The Social Circle varsity wrestling team placed third at The Parkview Tough Thanksgiving Duals at Parkview High School last week.

The Redskins finished in the top three with a win over Alexander before falling to defending state Class AAAA champions, Gilmer High School, at the event.

Gilmer won the tournament with a narrow 36-35 victory over Woodland.

Social Circle head coach Randy Prater said he was pleased with his team’s improvement in the tournament from last season’s fifth place result.

"Last year Parkview beat us, Gilmer gave us our worst loss of the year and we took fifth place," Prater said. "This year, we beat Parkview, we lost to the defending state champions in the last bout, and we took third. We improved from last year, but we still have a lot of work to do.

"The season has just begun," he said.

Social Circle was joined at the tournament, along with Alexander and Glimer, by Class AAAAAA Parkview and Peachtree Ridge, Class AAAAA Loganville, Union Grove, Hiram and Woodland.

Alexander (fourth) and Parkview (fifth) also finished inside the tournament’s top-5.

Social Circle was joined in pool play with Parkview, Gilmer, Union Grove and Gilmer B while Loganville, Peachtree Ridge, Hiram, Alexander, and Woodland made the other pool.

The Redskins started the tournament with a 52-23 win against Parkview, which included pins from Eric Wilson (220), Stevie Howard (120), Reid Harris (126), Ryan Davis (132), Justin Givens (160) and Jeremy Tyson (170). Josh Craig (106) won 12-4, while Joseph Eidson (285) and Cade Lackey (138) both won by forfeit.

In the Redskins' second dual, Social Circle’s lone loss in the tournament was to Gilmer. The match was very tight, with Gilmer winning the last bout to secure the win 35-24.  Posting wins against the Bobcats were Zack Kinnon (113) by forfeit, Harris 12-3 (126), Davis 5-4 (132), David Engstrom 7-3 (145),
Givens (170) 12-10 in overtime and Tyson (182) with a pin.

Against Union Grove, SCHS won 46-30. Recording wins for the Redskins were Wilson (285) by pin, Howard (121) by pin, Harris (126) by pin, Davis (132) by pin, Engstrom (145) 10-1, Chase Stevens (152) by pin, Josh Tyson (160) by pin and Jeremy Tyson (170) by pin. 

Social Circle’s last dual in pool play was against Gilmer’s B team, with Social Circle winning 72-6. 

Gilmer’s B team did not have a full lineup, allowing Social Circle to score points on nine forfeits.  Other wins included Dawson Queen (138) 9-4, Jacob Wilson (145) 3-2, Cameron Paschal (152) 7-2, Stevens 11-4 (152) and Emanuel Reese (285) by pin. 

In the crossover, Social Circle faced Alexander for the second year in a row with the same result.  The Redskins won in a very tight contest 39-33, with Craig tallying a dramatic 7-5 last bout victory to finalize the win.  The Redskins’ Howard (120) won by forfeit, Reid Harris (126) 9-7, and Ryan Davis (132) by pin, Givens (160) by pin, Jeremy Tyson (170) 9-3, and Colton Stairs (182) by pin and Ryan Harris (195) by pin.