deven Nopple in the third place match for the weight class.
What’s Next
The impressive showing at the region traditionals set up Eastside to compete at the Class AAAA Sectionals on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Cambridge High School.
The Eagles will be one of 29 teams at the Sectionals, but Eastside’s 14 wrestlers are the most by any team at the event.
