Mitchem wrestles his way to a Georgia title

Lakeside senior wrestler Tim Mitchem had quite a weekend in Rome, Ga., at the AAAA State Wrestling Championships. The 135-pounder came back from a near loss in the semifinals to capture the state championship.

Mitchem found himself tied 2-2 with Woodlawn's Brian Scott in the closing seconds of their semifinal matchup, and Scott appeared to have stolen the victory when he was awarded two points for a reversal. A second referee, however, overruled the call because he saw a technical violation by Scott. So rather than losing two points and the match, Mitchem was awarded a point for his opponent's violation and came away with a 3-2 victory.

Mitchem rode his momentum into the 135-pound final versus Jake Lagod of Marist. Mitchem was too much for Lagod and came away with a dominant 10-0 victory to claim the state title.

Joining Mitchem in the championship matches was Mike Ingram, who lost in the semis at 145 pounds to Jeremy Norman of Central Macon. Ingram led late in the match before his opponent tied the score at 9 all to force overtime. In the overtime, Norman took over and defeated Ingram 14-9.

As a team, Lakeside, led by head coach Randy Hill, earned a 10th-place finish in the state tournament. Hill has been a key reason that wrestling has grown in popularity at Lakeside and in the county.

In addition to Lakeside, both Evans and Greenbrier had wrestlers qualify for the championships, but only Greenbrier's Jay Atkins came away with a medal. He lost in the semifinals at 275 pounds but came back to win his next two matches to earn a third-place finish.