Local high school wrestling teams head to Area Duals this weekend

All four of the local high school wrestling teams will compete this weekend for a chance to advance to the GHSA State Duals Championships at Macon Centreplex January 14-16.

Woodland and Cass both received byes through the opening round of the Area 7AAAAA tournament and will begin with quarterfinal matches on Friday night at North Atlanta High School. The Wildcats are the top seed heading into the weekend with Cass set as the No. 2 seed.

Woodland is the defending area champ and was state runner-up last year in both the state duals and the state traditional format.

The Wildcats will take the mats Friday night at approximately 6:15pm against the first round winner between Sequoyah and host North Atlanta.

The Colonels will also start at approximately 6:15pm at North Atlanta against the Rome/Riverwood first round survivor.

In Woodland’s half of the bracket, No. 4 seed Dalton will wrestle the Creekview/North Springs winner Friday night.

On the Cass side of the 7AAAAA bracket, No. 3 seed Cambridge will face the opening round survivor from a match between River Ridge and Forsyth Central.

Cambridge has several experienced wrestlers returning on their 2015-16 squad, including a 2015 state champion at 160 pounds. The Bears, along with the two Bartow County schools, will be the top contenders for a spot in the Class AAAAA tournament in Macon.

Only the top two teams from each area will advance to the state tournament in Macon.

The first round of wrestle backs for the 7AAAAA tournament are scheduled for Friday night at 7:45pm. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the area semifinals Saturday morning at 9am.

Cartersville will face a tough challenge at the Area 7AAAA tournament at Ridgeland High School in Rossville. Gilmer is the defending state champ in Class AAAA and also the defending area champion. The Bobcats are the area’s top seeded team again this weekend.

Northwest Whitfield is the No. 2 seed in 7AAAA and the Bruins were both area and state runner-up to Gilmer last season.

Heritage is the No. 3 seed and Southeast Whitfield is the No. 4 seed in Area 7AAAA.

In Area 6AAA, Adairsville will look to advance through a tough field that includes host Sonoraville, plus Calhoun, Coahulla Creek, North Murray, and Ringgold. Sonoraville and Calhoun advanced to the state tournament last season.