LAGRANGE – The Troup High wrestling team tuned up for its area tournament by competing in the Ola Duals last weekend in McDonough.

The Tigers went 2-2 on the day, giving everyone on the team plenty of time on the mat in preparation for the Area 5-AAAA dual tournament that will be held at Woodward Academy on Friday and Saturday.

The Tigers will need to finish first or second at the area tournament to qualify for the state duals that will be held next week in Macon.

Last season, Troup finished second in the area tournament to Carrollton on the way to a top eight finish at the state duals.

In the Ola Duals, Troup beat the host Ola team as well as Marietta while losing to Dalton and Northwest Whitfield.

There was a junior-varsity event going on at the same time, so Troup head coach Craig Garner was able to get all of his wrestlers plenty of matches.

“That’s kind of the way we looked at is was to get everybody as many matches as possible,” Garner said. “They had a JV pool as well, so we were able to take our whole team.”

The Tigers have been a strong dual-format team this season, and they went 7-2 in the Dariel Daniel Duals they hosted in December.

Last week in the Fayette County Christmas Classic, a traditional-format tournament, Troup had five placers, including Jeremiah McClendon, Brantly Robinson, Chase Seals, Steven McClendon and Trevor Upchurch.

After the area duals and the state duals, Troup will still have plenty of season remaining.

On Jan. 20, Troup will host the county championship where it will be looking to defend its title.

After participating in a tournament at Luella High School on Jan. 22, Troup will be back at Woodward Academy for the traditional area tournament on Jan. 29, and that’ll be followed by the state sectional and the state finals.

OF NOTE: For much more on the Troup wrestling team as it gets ready for the area duals, see Friday’s sports section.

Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports