From February 2009:
As the regular season slowly comes to a conclusion, Chamblee’s wrestling team has been gaining momentum with strong showings in second semester meets, but the Bulldogs still need a few more wrestlers.
Chamblee placed in the top 10 at the DeKalb County Tournament on January 2, in which 23 teams competed. Jacobi Anderson, junior, placed second, and juniors Chris Gilbert and Artemis Norman each placed sixth in their respective weight classes. John Napier, a senior, also had some early success, until running into some problems.
“John Napier got sixth but didn’t report for his last two matches,” said head coach Adam Winkler. “He was in the semifinals and got a concussion.”
On January 20, Chamblee faced North Atlanta, Towers and North Springs. North Springs, which coincidentally is coached by the husband of one of Chamblee’s science teachers, Leila Warren, was easily defeated at the match.
“We murdered them,” said Winkler, “but they only have two wrestlers, and they both won.”
This meet was the Bulldogs senior night. All of Chamblee’s seniors won at least one match, and John Napier and Elliot Cousins were undefeated.
The North Metro Tournament on January 23 was Chamblee’s most difficult meet of the season. Chamblee faced three of the top schools in the state in Division AAAAA.
“Schools that offer wrestling as a Physical Education class were there,” said Winkler.
This meet is known as “the bloodbath” by Chamblee’s wrestlers because of the teams competing in the meet.
“Everyone got eliminated in the first round,” said Reagan, “but there were teams that are nationally ranked there.”
The Bulldogs also faced difficulty when wrestling Lovett, Marist and Miller Grove at Lovett High School on January 27.
“The meet went really well,” said Reagan. “We only put the most experienced on varsity so we only had four wrestlers, and we did great.”
In order to have success at the end of the season and postseason, the team needs to improve conditioning.
“It is so late in the season so everyone knows technique,” said Reagan, “but if our wrestlers can go for three periods, we should be alright.”
Even though Chamblee has been successful this semester, the Bulldogs are still lacking a few wrestlers to complete the team.
“The kid in the 103 pound weight class quit and we still don’t have a 112 pound wrestler,” said Winkler.
The incomplete roster has been handicapping the team, but many of Chamblee’s wrestlers have shown success individually in the postseason looms, the Bulldogs have many qualified wrestlers with a legitimate chance to advance to state.
“We have anywhere from four to six wrestlers that have a good shot at going to state,” said Reagan.