Wrestlers compete with each other for local pride

Three Columbia County wrestling teams took part in the AAAA State Tournament in Macon, Ga. this past weekend. Although none of the athletes from Greenbrier, Lakeside or Evans won medals, the Wolfpack came out on top.

Greenbrier as a team finished just in front of Lakeside at the tournament. The Wolfpack tied for 47th place, while Lakeside tied for 51st. Greenbrier's Rick Stahman and Louie Shearer were both big reasons for the Wolfpack's success.

Stahman, a junior, 215-pound wrestler, finished with a 3-2 record and went farther than any other Columbia County athlete. After winning the Region 2-AAAA Championship in his weight class, Stahman fell to the state's eventual fifth- and sixth-place winners and came up one match short of winning a medal.

"I think Rick could have probably went a little further, but he had a couple of tough matches," Greenbrier wrestling coach Mike Meyer said. "He was in a position to win both matches but just came up short. I think next year we'll definitely look for him to do a lot better."

Shearer, a 125-pounder, is also expected to do big things for the Wolfpack next year. At the state tournament last weekend, the freshman came out of the tournament with a winning record (3-2) and lost to the eventual fifth-place finisher.

"He's still making a lot of freshman mistakes, but I look for him to get a ton better," Meyer said. "He's got an excellent chance of placing next year."

Greenbrier did come out on top out of the Columbia County schools, but Lakeside got the better of the Wolfpack in the 171 lb. weight-class when the two schools met in the loser's bracket.

"It's kind of odd. I can't remember the last time it happened," Meyer said. "You don't want to go all the way to state and meet someone from the same region."

That's exactly what happened, however, when Greenbrier's Matt Wolf met Lakeside's Kyle Hill in an elimination match. Hill defeated Wolf in a major 10-2 decision. The Panther senior led Lakeside and finished the tournament with a 2-2 record.

Hill's teammate, Dennis Miller, also went 2-2 in the 112-pound weight class.

"I expected us to win a few more matches," Lakeside wrestling coach Randy Hill said. "We had some younger kids and our older kids were inexperienced. It was something to build on."

Evans sent two wrestlers, Sebastian Hodges (189 pounds) and Desmond Musgrove (135 pounds), but both were eliminated after two matches. The Knights finished in a tie for 69th.