Every coach worth his or her salt loves to win a tournament in anything, whether it is a neighborhood gathering or a world title. And winning the first of something is even sweeter. Just as the LaFayette High School wrestling team.

The defending Georgia AA state duals and traditional champions rambled into town (to UTC’s Maclellan Gym) Saturday morning undefeated and by sunset had the inaugural Old Timer’s Cup well in hand.

The Orange and Black of coach Lee Dendy swept through pool play 3-0 and then knocked off Cleveland, 39-26, and McCallie, 58-15, in the round robin finals. The Blue Raiders finished second with a 46-28 triumph against McCallie.

“To beat quality wrestling programs such as McCallie and Cleveland is a real thrill for us,’’ said Dendy, whose Ramblers are 6-0 on the young season.

“Our guys really wanted to win this first Old Timer’s Cup and our conditioning throughout a long day of wrestling (five matches) was better than I anticipated, Dendy stated.
LaFayette 39, Cleveland 26

The Ramblers spotted Cleveland a three point lead after the opening match at 119 and then won seven straight for a 33-3 lead.

With a maximum of 36 points still on the table and strength of Cleveland’s lineup to come, Lafayette’s Will Gilbert clinched the team win.

Gilbert edged Jesse Jones, 5-3, at 171 in an emotionally-charged match to give Lafayette an insurmountable 36-3 lead.

The Blue Raiders scored the next 23 points as Chip Norwood (tech. fall), Max Ofori (forfeit), Adam Peters (fall) and Bryan Alvarado (fall) to trail 36-36, before Lafayette’s Chance Gilride edged Edwin Rodriquez, 9-5, to close out the match.

LaFayette 58, McCallie 18
The Ramblers led all the way in this one to clinch the title. McCallie’s wins came from T.J. Duncan (decision), Alex Moore (forfeit) and Alex Ward (fall).

“We won all the close matches today and that’s a tribute to hard work and determination,’’said Dendy who knows something about hard work with a pair of individual state titles in his trophy case.

Cleveland 46, McCallie 28
The Blue Raiders defeated McCallie for the second time in three days, having won 40-28 on Thursday.
Today, Cleveland won two of the first three weights to lead, 12-6. McCallie won the next five and led 28-12 after Chase Martino pinned Will Moreland at 152. Cleveland won the final six matches, four via fall.

Best Match: McCallie rallied to defeat Soddy Daisy 34-32 in pool play. The Trojans led 23-3 after five weights and were up 32-15 after 10. McCallie won the final four weights, including a third period pin by Alex Moore (215) in the final match.
Only Girl: LaFayette’s Hannah Jackson (103) was the only girl in the tournament. The freshman was 1-4 on the day and hopes to be the Rambler 103-pounder for four years.

‘‘My two older brothers (Patrick Young and Billy Bob Jackson) wrestled for LaFayette, so I wanted to be the next in the family to make the varsity,’’ said Miss Jackson, who has a younger brother (Blake Jackson) on the middle school team.

‘‘I started wrestling in the second grade, due in part, to my older brothers wrestling with me at home when I was in grammar school,’’ said Miss Jackson. “I couldn’t beat my older brothers, but I can beat Blake (also a 103 pounder) on a regular basis.’’

Veteran Ramblers: LaFayette has 10 returning state place winners, including 2008 runners-up Preston McCalmon and Joe Franks ... Eight of the state medalists were at the Old-Timer’s Cup and the other two competed with the junior varsity team in the Dalton Carpet Classic.
Tournament Purpose: North Cobb coach and former UTC wrestler Josh Ward formed the tournament with the purpose of raising money for the UTC wrestling program. Each team entered had at least one former Moc wrestler on its staff.
Hard Working Mocs: The current Moc wrestlers, coaches and family members did an excellent job of tournament organization from setting up six mats, to clean-up to organizing the hospitality room for coaches and officials. The Soddy Daisy little sisters did their usual great job of operating the scorers’ tables.

