Last week, the Putnam County wrestling team placed third at the area duals tournament in Social Circle.
The War Eagles finished behind Social Circle and Jasper County, going 3-2 on the day.
Putnam County started by defeating Southwest (Macon) before losing to Social Circle in the winner’s bracket. The War Eagles then moved to the loser’s bracket, where they defeated Northeast (Macon) and were pitted against Southwest again. They won that match in a close decision but lost to Jasper County, a team they’d beaten earlier this year, battling for second place.
Andy Rewis has been Putnam’s acting head coach. Although the War Eagles didn’t make it to sectionals, Rewis, who’s filling in for Joe Hutsell while he’s away from the program, was proud of his team.
“This past weekend, I thought we wrestled pretty well,” Rewis said. “It was just one of those deals where we wrestled Jasper County for second place, and they were a little bit better than us that day.”
Putnam County had three consecutive close matches, and Rewis thinks it wore his wrestlers down.
“The whole day was like that,” he said. “We had three matches back-to-back-to-back. We were a little tired.”
Putnam County senior wrestlers Wyatt Suggs and Noah Long had solid performances at area duals. Underclassmen Bryson Brown, Zachariah Long, and Erin Butts also competed at a high level.
These five War Eagles, and a few others, helped lead the charge in those close matches last week.
This year’s team only has two seniors, so Rewis was impressed with the younger guys stepping up.
“The past two years when we won the region, we had five or six seniors each year,” he said. “This year, we only had two, and we've only got four juniors, so most of our team consists of sophomores and freshmen. I think next year will be a little bit better, and then the year after that, I think we have a chance to be pretty good if we keep them and if they keep progressing like they've done this year.”
However, Putnam County’s season isn’t over yet. The War Eagles will compete in the area's traditional tournament next month at Social Circle for a chance to send individual wrestlers to the state.
The top four from each weight class at the area traditional tournament will move on to sectionals. The top six in each weight class from sectionals will advance for a shot at winning a state title in Macon.
Rewis likes his team’s chances at the area's traditional tournament.
“That has been one of the keys to us getting better. The guys have worked hard and gotten a little bit better every week,” Rewis said. “We’ve got traditional coming up the first week in February.”