The Putnam County girls wrestling team has had a successful 2024-25 season, and it’s not over yet.
The Lady War Eagles recently competed in the area team duals tournament, placing third overall.
Although that wasn’t good enough to advance to the state competition, coach River Vaughn was proud.
“With limited numbers, it’s hard to compete against more established programs or teams that have been doing it for a while because we’re still a young program. We’ve only been doing it for six years, and I’m in my second year,” Vaughn said. “I feel like with the numbers that we had with our girls at the area tournament, we still did really well and exceeded a bunch of expectations this year.”
Putnam County’s girls are now training for the area's traditionals tournament this week. If the Lady War Eagles perform well, they can send several wrestlers to the sectionals round to qualify for the individual state tournament. The state tournament will occur at the Macon Coliseum from Feb. 13-15.
Vaughn is excited to see how the team can perform at the area individual tournament. He believes the Lady War Eagles have an opportunity to send several wrestlers to the sectionals round.
A real positive thing for Putnam County’s girls is that they have no seniors. The Lady War Eagles have a strong, young core who will return next season, and Vaughn is excited about the team’s future.
Another beneficial aspect is that freshman Lilly Armistead has stepped up this season for Putnam County.
“She wrestles extremely well for her age and experience,” Vaughn acknowledged of Armistead. “She’s a freshman. I believe she’s only lost four or five matches this season. She has beaten state placers this year as a freshman. One of the season’s best matches was when we went to Lamar County, and she faced a girl who placed [in the] top five and is a senior this year at Lamar County.”
Vaughn said that 10th grader Ashlyn Fuller has little wrestling experience but has come on strong.
“Another one who is limited in experience is Ashlyn Fuller,” Vaughn said of the sophomore. “She has been placing at a bunch of tournaments that we’ve been going to. She’s been bringing home medals.”
However, the leader of the team, according to Vaughn, is sophomore Michelle Hernandez. Out of all the wrestlers in the program, the second-year coach said Hernandez is one of the “true leaders.”
“I would say she’s probably one of our true leaders on the team out of all the boys or girls,” Vaughn said of Hernandez. “I’m about to say, she also goes to tournaments [and] comes home with medals.”
Vaughn also praised the others: Jade Mullis, Janiah Ward, Addison Hutsell, Kannericka Nelson, Katie Davis, Lily Jump, and E’mya Smith. He said they’re a connected group that supports each other.
“They push each other, and that’s one thing I will say about them,” Vaughn said of the girls. “They push one another to try to [be] the best that they possibly can be. I wish that we [had] eight more like them.”
Putnam County’s girls will wrestle at the area individuals tournament this Friday in Augusta.
“I’m really confident in seeing how they perform on Friday at Westside in Augusta,” Vaughn explained. “I’m hoping all [of them] make it to sectionals next weekend, so my expectations are high.”