It was a showdown that many had been waiting for, as defending AA state dual champion Jefferson faced off against the number two team in the state, Sonoraville, to decide the state dual title Saturday in Macon.
In the end, it was the Mat Dragons coming away with its ninth consecutive state dual championship by defeating Sonoraville 41-22.
Coach Doug Thurmond said he knew Sonoraville had a real good team going in. “We had scouted them and we knew they were going to be real tough,” he added.
Thurmond said his team stepped up and did “a real good job.”
“The neat thing about the state duals is that it’s definitely a team effort,” he said. “That’s what we got out of our guys all weekend. If one of our guys seemed to have a really tough person, the team stepped up around him and supported him a whole lot, but supported him by doing well in their own matches to help the team out.
“Sonoraville is solid from top to bottom. They have no weak spot, so we knew our work was cut out for us.”
The win also means that Jefferson remains undefeated in state dual competition, as only nine state dual tournaments have been held in Georgia.
The Mat Dragons opened the tournament by defeating Fitzgerald 64-10, then moved on to face Benedictine, defeating them 62-18. Jefferson then went on to beat Lovett 66-12 in the semi-finals before moving on to defeat Sonoraville.
It’s the 18th state title for the Jefferson wrestling program.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
