Wrestling: GHSA traditional championships kick off today in Macon

The GHSA traditional wrestling championships will kick off today and will include a number of area competitors gunning for individual -- and team -- glory.

Classes AAAA through AAAAAA will begin the tournament with the round of 16 on Thursday at the Macon Centreplex, while Classes AAA through A will get in on the act on Friday.

The storylines for area competitors are myriad, including a run for a 13th straight traditional crown for Jefferson, which will send 12 grapplers to Macon -- out of 14 possible weight classes (Editor's Note: look for our video feature with the Dragons on Friday).

Yet Jefferson will be far from the only area team gunning for glory, as Banks County, Chestatee, Commerce, Flowery Branch and North Hall will all send at least five wrestlers apiece to the weekend-long event -- which has moved to Macon after a long run at the Gwinnett Arena.

Eight seems to be the magic number for Banks County, Chestatee, Commerce and Flowery Branch, who will each compete with eight wrestlers in the tournament. The Falcons and War Eagles have already put together two of the best seasons in program history.

Three individuals will also look to repeat as state champs, as Buford’s Chip Ness (182 pounds) Commerce's Chance McClure (220), and Jefferson's Tyler Marinelli (138) were among seven area competitors to claim crowns at last year's finals.

Four other area grapplers finished second last season -- Commerce's Trent Reddish (170), along with Jefferson's Aaron Anderson (220), Chase Piperato (106), Kyle Kashuba (120), Jack Dollar (145) -- and will each look to finish one spot higher.

Look below for a complete list of area competitors battling it out in Macon. And click here for an in-depth look at the brackets and schedule for the state championships.

AREA WRESTLERS AT GHSA TRADITIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday-Saturday, Macon

Class A
COMMERCE
126 -- Michael Patton
132 -- Johnny McAbee
138 -- Joshua Westmoreland
160 -- Graeson Cochran
170 -- Trent Reddish
182 -- Cole Sweeney
195 -- Morgan Flint
220 -- Chance McClure

TOWNS COUNTY
113 -- Carsen Mercer

Class AA
JEFFERSON
106 -- Chase Piperato
113 -- Ben Kelly
120 -- Kyle Kashuba
126 -- Josh Harris
132 -- Tanner Thurmond
138 -- Tyler Marinelli
145 -- Jack Dollar
152 -- Jake Sherman
160 -- Zach Rhymer
170 -- Tradd Porter
182 -- Jace McClosky
220 -- Aaron Anderson

RIVERSIDE MILITARY
120 -- Christopher Harvey

Class AAA
BANKS COUNTY
106 -- Chris McCrackin
126 -- Mason Patton
132 -- Francisco Hurtado
138 -- Tony Fultz
160 -- Wes Faulkner
170 -- Eli Smallwood
182 -- Hayden Dilbeck
195 -- Matt Dilbeck

BUFORD
106 -- Darius Bunch
113 -- Jack Barber
126 -- Brayden Hartley
182 -- Chip Ness

DAWSON COUNTY
170 -- Evan Kells
182 -- Gavin Brown
195 -- Keaton Toal

EAST HALL
152 -- Edward Vergara
160 -- Corey Reece



EAST JACKSON
285 -- Jeff Chandler

FANNIN COUNTY
195 -- Blake Calihan

JACKSON COUNTY
120 -- JT Wood
132 -- Conner Andreasen
138 -- Zak Evans
170 -- Daivon Ledford

NORTH HALL
106 -- Taylor Marrett
120 -- Micah Carew
126 -- Tyler Goss
132 -- David Lush
145 -- Tyler Kratzer

WEST HALL
152 -- Elliott Raiford

WHITE COUNTY
160 -- Will Stonecypher
195 -- Andrew Posten
220 -- Dylan Freeman

Class AAAA
CHESTATEE
106 -- Jose Reyes-Lavallee
113 -- Bartolo Velasquez
120 -- Austin Donaldson
126 -- Christian Zapatero
132 -- Zack Cheshire
160 -- Tommy McCormack
170 -- Cody Humphries
195 -- Grayson Entrekin

JOHNSON
126 -- Tommy Luc
195 -- Jose Martinez

LUMPKIN COUNTY
106 -- Tristin Duckworth
113 -- Greg Hilliard
120 -- Micah Mihok
152 -- Eddie Daniel

STEPHENS COUNTY
170 -- David Fuller
220 -- Josh Hale

Class AAAAA
FLOWERY BRANCH
113 -- Ronny Couch
120 -- Nolan Allspach
126 -- Ben Horton
138 -- Zach Winter
145 -- Brady Dyer
182 -- Grant Simonds
195 -- Davante King
285 -- RJ Deyton

GAINESVILLE
160 -- Chastin Newman

Class AAAAAA
HABERSHAM CENTRAL
170 -- Jeremy Trotman