Cleveland 46, McCallie 28
112 – Tim Westbrooks (McC) pinned Taylor Spurlin, :56
119 – Marvin Lopez (Cleve) pinned Peter Steele, :47
125 – Brandon Strickland (Cleve) forfeit win
130 – Michael Hooker (McC) dec. Blake Oakes, 9-3
135 – Houston Clements (McC) major dec. Wesley Hampton, 12-1
140 – T.J. Duncan (McC) pinned Bailey Jones, 1:05
145 – Prescott Stone (McC) dec. Isiah Nicholson, 3-1
152 – Chase Martino (McC) pinned Will Moreland, 3:20
160 – Omar Garcia (Cleve) major dec. Blake Henry, 16-8
171 – Jesse Jones (Cleve) pinned Nate Condren, 4:39
189 – Chip Norwood (Cleve) pinned Hayden Cronan, 1:12
215 – Max Ofori (Cleve) pinned Alex Moore, 1:14
285 – Adam Peters (Cleve) pinned Connor McElheney, 3:02
103 – Bryan Alvarado (Cleve) forfeit win
LaFayette 39, Cleveland 26
119 – Marvin Lopez (Cleve) dec. Preston McCalmon, 4-0
125 – Brandon Wallin (Laf) dec. Blake Oakes, 11-5
130 – Seth Taylor (Laf) pinned Moore, 3:46
135 – Matthew Stanfield (Laf) pinned Wesley Hampton, 1:26
140 – Derek Murdock (Laf) dec. Bailey Jones, 9-3
145 – Joe Franks (Laf) dec. Iziah Nichols, 4-1
152 – Justin Owenby (Laf) pinned Will Moreland, 2:20
160 – Justin Gilreath (Laf) pinned Omar Garcia, 3:49
171 – Will Gilbert (Laf) dec. Jesse Jones, 5-3
189 – Chip Norwood (Cleve) tech. fall Koran Dyer, 21-6
215 – Max Ofori (Cleve) forfeit win
285 – Adam Peters (Cleve) pinned Caleb Hartshorn, 3:40
103 – Bryan Alvarado (Cleve) forfeit win
112 – Chance Gilride (Laf) dec Edwin Rodriquez, 9-5
LaFayette 58, McCallie 15
125 – Brandon Wallin (Laf) forfeit win
130 – Seth Taylor (Laf) dec. Daniel McClure, 1-0
135 – Matthew Stanfield (Laf) pinned Houston Clements, :31
140 – T.J. Duncan (McC) dec. Derek Murdock, 14-7
145 – Joe Franks (Laf) dec. Prescott Stone, 13-4
152 – Justin Owenby (Laf) forfeit win
160 – Justin Gilreath (Laf) pinned Mikey Robinson, 2:19
171 – Will Gilbert (Laf) dec. Nate Condrey, 7-3
189 – Karon Dyer (Laf) pinned Hayden Cronan, 5:22
215 – Alex Moore (McC) forfeit win
285 – Caleb Hartshorn (Laf) pinned Connor McElheney, 1:59
103 – Alex Ward (McC) pinned Hannah Jackson, 1:59
112 – Chance Gilride (Laf) pinned Alex Kent, 1:07
119 – Preston McCalmon (Laf) pinned Peter Steele, :32
Season Records: LaFayette (6-0), Cleveland (6-1), McCallie (4-3)
Pool Play:
Pool 1
McCallie 58, North Cobb 11
McCallie 34, Soddy Daisy 32
McCallie 51, Hoover 26
Soddy Daisy 46, Hoover 18
Hoover 46, North Cobb 31
Soddy Daisy 65, North Cobb 15
1. McCallie (3-0) 2. Soddy Daisy (2-1) 3. Hoover (1-2) 4. North Cobb (0-3)
Pool 2
Cleveland 54, Alexander 13
Cleveland 48, Heritage 16
Cleveland def. Thompson
Heritage 45, Alexander 26
Heritage 42, Thompson 27
Thompson 38, Alexander 32
1. Cleveland (3-0) 2. Heritage (2-1) 3. Thompson (1-2) 4. Alexander (0-3)
Pool 3
LaFayette 70, Baylor 4
LaFayette 76, Red Bank 6
LaFayette 43, Woodland 21
Woodland 60, Red Bank 21
Woodland 58, Baylor 28
Baylor 54, Red Bank 27
1. LaFayette (3-0) 2. Woodland (2-1) 3. Baylor (JV) (1-2) 4. Red Bank (0-3)
Finals:
1s vs. 1s
LaFayette 39, Cleveland 26
Cleveland 46, McCallie 28
LaFayette 58, McCallie 15
2s vs. 2s
Soddy Daisy 58, Heritage 18
Soddy Daisy 60, Woodland 12
Heritage 44, Woodland 26
3s vs. 3s
Thompson 36, Hoover 33
Thompson 48, Baylor 30
Hoover 54, Baylor 30
4s vs. 4s
Alexander 58, Red Bank 6
Alexander 42, North Cobb 27
Red Bank 45, North Cobb 27

Contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net