State Sectionals were held this past weekend and DeKalb County came out with 33 state qualifiers (28 boys, 5 girls) and four top alternates (3 boys, 1 girl) headed to the GHSA State Traditional Wrestling Tournament on Thursday at the Centreplex in Macon.
Four DeKalb wrestling programs combined to put 12 wrestlers into the Class 4A State Meet beginning on Thursday at 9:00 am including Miller Grove (4), Stephenson (4), Arabia Mountain (2) and Druid Hills (2).
Miller Grove’s Jeremiah Sandiford (285) and Arabia Mountain’s Langston Blakely (182) both wrestled to second place positions in their respective classes at the sectional. Stephenson’s Andre Bernard (145), Miller Grove’s Patrick Clay (152) and Arabia Mountain’s Malik Conley (160) finished third in their classes.
Class 5A
Southwest DeKalb led the way in Class 5A for DeKalb pushing four wrestlers into the state meet beginning at 2:00 pm on Thursday in Macon. Jerrell Baskins led the Panthers’ contingent with a first-place finish in the 182-weight class as the top qualifier out of the sectional.
Stone Mountain’s Jordan Shannon (195) finished third to lead the Pirates’ delegation heading to state.
Class 7A
Dunwoody had five qualify for the Class 7A State Championships that begin on Friday at 2:00 pm in Macon. Dunwoody’s Charlie Ruark (113) leads a group of five Wildcats who qualified for state as he wrestled to a fourth place at the sectional.
Class 2A
Columbia had a pair of wrestlers qualify for the Class 2A State Championships that begin at 8:00 on Friday in Macon. Thawbaan As-Siddiq (113) was second at the sectional and Marvell Mims (138) was sixth.
First alternates (7th at Sectional) can move into the State Championships if any wrestlers ahead of them are unable to compete. DeKalb has three in Martin Luther King Jr.’s Amante Huntae (160, 5A), Arabia Mountain’s Kalvin Johnson (285, 4A) and Miller Grove’s Chauncey Walton (126, 4A).
Second alternates (8th at Sectional) can also move into state wrestling spots if two wrestlers ahead of them are unable to compete. DeKalb’s Malik Colquitt (145) of Southwest DeKalb and Angelo Nunn (160) of Clarkston are second alternates.
GIRLS
Five girls from DeKalb also qualified for the State Championships in Macon beginning on Friday (Feb. 11) at 1:00 pm in Macon.
Southwest DeKalb leads the way with three girls’ qualifying led by Ayla Evans (172) who wrestled her way to a first-place finish at the Class 5A State Sectional. Jada Bostic (122) and Cassidy Gibson (112) both finished second at sectionals.
Lithonia’s Taniyah Ford (152) worked her way into a first-place finish at the Class 5A Sectional to move on to the state meet on Friday.
Stone Mountain’s Say Paw (112) came in third at the state sectional to also qualify for Friday’s opening round. Paw’s teammate, Jessica Denkamba (132) finished as a first alternate and could wrestle if another participant ahead of her is unable to compete.
See link below for DCSD State Wrestling Qualifiers: