By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

Stephen Cain has been a welcome addition to the Troup High wrestling program.

Cain, a transfer student from Florida in his first year at Troup, has walked onto the mat 13 times this season, and 13 times he’s come away with a victory.

Cain’s latest conquest came at the Chattahoochee River Wrestling Association tournament on Saturday at East Coweta.

Cain took the top honors in the 119-pound division, giving him his second tournament victory of the season.

Another local wrestler, Callaway senior Brandon Hontz, added to his impressive resume with the latest in a long line of tournament titles.

Hontz won the 135-pound weight class.

LaGrange didn’t have any tournament winners, but nine of its wrestlers placed.

For Troup, every one of Cain’s victories was by pin.

“He’s a great addition to the team,” Troup coach Clint DeMooney said. “He’s definitely helping this program out.”

Cain’s victory helped the Tigers finish second in the 14-team field.

Alexander took the top spot - barely.

Alexander finished with 222 points, while Troup had 220.

LaGrange finished sixth, while Callaway was eighth.

“We had a lot of guys place,” DeMooney said. “It looks pretty positive if we can keep them healthy and they keep working hard. We’re looking good for down the road.”

Three other Troup wrestlers came up just short of winning a title of their own.

Luke Gay (112 pounds), Kyle Nixon (171) and Tim Hart (275) each finished second.

Earning third-place finishes for the Tigers were Jeremy Thornton (103), Jeremy Torbush (125), Zach Latimore (135), Adam Lundberg (140) and Lucas Bridges (145).

Alex McGhee (189) was fourth, and Peyton Evans (215) was sixth.

Callaway had four wrestlers earn medals by finishing in the top six.

In addition to Hontz, Zach McIntyre (189) and Ryan Kiss (119) each finished second, and Jasper Wood (112) was sixth.

LaGrange was led by Braden Duke (140), who earned a second-place finish.

In the semifinals, Duke beat Lundberg 14-4.

“His semifinal match was a great match for him,” Duke said. “He went out and took control of the match and never looked back. Braden wrestled well this past weekend and really showed great senior leadership.”

The Grangers got fourth-place finishes from Sam Jenkins, Markevious Leslie and Tim Coakley.

David McCabe, C.J. Robinson, Michael Lee and Rhyian Patterson finished sixth, and Bobby Russell was sixth.

The Chattahoochee River Wrestling Association (CRWA) is in its second season of existence.

Weathers, along with coaches from Bowdown and Northgate, helped get the organization off and running.

Many of the CRWA schools used to be in an Atlanta area organization.

“The Atlanta area has grown so large and we were all three let go from the South Metro tournament due to many schools above us now in the location of the south metro area,” Weathers said.

Weathers said the CRWA will reach 18 teams next season, which will be the limit.