Archer High School Wins Georgia State Wrestling Title

Archer High School sealed the deal Saturday in the Georgia High School Association Traditional Wrestling Championships in Macon.

Four of the Tigers’ seven weight-class finalists won individual titles, according results available on the Atlanta Takedown Association website, giving the Gwinnett County school its second Class AAAAAA wrestling championship of the season.

Archer, which won the state dual tournament in January, finished with 250 team points, more than double the points earned by second-place Collins Hill, which finished with 118.5 points.  Camden County was third with 117.5 points. North Gwinnett was fifth.

Archer champions were:

• Daniel Bullard, who beat Camden’s Jason Alfau 4-3 to win the 138-pound division.
• Thomas Bullard won at 145 pounds, pinning Valdosta’s Clarence Williams in 3 minutes, 48 seconds.
• Ernest Alexander pinned Maverick Rechsteiner of Etowah in 1:52 in the 195-pound final.
• M.J. Couzan decisioned Michael Scullin of South Forsyth 5-3 in the 285 final.

Three other Archer wrestlers placed second: Grant Aycox (126 pounds), Chris Diaz (132 pounds) and Zach Wright (152 pounds).

Also in Class AAAAAA:

• Collins Hill had two individual champs. Sean Russell beat Cherokee’s Blake Wheeler 3-2 in the 113-pound final and Ryan Milhoff beat Etowah’s Leonard Payton 5-2 at 120 pounds.
• Parkview’s Khalil Abdush-Shakur won at 160 pounds, beating previously undefeated Josh McMahon of Chattahoochee 6-5 in the final.

In other championships involving Gwinnett wrestlers:

• Class AA: Wesleyan’s Rhett Delk won the 170-pound final, beating Oscar Sandoval of Monticello 8-3. Greater Atlanta Christian was fifth in the team standings.
• Class AAA: Buford was fourth in the team standings behind three individual champs. Jack Barber won the 113-pound final, 8-2 over Marshall Brown of Oconee County. Brayden Hartley beat Banks County’s Mason Patton 11-9 to win the 126-pound title. Chip Ness won the 182-pound division, pinning Gavin Brown of Dawson County in the final.

Sources: Georgia High School Association and Atlanta Takedown Association.