Dalton King almost had his opponent turned over. If the match had been 15 seconds longer, he just might have earned a pinfall win in Saturday’s 220-pound regional wrestling final.
Habersham Central’s lone senior among the six Raiders headed to this week’s state wrestling meet was down by 10 points to Buford’s Luis Abonza before mounting a comeback in the third period and cutting that deficit in half.
With 30 seconds to go, King gained control of the match and had several chances to roll Abonza over for the win. But one of many regional champs the Wolves produced Saturday was able to hang on for dear life and survive to the buzzer.
“Maybe,” King said, regarding whether he could have earned a pin with a little more time. “He gave out quick, he definitely did not have much endurance left.”
Habersham coach Morris Brooks said he was proud of the fight King showed in the match.
“Dalton never quit and he kept the pressure on,” Brooks said. “He wore him down. Last time, he got pinned by him, so he made a great improvement. That was one of the best matches of the day even though he came up on the short end.”
King was one of four Raiders to finish second in the region to Buford foes, falling in a 14-9 decision. He is a returning state qualifier but he is hoping for a better outcome later this week in Macon.
“I was eliminated pretty quickly last time, so I hope to go a little further this year,” King said.
At 170 pounds, Colby Watson made it to state for the third time, and he was planning on walking out with a regional championship as well. But Buford’s Aaron Riner had other plans, picking up a hard-fought 6-3 decision.
The two locked horns for the entire first period and neither could gain an advantage, and there were two stoppages to clean blood off Riner so he could continue.
Riner made a couple of takedowns in the second period that allowed him to sit on his lead in the third in a battle of two talented grapplers.
“I was trying to feel him out in the first period to see if he had any tricks up his sleeve, but as the match progressed, I feel I should have been more aggressive with it,” Colby said. “I definitely thought it would go in my favor, so I know I have a lot to work on.”
“Colby beat that kid earlier in the season, but you have to credit him, he had a better gameplan going into today,” Brooks said. “Colby is a tough worker and he is a tremendous talent. He has a lot of good things coming still.”
Lukas Ricci made it to state for the first time despite being in only his second year of wrestling. The heavyweight has had a strong season and he wrestled Saturday just days after breaking some bones in his foot at practice. He ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Buford’s massive Caden Williams.
“All I can say is that is a big ol’ hoss,” Ricci said of his opponent. “It feels good to make state in only my second year wrestling. I will have to go back and watch the video. I am going to take what I learned from this and just push it forward.”
Ed Chastain took second place in the 126-pound class with a pinfall win over Dacula’s Hunter DelValle in the semifinals before losing by a pin in the finals.
Ethan Watson made it to state for the first time with a third-place finish. It was a redemption for Ethan, who lost out on the postseason last year due to a concussion.
Ethan pinned Winder-Barrow’s Tyler Jones in the wrestlebacks final.
“I was really hoping I could get one win here to put me in,” Ethan said. “I just tried to push him around and wait for an opening and it came.”
Freshman Adal Navarrete will also be making his first appearance at state after a third-place finish at 182 pounds. He earned a quick pin over Winder-Barrow’s Stephen Phillips in the wrestlebacks final.
“It’s a great feeling when you know you are going to advance to state,” Navarrete said.
Brooks said he is proud of his team and what they accomplished.
“Our youthfulness caught up with us a little today, but you can’t fault the effort,” Brooks said. “We had a lot of good wrestling today and we were proud of that. Our young guys are still learning, and the ones who are going on to next week have another chance to get better.”
The Raiders will wrestle in Macon on Friday in the Class 6A tournament.