Perry High School, the town and the county as a whole, showed it can host a major GHSA event and do it well.

The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) 7A and 4A sectionals began around 11 a.m. Friday morning at Perry High School. The entire basketball court and sidelines of the new gym were filled with wrestlers, their coaches and training staffs from schools from all over the state. If there was any doubt if Perry could host the massive event and do it well, Friday night showed and proved that would not be an issue in the future whether it be more wrestling, basketball or volleyball.

As many as 500 wrestlers made themselves at home for the weekend-long event. From the sidelines you could hear a coach from Rockdale County yell to his embattled wrestler, “Chicken win, chicken wing,” and another scream, “Two to the head, two to the head.” In wrestling parlance both slogans are used to motivate an athlete to keep pushing towards a successful match. There’s no other scholastic sport, or for that matter sport in general, like wrestling. Language included.  

The excitement stretched from one side of the gym to the other as six mats were in use simultaneously throughout the day and night. A lot goes into hosting an event this size for two consecutive days but Perry High School and the powers that be have proven they are up to the task. “Isn’t it beautiful,” said Perry head coach Randy Moss about the massive fan presence. 

A 160-pound match between Nathan Santos of Camden County and Joey Barnelli of Mill Creek was especially interesting as both wrestlers had their moments of dominance. Santos’ however came at the end of the match. Barnelli jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two periods and looked like the better of the two athletes early on. Santos had no quit in him though and used the entire two minutes of the third and final period to even the scoring and force overtime. Santos would dominant the extra time and complete a come-from-behind victory that could easily be considered the best of day one regardless of weight class.

The host Perry Panthers, having taken full advantage of not having to travel for this meet, had 10 wrestlers advance to the quarterfinal round Friday evening. Of the near dozen Panther wrestlers that impressed on day one, Jadorian Bass seemed to shine as bright as any other. Wrestling at 132 pounds, Bass is in a class with some of the best athletes in the sport. In the quarterfinals he would face a wrestler from Blessed Trinity Catholic High School (Roswell), a powerhouse program. Bass would go ahead early in the match, first 2-0, then 4-1 by the end of the second period. Minutes later he would seal the victory with a pin, bringing his teammates and coaches to their feet following the signal from the referee. 

Waller Passanault (106), Austin Till (113), Brandon Moss (138), Stewart Watt (145), Tristen Thiel (152), Wyatt Blount (160), S. Williams (182), Zeek Taylor (195) and Aiden McDowell (220) also qualified for the quarterfinals.

Day two of the sectionals will begin at 8:30 Saturday morning with rounds one and two of the girls meets before continuing the semifinals and consolation rounds at 9:30 a.m.

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