Six Richmond Hill Mat Cats qualified for the state youth tournament and will compete the next two Saturdays.
Yhsaac Bringer led the Mat cats on Saturday at the qualifier at East Laurens High School by finishing second in the 12 and under, 105 pounds weight class. Bringer wrestled tough all tournament and in his final match, down by two points, pinned his opponent with three seconds left to earn a trip to state.
He is the younger brother of 9th grade standout Zach Bringer, who wrestled for Richmond Hill High School and is the first freshman to qualify for sectionals in the school's short wrestling history.
Spencer Cole, one of the most winning wrestlers on the team, with 21 pins this season earned a third place finish to earn his trip to state.
Cole, a pinning machine, went up against some of the toughest competition that he had seen all year, to include four-time state qualifier Luke Williams out of Milton Wrestling Club, a favorite to win the 12-and-under 120 title.
Nicholas Krug, competing in the 10-and-under 64 pound division, wrestled extremely tough to earn a 4th place finish in one of the toughest weight classes in the tourney. Krug initially lost a close match to last year's state runner up in the 58 class, Cole Potts from Jefferson, before clinching his trip to the state tournament by pinning his final opponent in :38 seconds.
Krug in his final victory illustrated what wrestling is all about when he ran off the mat and jumped on his father and coach Dan Krug in joy over earning a trip to the state tournament in his first year of wrestling.
Future varsity wrestler Grant Foy also earned a trip to the state tournament in the 14-and-under 100-pound class. Foy, who has wrestled in many junior varsity matches for RHHS, earned a trip to the semi-finals, where he lost 11-0 to middle school state champion Timothy Duffey.
Foy showed toughness and resilience by battling through the consolation bracket to come back and win 4th place and a trip to his first wrestling state tournament.
The Geeting brothers, Cole, 8-and-under, 73 pounds, and his older brother Austin, 10-and-under, 91 pounds, will be heading to state with their dedicated mother Wendy Geeting.
Cole placed 3rd and Austin placed 4th to earn a trip to the state tournament.
"It's great to see Cole and Austin go to state. Wendy has been a real trooper in supporting their two boys Cole and Austin while her husband Mark is completing a tour in Afghanistan, they truly deserve it," said Anna Bringer, Mat Cats Booster Secretary. Jackson Cantele also earned a trip to the state tournament in the 8-and-under 79 weight class.
Foy, Cole and Yhsaac Bringer will wrestler Saturday at the Big Kids State Tournament at Life University in Marietta.
On March 12, Coleman, Cantele, Krug and the Getting brothers will compete in the Little Kids State Turnament at Milton High School.
Zachary Bringer and Zachary Perez, both freshmen wrestlers at RHHS, will compete at the 125 and 135 weight classes, respectively, on March 12 at the 9th grade state tournament at Wheeler High School in Marietta.
The Richmond Hill wrestling season will wrap up with its end of the year banquet on March 16th at the Quality Inn in Richmond Hill.
Only in its first complete season of Wrestling, the Richmond Hill Mat Cats is experiencing success comparable to the high school program, which saw five wrestlers earn over 20 wins this year with 5 qualifying for sectionals.
Like the high school team, the youth team gets little funding but has support from support by their oversight committee of Wendy Geeting, Lori Cole, Jodi Weed and Anna Bringer and head coache Phillip Howe and assistant coach Dan Krug.
"I am very proud of the performance by our team," Howe said. "It has been a great inaugural year for Richmond Hill Wrestling Club and I look forward to the growth of the club and continued success for the club. These kids have worked very hard to get to this point, and should be very proud of their achievements."
Wrestling Booster Club President Maj. Christopher Bringer, who wrestled at the college level, said he's enjoyed watching as local wrestling takes off.
"When I moved here I was skeptical about wrestling at Richmond Hill due to its lack of history and knowledge of the sport in the community," he sid. "But this year has been fun and exciting watching a program grow into what is going to become a powerhouse in Southeast Georgia. We just need a bit of support from our administrators and we'll be competing for state titles with Camden County and Ware County, local powerhouses."