For the first time since 2014, the Pope wrestling team has won a state championship.
The Greyhounds went down to the wire in Saturday’s Georgia High School Association Class 6A finals in Macon, and edged Richmond Hill of Augusta 30-24.
Pope went into the final match of the day nursing a 26-24 lead, after Richmond Hill closed the gap by winning the 182-pound class to gain three critical points.
In the 195-pound class, Pope’s Dylan Moss solidified the title with an 11-3 win over Caleb Gonser, good for four points.
On Friday, Pope barely advanced to the finals as Moss also won the last match of the semifinals in downing Creekview.
In duals wrestling, teams face one another head-to-head as in other team sports, while the traditional format has them competing at the same time.
The state championship was the sixth overall and the fourth in duals for Pope, which also won duals titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Greyhounds won traditional state titles in 2011 and 2012.
The finals against Richmond Hill was close the entire way. The Greyhounds lost the first two matches on falls and fell behind 12-0. But Pope’s Aidan Karpinski picked up six big points for his team in the 106-pound class by recording a fall.
Joey Robinson (120) and Max Druholt (126) won back-to-back. Alex Hearn won by an 11-0 score at 138 for four more points, and was followed by Patrick Haskins (145) and Connor Weeks (152).
Richmond Hill won two of the next three matches to set up the finale, but picked up only six points.
The traditional post-season begins at the end of January and into mid-February, when the state finals also will be contested in Macon. Pope was runner-up in 2019.
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