By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

Troup, along with wrestling teams from seven other schools, will compete in the Dariel Daniel Grind today and Friday.

The tournament begins at 9 a.m. each day, and it will be held in the Troup gym.

Troup and East Coweta will each have two teams participating, and Northgate, Mt. Zion, Holy Innocents’, Central-Carroll and Jones County will each have one team.

The tournament is named after the former legendary Troup coach who is one of the most successful coaches in state history.

The Tigers won nine state championships and finished second nine other times under the direction of Daniel.

By the time Daniel left the program 15 years ago, he’d compiled a 411-12-3 record, and numerous Troup wrestlers won individual state championships under his leadership.

After leaving Troup, Daniel remained involved in the sport as a referee, a high-school coach in Texas, a youth instructor, a writer, and as a coach on the Long Cane Middle School team.

Tragically, Daniel died in a car accident four years ago, and Garner thought naming this tournament after him would be fitting.

Many of Troup’s wrestlers will compete in nearly 10 matches over the course of the two days.

It will be a challenge, and Garner said that’s something Daniel would approve of.

“That was kind of his mentality,” Garner said. “When things got tough, our guys were going to be able to find a way to win. Because that’s what we do.

“We thrive in those adverse situations. The harder things got, we felt the tougher our guys got.”

Next up for the Tigers will be the Alexander Invitational on Dec. 30, and they’ll defend their championship in the Area 5-AAAA duals on Jan. 6.