Screamin' Bremen: Devils take it
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There were a pair of Blue Devils atop the standings at the 7th Annual Screamin’ Eagle Tournament by day’s end on Saturday, but it was the defending state champions that proved to be the loudest once again.
The Bremen High School wrestling team recorded six individual champions en route to the team title in Mt. Zion, finishing with 261.5 points, edging Model (200), Pepperell (133.5) and Mt. Zion (120) in the 12-team tournament that also featured Temple and Villa Rica, locally.
And while his Blue Devils comfortably won the title once again, Bremen coach Tony Armas said his team isn’t near where it needs to be early on in the season.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re not as good as we need to be,” Armas said. “We’ve just got to get a little more consistency up and down the lineup and get kids where they need to be.”
Armas said the key to putting itself into a state championship-caliber squad again will be hard work and seeing more quality wrestling as the season progresses.
Recording top finishes for the Blue Devils this weekend were Corey Morgan (112 lbs.), Trey Travis (130 lbs.), Kannon Madden (135 lbs.), Alex Eriquezzo (140 lbs.), Slade Madden (171 lbs.) and Joe Bexley (285 lbs.).
Rounding out Bremen’s medal-winners were Ryan Eriquezzo (2nd; 125 lbs.), Dusty Branom (2nd; 160 lbs.), Jake Ullman (2nd; 189 lbs.), Zach Young (2nd; 285 lbs.), Zac Bell (3rd; 152 lbs.), Andrew Mitcham (4th; 145 lbs.) and Dustin Simpson (4th; 215 lbs.).
Bremen actually had two teams competing in the tournament. Its No. 2 squad finished in eighth place with 57.5 points, besting four other schools in the process.
Michael Cleek, coach of the tournament-host Eagles, was dealing with several injuries, making his team’s fourth-place finish quite satisfying, in that respect.
“Overall, we finished fourth, and that’s with me losing three guys during this tournament to injury and coming in down two wrestlers already to injury,” Cleek said. “So we had four guys place out of nine guys. I’m pretty pleased to finish fourth overall.”
Josh Barber claimed an individual title for Mt. Zion at 119 pounds, while Forrest Prater (2nd; 112 lbs.), Aron Gore (2nd; 135 lbs.) and Josh Williams (3rd; 189 lbs.) also had strong showings.
Temple coach Chase Wilbanks had two wrestlers place this weekend, a promising sign for his young program.
Tyler Smith led the way for the Tigers with a second-place finish at 152 pounds, while Brett Hall came in fourth at 189 pounds.
“It feels great to have a couple guys place. You know, last year we didn’t have anybody finish over fifth, I believe,” Wilbanks said. “So this year we’ve got one finishing second and one going all the way to fourth. It feels good.”
Enduring a long weekend, which ran late into Friday night and basically all day on Saturday, Wilbanks was just hopeful some of his young wrestlers don’t get burned out and continue to work toward getting better each and every match.
“I thought we did very well. It took so long. The kids got kind of tired, though,” Wilbanks said. “We had to start making sure they had something to eat. They were taking naps. Just keeping them down. They’ve been here for so long. All day long and all night (Friday). We started at 9 o’clock (Saturday), and we just now finished (at 6 p.m.). We’re just trying to keep them from losing interest.”
Villa Rica coach Steve Fuller is in a similar situation with Wilbanks in regard to trying to build up the Wildcat wrestling program.
VR had one wrestler place this weekend, as freshman Josh Ivey took second place in the 103-pound weight class.
Fuller also had high praise for Kean Pettus (135 lbs.), Kenny Doll (145 lbs.) and Mike Alexander (171 lbs.).
“The main thing we’re looking for right now is experience,” Fuller said. “We’re building for down the road. We’re looking at January and February. And this right here is helping us get ready for it. (Coach Cleek) put on a good tournament, had some quality teams here. A lot of quality wrestling. And that’s exactly what we’re looking for.”
And while it indeed was a long weekend, there were plenty of positive responses from all the coaches as the Screamin’ Eagle went smoothly for Cleek and Co. once again.
