Congratulations to the

LHS Wrestling Team

2008 AA
State Traditional Champions

From the Walker County Messenger, February 23, 2008

DULUTH – The LaFayette Ramblers walked away from the Gwinnett Center Saturday night after winning just one state championship.

But it just happened to be the one that meant the most. LaFayette used an impressive performance in the wrestlebacks, placing seven of its 12 wrestlers in the top six, to claim their second consecutive Class AA team title. Head coach Sam Forrester said this title, the program’s fourth in the last five years, was a complete team effort. “To have no individual champions and still win the team title just shows the depth of this team,” he explained. “Our goal all year long was to win them both (state duals and traditional) and it feels great to be able to it.” In addition to last year’s traditional state title, LaFayette won the Class AAAA state duals in 2004 and the Class AA state duals last month.

Bad news hit the Ramblers earlier in the week when junior Matthew Stanfield, a favorite at 125 pounds, was diagnosed with a dislocated elbow and scratched from the state tournament.

LaFayette held a brief lead after the first round of the tournament on Friday, but some upset losses put the state championship in jeopardy as they ended the night 17 points behind Area 3-AA champion Lovett and 4.5 points in back on nemesis Wesleyan. But Saturday’s consolation rounds quickly turned into a war of attrition between the three favorites. Each round saw all three schools pick up wins and lose wrestlers to elimination as the team title quickly came down to a survival of the fittest.

LaFayette saw freshman Preston McCalmon (103) and junior Joe Franks (145) lose in the championship finals. McCalmon was bested by Sonoraville freshman Jay Teague, 7-3, in a rematch of the area finals while Franks fell to Buford's Scottie Forrester, 7-3. But despite the losses, LaFayette clinched the team title when Area 4-AA ally Brett Padgett of Armuchee beat Wesleyan’s Michael Douglas, 10-3, in the 189-pound final.

“Our area (4-AA) really picked us up today,” Forrester said. “They really knocked out a lot of Lovett and Wesleyan’s guys and we can’t thank them enough. There is a lot of competitiveness between ourselves in the area, but at something like this, you want to see someone from your area win state. “Our area really represented itself well today and it’s always good to see the state championship come back to northwest Georgia.” In addition to runner-up finishes by McCalmon and Franks, LaFayette got third place finishes from Casey Hill (112) and Justin Gilbreath (140) and a fourth place showing from Landon Littlejohn (215) while Derek Thompson (189) and Caleb Hartshorn (285) placed sixth.

"It's won in the wrestlebacks," Forrester added. "Some guys that went out early came back and won big matches for us. We had some guys that had tough weekends, but they picked each other up. Everyone that wrestled for us scored points this weekend." LaFayette will move up to Class AAA next season and should immediately be a contender as the Ramblers lose just one senior from this year's state championship team. "It's been a fun year," Forrester said. "These kids can drive you crazy at time, but it's a great group of kids. We'll look at next year a little further down the road, but we want to enjoy this for a while."

Area 4-AA's other champion was Chattooga sophomore Elvino Felipe, who shocked many by capturing the 119-pound title. Felipe capped a 62-5 season with an 8-6 win over Greater Atlanta Christian’s Travis Elrod. Area 4-AA’s other finalist, Armuchee’s Wes Rampley, lost the 135-pound final to three-time state champion Bryan Benton of Toombs County, 22-7.

LaFayette finished with 148 points while Wesleyan was second with 142.5. Lovett was third with 129 while Sonoraville (95) and Cook (91) rounded out the top five.