The LaGrange Grangers are going to state.

LaGrange High’s wrestling team finished second in the Area 1-AAAAA duals on Saturday to earn an invitation to the state duals in Macon.

LaGrange beat Northgate 49-24 to reach the championship match of the area duals and secure a spot at state.

In the title match, it was Starr’s Mill coming away with a hard-fought 43-30 win.

“I’m excited for the boys,” LaGrange head coach Scooter Weathers said. “The boys wrestled hard. They got after it. They never quit, and they fought.”

After easily dispatching McIntosh 58-24 in the day’s first match, LaGrange took on Northgate with a state spot on the line.

The Grangers won the first five matches to take control, and they never looked back on the way to the one-sided win.

Jordan Ragan got the Grangers rolling with a pin in the first match, and Guy Wegienka, Emmanuel Mann, DeErious Sands and Colt Creed followed with victories.

Dakota Wilson, making his debut as a LaGrange wrestler after transferring from Troup, won his match by decision, and Matt Watford, Dominique Copeland and Dijon Hart also won their matches.

LaGrange then pushed Starr’s Mill to the limit before falling just short.

Wegienka got a pin for the Grangers in the final match, but they still needed three more points.

“It was a good match,” Weathers said. “They were disappointed, but the good thing is, we’re not done.”

LaGrange will face Jones County in its state opener on Thursday.

“The main thing at the state duals is, win that first one,” said Weathers, whose team had a top eight finish at last year’s state duals. “If we get that first one, everything sets up better there for you.”

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