“It was a great tournament. Bremen’s a class act. They brought a good team. Pepperell did very well, as did Model. It was good, hard competition. And I was glad everyone was here and everyone got home safe,” Cleek said.
The Bremen High School wrestling team recorded six individual champions en route to the team title in Mt. Zion, finishing with 261.5 points, edging Model (200), Pepperell (133.5) and Mt. Zion (120) in the 12-team tournament that also featured Temple and Villa Rica, locally.
And while his Blue Devils comfortably won the title once again, Bremen coach Tony Armas said his team isn’t near where it needs to be early on in the season.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re not as good as we need to be,” Armas said. “We’ve just got to get a little more consistency up and down the lineup and get kids where they need to be.”
Armas said the key to putting itself into a state championship-caliber squad again will be hard work and seeing more quality wrestling as the season progresses.
Recording top finishes for the Blue Devils this weekend were Corey Morgan (112 lbs.), Trey Travis (130 lbs.), Kannon Madden (135 lbs.), Alex Eriquezzo (140 lbs.), Slade Madden (171 lbs.) and Joe Bexley (285 lbs.).
Rounding out Bremen’s medal-winners were Ryan Eriquezzo (2nd; 125 lbs.), Dusty Branom (2nd; 160 lbs.), Jake Ullman (2nd; 189 lbs.), Zach Young (2nd; 285 lbs.), Zac Bell (3rd; 152 lbs.), Andrew Mitcham (4th; 145 lbs.) and Dustin Simpson (4th; 215 lbs.).
Bremen actually had two teams competing in the tournament. Its No. 2 squad finished in eighth place with 57.5 points, besting four other schools in the process.
Michael Cleek, coach of the tournament-host Eagles, was dealing with several injuries, making his team’s fourth-place finish quite satisfying, in that respect.
“Overall, we finished fourth, and that’s with me losing three guys during this tournament to injury and coming in down two wrestlers already to injury,” Cleek said. “So we had four guys place out of nine guys. I’m pretty pleased to finish fourth overall.”
Josh Barber claimed an individual title for Mt. Zion at 119 pounds, while Forrest Prater (2nd; 112 lbs.), Aron Gore (2nd; 135 lbs.) and Josh Williams (3rd; 189 lbs.) also had strong showings.
Temple coach Chase Wilbanks had two wrestlers place this weekend, a promising sign for his young program.
Tyler Smith led the way for the Tigers with a second-place finish at 152 pounds, while Brett Hall came in fourth at 189 pounds.
“It feels great to have a couple guys place. You know, last year we didn’t have anybody finish over fifth, I believe,” Wilbanks said. “So this year we’ve got one finishing second and one going all the way to fourth. It feels good.”
Enduring a long weekend, which ran late into Friday night and basically all day on Saturday, Wilbanks was just hopeful some of his young wrestlers don’t get burned out and continue to work toward getting better each and every match.
“I thought we did very well. It took so long. The kids got kind of tired, though,” Wilbanks said. “We had to start making sure they had something to eat. They were taking naps. Just keeping them down. They’ve been here for so long. All day long and all night (Friday). We started at 9 o’clock (Saturday), and we just now finished (at 6 p.m.). We’re just trying to keep them from losing interest.”
Villa Rica coach Steve Fuller is in a similar situation with Wilbanks in regard to trying to build up the Wildcat wrestling program.
VR had one wrestler place this weekend, as freshman Josh Ivey took second place in the 103-pound weight class.
Fuller also had high praise for Kean Pettus (135 lbs.), Kenny Doll (145 lbs.) and Mike Alexander (171 lbs.).
“The main thing we’re looking for right now is experience,” Fuller said. “We’re building for down the road. We’re looking at January and February. And this right here is helping us get ready for it. (Coach Cleek) put on a good tournament, had some quality teams here. A lot of quality wrestling. And that’s exactly what we’re looking for.”
And while it indeed was a long weekend, there were plenty of positive responses from all the coaches as the Screamin’ Eagle went smoothly for Cleek and Co. once again.
“It was a great tournament. Bremen’s a class act. They brought a good team. Pepperell did very well, as did Model. It was good, hard competition. And I was glad everyone was here and everyone got home safe,” Cleek said.
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