WGHS Wrestlers Bring Home Pride from the GHSA State Wrestling Tournament

The 2023 WGHS Wrestling team finishes their winter season with four wrestlers placing in high ranks at the GHSA State Individuals on February 17th and 18th at the Macon Centreplex.
by Paulina Rodriguez

The 2023 WGHS Wrestling team finishes their winter season with four wrestlers placing in high ranks at the GHSA State Individuals on February 17th and 18th at the Macon Centreplex.

​​The team wrestled their weight class brackets on the 17th in hopes of making it up to the finals on Saturday, and fortunately, three out of the four boys took their spots in the finals. Gareth Aderhold became a state qualifier in his 157 4A weight class. Zeb Dawkins took 2nd place in the State for his 150 4A weight class. Parker Warren placed 2nd in his 215 4A weight class. And Landen Moss placed 1st and took home the title of being a 3-time state champion in his 190 4A weight class.

Landen Moss - State Champion

​In his 190 4A weight class bracket, Landen Moss wrestled Tanner Ramm of Cairo High School, Blake Hamm of Perry High School, and Alvinno Cheeks of Stockbridge High School. On the first day of the tournament, Moss defeated Hamm in just 37 seconds into the first period with a pin and won by a major decision with a score of 17-4 against Ramm, which earned his spot in the bracket with Cheeks in the finals for the following day. Moss has wrestled Alvinno in the past and even went up to face him for sectionals the past weekend. It has always been a rare occurrence for wrestlers to score any points on Moss, but Cheeks was able to score a two on Landen at sectionals. Even with this happening, Moss didn’t show any signs of nervousness or tension when entering his mat with Alvinno. Landen managed to throw seven points in the first period with a takedown, nearfall three and another takedown. The two minutes ended for the first period, which brought the match to the second period. In only 40 seconds, Moss got Cheeks on his back and pinned him, obtaining his third state champion win and an outstanding record of thirty seven wins and one loss for his senior season.

Zeb Dawkins - State Runnerup

Dawkins wrestled and overtook Nicholas Moffett with a decision score of 6-3. He also wrestled Laterian Young of Shaw High School, beating Young with a pin in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This helped him advance to the finals to wrestle against JT Bowers of West Laurens High. Dawkins was able to put up a good fight throughout three periods, each lasting two minutes. He did not get pinned but lost at the last second by referee decision with a score of 3-5. Coach Lane Seale explains, "he did everything he was supposed to do but ran out of gas at the end."

Parker Warren - State Runnerup

Parker Warren, who wrestled in the 215 4A brackets, made it to the final bracket after defeating Gerald Jennings and Tristan Mullins on the first day. Warren took down Jennings with a pin in the second period and was also able to dominate Mullins with another pin in the third period. Warren then makes it to the finals for the next day to wrestle Isaiah Scott of Southwest Dekalb High. Unfortunately, Warren lost by a pin from Scott, but he didn’t go out without a fight. Coach Kyle Smith goes over Parker’s match that “basically, it went back and forth, and Parker went to give a throw, and he almost ended on top, but the kid(Scott) was athletic enough to jump back on top of him and pinned him.” Warren finished state in 2nd place with a record of twenty four wins and four losses this season.

Gareth Aderhold - State Qualifier

In the 157 4A brackets, Aderhold wrestled and won against Trent Gormady of Hardaway High by fall in the third round. This helped him advance to the next round to wrestle Dharrin Smith of Southwest Dekalb but unfortunately lost by referee decision with a score of 3-10. Many Walnut Grove spectators believed that Aderhold’s match was unfair.

Head Coach Paul Vanstone says that “there was an obvious missed call in Gareth's match at the state tournament.  I think everyone in the arena saw it differently from the official on that one.” 

Hayden Flowers, who has been a wrestling manager for the past three years and was also spectating Gareth’s match, shares her point of view, “It was a really close match, but towards the end, or what was supposed to be the end of the 6 minutes, they ended up tying [the score]. I think it was about 3-3, so it went to the first overtime.” 

Brandy Rangel, a current WGHS wrestler who was also in the stands spectating Aderhold, shares his thoughts on the match, “No, no, it was not fair, first off. Gareth basically put the kid on his back; the kid stops wrestling. His back was flat on the mat, he let go, [and] he stopped fighting. The ref put two down next to his hip, but [he] didn’t put it above his shoulder. Gareth saw the two, but it was next to his hip, so Gareth thought he won the match and got up to celebrate.”
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Gareth brought the score to 5-3, but the points were taken away when the official deemed the call false. Aderhold gives his take on his match during the first overtime round, “I get a takedown, [and] I get him on his back. It should have definitely been considered a takedown, but I celebrated too early, and I get up as the ref was about to throw up two for the takedown and end the match.” Aderhold ended up getting his points taken away which resulted in him wrestling for two more overtime rounds, where he lost to Smith last second.

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​Overall, the boys finished the season with new skills and many achievements. Landen Moss, Parker Warren, and Gareth Aderhold are all seniors graduating this year, and they ended their high school years with many impressive performances. Sophomore Dawkins will continue to wrestle with the WGHS wrestling team in his remaining high school years. The team looks forward to the end of the season banquet to officially end their wrestling year with Walnut Grove High School.