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Eagles, Rams compete in region wrestling duals
Eastside
Eastside's Grayson Carter holds his opponent to the ground in the Eagles duals against Flowery Branch. - photo by Garrett Pitts

The Eastside Eagles’  Newton Rams’ wrestling teams competed in its region’s wrestling duals over the weekend.


The Eagles finished in second place in Region 8-AAAAA at Jefferson High School Saturday morning, clinching their spot in the Class AAAAA state duals.


For the Rams, they were double eliminated in the Region 4-AAAAAAA duals Saturday at Grayson High School.


Eastside opened the duals with a 78-0 win over Heritage and a 47-30 win over Flowery Branch. The Eagles concluded their matches with a 50-24 loss to Jefferson.


The loss to the Dragons gave Eastside the second place finish and a spot at the state duals next weekend.


Head Coach Caleb Payne singled out the match with Flowery Branch and how a pin from Nolan Christian was crucial in defeating the Falcons.


“We had a couple guys go undefeated, but Nolan Christian [was big] in that Flowery Branch dual,” Payne said. “We found ourselves down 24-18. It [Nolan’s win] swung the momentum for us to go on to win 47-30 and he pinned a kid that has a good chance to go to state this year. That was a big time win.”


In the first duals of the day against Heritage, the Eagles seemed to do everything right. Payne spoke about how important it was to get off to a strong start against the Patriots.


“I told them before the duals on Saturday, ‘let's make a statement,’” Payne said. “Almost everyone that wrestled got a pin. It was dominant. We just needed to start out strong and that was huge for us going into Flowery Branch. I knew going into it that the Flowery Branch dual would determine if we go to state or not.”


After discussing the success across multiple weight classes on Saturday, Payne went on to bring up a trio of weight classes where the Eagles can make a big splash at the state duals.


“175, 215 and heavyweight [weight classes]. In 175, we have been wrestling a few guys up, but it is just knowing your wrestling and not giving up major points,” Payne said.


The Eagles will begin the Class AAAAA state duals Friday, Jan. 19 at Jefferson.


Eastide will host the Region 8-AAAAA traditionals Saturday, Feb. 3.


Newton was not able to secure a spot in the class AAAAAAA state duals after being eliminated at Grayson on Saturday.


The Rams were without a handful of their seniors as they con