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Troup High’s Waylon Pemberton is on the hunt for a state championship. The senior wrestler is in the midst of his final run chasing gold. When Pemberton hits the mats at LaGrange High on Saturday, the goal is clear: qualify for state once again and this time go all the way.

“That’s been my goal this whole year, I want that state championship,” Pemberton said. “It has been all I’ve focused on”

As a junior, Pemberton finished third in the state. An excellent finish, no doubt, but falling just short of winning that state championship last season has only fueled and motivated him going into his final run with the Tigers.

“Last year didn’t turn out how I wanted, but I feel like that has really driven me this year,” Pemberton said. “Learning from my losses is what makes me a better wrestler.”

This is Pemberton’s final run on the mats period. While he is unsure exactly what the future may hold once he graduates, Pemberton knows his time as a wrestler is coming to a close.

It’s been a long wrestling journey for Pemberton, who started in the fourth grade and never looked back.

“I loved it right away,” Pemberton proclaimed, cracking a wry smile. “I loved the physicality of it and how you get to go out there and there is nobody else but you and the guy you’re across from.”

Pemberton saw his older brother start wrestling and knew what he needed to do to beat his brother. While he often challenged his older brother to wrestle, it rarely went his way. 

Like any journey, Pemberton has had his fair share of ups and downs in wrestling. He took his sophomore year off from wrestling, citing general burnout, before returning with a renewed purpose as a junior.

“At the time I felt like it was putting too much stress on me and I was starting to feel burnt out on the sport,” he said. “There was no hesitation in coming back my junior year though. I wanted it.”

Wrestling is an individual sport by most accounts, but there is also a team aspect to it as well. Pemberton is very much a team player. He is the only senior on the Troup boy’s wrestling team this season and helped guide the Tigers to a state runner-up finish at the GHSA state duals competition in January.

“That was like a dream honestly,” Pemberton said. “It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. We thought we had that in us, but to actually go out there and do it was like a dream come true, even if we came up a little short.”  

Pemberton has only one more tournament guaranteed (sectionals at LaGrange High on Saturday) and the maximum of two tournaments left in his career if Pemberton qualifies for state again. The senior is not taking a moment for granted as he looks forward to punching his ticket to state again and hopefully bringing a state championship back to Troup County under the bright lights of the Macon Complex. 

“The atmosphere is crazy,” Pemberton said. “Especially once you get deep into the tournament, into the quarters and semis. There’s just a lot of energy. Big crowds, big arena, I love it.”