By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

The return trip to La-Grange High went a lot better for the Troup High Tigers.

In January, the Tigers came up short in their bid to win a county title.

It was a disappointing day for the Tigers, but head coach Chris Rippy reminded his guys that more important days were on the horizon.

“We talked about how that doesn’t make or break our season,” Rippy said. “We met for about an hour and a half and talked about what we wanted to do.”

The Tigers went back to work, they ran, they conditioned, they went at it hard in the wrestling room, and by the time the Area 2-AAA tournament rolled around on Saturday, they were ready.

With seven of their 11 wrestlers making it to the finals, the Tigers out-distanced Columbus High to capture the area championship.

LaGrange finished third.

“We feel like we’ve been competitive all year,” said Zach Latimore, one of five Troup seniors. “(Saturday), we were able to put it all together.”

Added senior Adam Lundberg: “We were well-rested. We were ready.”

The Tigers had 11 wrestlers competing at area, and 10 of them finished in the top four in their weight class to qualify for the state meet.

LaGrange also earned 10 state invitations.

“To be such a young team, I was happy with that,” LaGrange head coach Scooter Weathers said.

The local wrestlers will compete in the state sectionals next weekend at Riverwood High in Atlanta, and the top eight wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the state finals in Gwinnett County.

Three of those wrestlers, one from Troup and two from LaGrange, will head to state as area champions.

Stephen Cain gave Troup its lone championship at 119 pounds, while Braden Duke (140 pounds) and Michael Lee (171 pounds) won titles for LaGrange.

Cain’s match was one of the most dramatic of the day.

It was tied 13-13 after regulation, and Cain earned a point early in overtime to win 14-13.

“It came down to my fitness, the conditioning we’ve been doing in the last couple of weeks, and how bad I wanted it,” said Cain, a junior who moved to Troup County from Florida in the offseason.

Duke didn’t need need any late heroics to win his match.

He won 14-5 to repeat as area champ.

The win was especially meaningful because it came in Duke’s home gym.

“It was big,” he said. “This was my last one here, in this gym.”

Duke has been struggling with an illness, and he was clearly exhausted during the championship match, but he fought his way through it.

“It was hard. It was a lot of work,” he said.

As tired as Duke was following the match, though, he’s ready to take on the state’s best.

“It’s only two more weeks,” he said. “I’m ready. I’m ready to go.”

Weathers wasn’t surprised to see Duke fight his way to a title.

“He’s special,” Weathers said. “He’s the heart and soul (of this team).”

Lee, a sophomore, was a part-time wrestler a year ago, but he’s been in the lineup since Day 1 this season.

Saturday afternoon, the hard work Lee put in preparing for the season paid huge dividends.

“It was a lot of work over the summer,” Lee said.

During the season, Lee said the team did a lot of fitness work, and that helped him hang on to win his finals match 6-5.

“I think we ran more stairs than anyone,” he said.

There were eight other local finalists, but they all came up short.

For Troup, Otis Thornton (103 pounds), Luke Gay (112 pounds), Lance Patillo (130 pounds), Latimore (135 pounds), Alex McGhee (189 pounds) and Tim Hart (185 pounds) each lost in the finals.

Among those matches, Hart came the closest to winning.

Hart fought his way into overtime before losing 2-1.

Troup’s other three state qualifiers are Peyton Evans (215 pounds), Lundberg (140 pounds) and Jeremy Torbush, each of whom finished third.

For LaGrange, Josh Fuller (160 pounds) and Rhyian Patterson (215 pounds) fell short in the finals.

Also for the Grangers, David McComb (103 pounds), Chris Parker (130 pounds), John Parker (135 pounds) and Justin Cox (189 pounds) finished third, while Sam Jenkins (125 pounds) and Tim Coakley (152 pounds) were fourth.