Mat Dragons victorious at Panther Invitational

Jefferson came out on top of a 24-team field in the Panther Invitational.

Jefferson won, scoring 321.5 points. Second place Gilmer county scored 169.

JHS had 11 wrestlers reach the finals out of 14 classes. Six of those picked up championships, with the other five finishing second.

Jefferson wrestling coach Doug Thurmond said the win was a good way to start off the season.

“Of course, you feel like you could have done better in some places,” he said. “I guess it’s just like anything else, you’ve got some places that you see that you definitely have to make corrections, but it was a very good start for us.”

Taking top honors were Daniel Barber in the 119 lb. class; Cutler Finch in the 130 lb. class; Wayne Elliott in the 140 lb. class; Jay Fowler in the 160 lb. class; Zac Crosby in the 171 lb. class; and Patrick Allen in the 215 lb. class.

Second place finishers were Cason Thurmond in the 103 lb. class; Isaac Kelly in the 112 lb. class; Cam Thurmond in the 125 lb. class; Cain Finch in the 135 lb. class; and Zack Allen in the 189 lb. class.

Thurmond says his team now faces one of the toughest meets of the season, the Sawnee Mountain Duals at Forsyth Central this weekend.

For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.