Three individual wrestlers from East Cobb schools are returning home as state champions this weekend, following completion of the Georgia High School Association traditional meet in Macon.
Two of them are from Lassiter High School, and even better news for the Trojans is they’re underclassmen.
Freshman David Panone won the Class 7A 120 weight class finals on Saturday, defeating Tyler Crew of eventual state champion Camden County by a 2-1 score.
Panone finished his very first season of varsity wrestling with a record of 51-3. His teammate, sophomore R.J. Weston, took home the 7A title at 138, defeating Ethan Willis of Hillgrove 4-0. For the season, Weston was 53-2.
The Trojans finished 11th in the 7A team standings with 59.5 points, and Walton was 12th with 53.5 points.
Thee Raiders wrestlers placed in Macon, including runners-up Cole Hixon at 195 and Jonathan Chesser at 220 and Caden Canzano, who finished 6th at 106.
Walton also had a wrestler place in the very-first girls GHSA competition. Sophomore Kiley Webb was 4th at 95 pounds. The girls events were individual-only.
For the Kell Longhorns, the state meet was bittersweet. Longtime head coach Steve Lattizori, who has been at the Northeast Cobb school since it opened, is retiring.
But he saw one last athlete win a state championship. Senior Andrew Parlato prevailed in the Class 6A 220 class, as he defeated Dimaggio Evan of Buford 7-3 in the finals.
Also for Kell, Joseph Fredeman was 5th at 132 and Jake Boyd was 4th at 138.
The Longhorns were 11th in the team standings. Their region rival Woodland of Cartersville won the state championship.
The Pope wrestling team was looking for its first state championship since 2014 and sent 11 wrestlers to Macon with a good chance.
The Greyhounds couldn’t catch up to Class 6A champion Valdosta, however, and finished second, with 141.5 points to 177.5 for Valdosta.
No Pope wrestlers won individual titles, but seven of them placed, finishing in the Top 6:
- Joey Robinson, 4th at 106;
- Max Druhot, 2nd at 120;
- Alex Hearn, 2nd at 126;
- Patrick Haskin at 132;
- Troy Gable, 5th at 145;
- Andrew Barner, 4th at 152;
- Christopher Sheahan, 3rd at 195.
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