By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

For the second straight season, the Troup Tigers wrestled their way to a fourth-place finish in the Class AAAA state duals in Macon.

Troup won its first two matches on Thursday to reach the semifinals before losing a hard-fought showdown Gilmer County.

Troup returned on Saturday and beat Marist before falling to West Laurens in the third-place match.

Gilmer County lost to Jefferson in the championship match.

Troup had no problems with Marist, cruising to a 69-12 victory to assure itself of no worse than a fourth-place finish.

Winners for Troup included Graham Finlay, Quenton Kersey, Byron Butts, Michael Irvin, Colby Harry, Pearson Strickland, Darious Hanson, Trevor Upchurch, Brantly Robinson, Cade Garner, Thomas Fuller and Scott Hicks.

Against West Laurens, Troup dropped five consecutive matches at one point on the way to the 45-24 loss.

Troup’s winners were Kersey, Strickland, Upchurch, Chase Seals and Hicks.

Troup opened with convincing wins over Columbus (75-6) and Woodward Academy (47-18) to set up the semifinal showdown with Gilmer County.

It was close the whole way, with Gilmer County edging Troup 32-27.