Pope wrestling

East Cobb sports update: Pope wrestling; basketball playoffs

by

The Pope wrestling team finished fourth in the Georgia High School Association Class 6A traditional championships in Macon, and with one Greyhound taking home an individual state title.

That’s Joey Johnson in the 113-pound category. He was one of seven Pope wrestlers who finished sixth or higher in their weight divisions. The others are as follows:Pope wrestling

  • 2nd – Aidan Karpinski (106)
  • 2nd – Max Druhot (120)
  • 4th – Pat Haskin (145)
  • 5th – Connor Weeks (152)
  • 3rd – Troy Gable (160)
  • 6th – TJ Mordarski (220)

In the team standings, Pope tallied 87 points, behind Creekview (195.5), Cambridge (169.5) and Richmond Hill (155.5).

Last month the Greyhounds won the duals state championship in Class 6A, their first since 2014.

Here are some other wrestlers from East Cobb high schools who finished high in their individual competitions:

  • David Panone, Lassiter, 3rd in Class 7A 132 pounds;
  • Landon Chambers, Lassiter, 2nd in Class 7A 145 pounds;
  • Josh Sanders, Sprayberry, 4th in Class 6A 106 pounds;
  • Joseph Fredeman, Kell, 4th in Class 5A 138 pounds;
  • Andrew Parlato, Kell, 2nd in Class 5A 220 pounds;
  • Robert Austin Westbrook, Walker, 1st in Class A 106 pounds.

Basketball Sweet 16 games set

Three East Cobb high school basketball teams will get to play at home this week as the GHSA state playoffs continue in the Sweet 16.

That’s also known formally as the second-round, as higher-seeded teams will remain at home. The Wheeler boys, Kell girls and Sprayberry girls all advance, and will be at home.

The Wheeler boys trounced Etowah 68-43 in the Class 7A tournament and on Thursday will play host to Shiloh at 7 p.m.

Walton’s boys also were competing in Class 7A, but their season ended at home Friday in a 66-59 loss to East Coweta. The Raiders were 16-13 on the season.

The Sprayberry boys lost in Class 6A to Lanier 76-45. The Pope boys, also playing in 6A, fell to Douglas County 66-57. The Greyhounds were 21-8.

In Class 5A, the Kell boys came from behind to clip Miller Grove 92-91 on Friday, advancing to the second round at Warner Robins either Wednesday or Thursday.

In the Class A private school category, Mt. Bethel Christian’s season ended in a 60-46 loss at Mt. Paran Christian. The Walker School will play host to Mt. Paran Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The Sprayberry girls will be staying at home after rolling past Habersham Centeral 63-58 on Friday. The Lady Jackets play at 6 p.m. Thursday against Forest Park in the Sweet 16.

The Pope girls fell to Douglas County 57-44 to end their season at 19-10.

The Kell girls also won easily by a 58-26 score over Lithonia. The next opponent for the Lady Longhorns will be Bainbridge, and the game will be Wednesday or Thursday.

Related story

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Lassiter and Kell wrestlers win state titles; Pope team finishes 2nd

by

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.Lassiter and Kell wrestlers

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.

Related stories

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Pope and Walton wrestling teams competing in state duals championships

by

The Pope and Walton wrestling teams are in Macon, competing in the Georgia High School Association duals wrestling meet through Saturday.

The event got underway on Thursday morning, and it features 16 teams in each classification who qualified last weekend at regional meets.Pope girls swimming team, Pope and Walton wrestling teams

Walton’s first-round opponent today in Class 7A is Camden County, while Pope will face Habersham Central in Class 6A. The only other Cobb County school competing is McEachern, also in Class 7A.

Duals is a team vs. team event, conducted in double-elimination fashion, and which began in Georgia in 2002.

Pope won the Class 5A state duals in 2013 and 2014, as well as the traditional state crown in Class 4A in 2011 and 2012.

Last weekend, the Greyhounds defeated Cambridge, another Class 6A powerhouse, by a 36-31 score for the 500th duals victory for coach Jim Haskins in the regional meet.

Walton is back in the state duals for the first time since 2007 after finishing second in its regional meet that was held at Walton.

However, the Raiders face a stiff challenge to start off.

Camden County has been dominant in recent years, as the two-time defending Class 7A duals and traditional state champion, and having won a state title in either discipline for the last four years.

The traditional regional and state wrestling meets will take place in February.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

 

Former East Cobb wrestling coach pleads guilty to child molestation

by

Ron Gorman, who served as a volunteer coach with the Pope wrestling teams, pleaded guilty in Cobb Superior Court on Tuesday to two counts of child molestation.Ron Gorman, former East Cobb wrestling coach

Gorman, 53, was given a 25-year sentence by Judge Gregory Poole, with 20 to serve without parole, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.

Gorman was to have gone on trial after being charged with abusing a 14-year-old boy in Cobb County in 2010, according to prosecutors, who said the victim disclosed the abuse last year to authorities in Monroe County, Pa.

That’s where Gorman had been sentenced to 20-40 years in February for sexually assaulting boys there, including the boy prosecutors said was also victimized in Cobb.

According to the Cobb DA’s office, Gorman was extradited to Cobb to face the charges here and will be returned to Pennsylvania, where he will serve his sentences concurrently.

“This is a prime example of how child predators can work their way into positions of trust and authority, and then turn that trust into a weapon against children,” said Chuck Boring, Cobb deputy chief assistant district attorney and head of the Cobb DA’s special victims unit.

Gorman moved to Cobb in 2009 and was a volunteer with Pope Junior Wrestling, which feeds into the highly successful Pope High School program, where he also was a parent volunteer. He also was a coach at Life College in Marietta.

Gorman was arrested at his East Cobb home in March 2017 and eventually was charged by Pennsylvania authorities with a total of 513 counts, including child rape and statutory sexual assault.

His accusers in Pennsylvania claimed Gorman subjected them to frequent and continuous assaults, sometimes on a weekly basis, for several years, including in Georgia.

News reports last March and earlier this year quoted a Cobb woman who became concerned about Gorman in 2011. That’s when she saw a crude, sexually themed Facebook message sent by him to her son, then 12, and a member of the Pope junior wrestling program.

She said she was told by then-Pope principal Rick Beaulieu not to go to law enforcement. Gorman was suspended from any involvement with Pope wrestling for a year, but it was six years later that he was charged.

Boring said in court Tuesday that there are no other charges that Gorman is facing in Cobb. In Pennsylvania, prosecutors heard allegations that Gorman abused minors dating back to the 1980s, but the statue of limitations had run out.

“Hopefully this conclusion gives his victims some sort of closure and justice, whether they have reported his abuse or not,” Boring said.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!