Sports
Mat Dogs grab two wins at Elbert Duels By Mark Hynds, Staff writerThe HCHS Mat Dogs won two out of three matches Dec. 19 at the Elbert County Duals in Elberton. Hart defeated Westside of Augusta 52-30 and Washington-Wilkes 54-30. Against Elbert County, they were down 37-36 going into the final match. Taylor Certain (189), who was fighting a fever of 102 degrees according to head coach Mark Crook, was pinned, giving the Blue Devils, the 43-36 victory. “Taylor gave everything he had,” said Crook. “He was sick and just ran out of gas.” Mat Dogs Shane McCord (285), Andrew Ballinger (160), Ryan Peace (152), Coty Martin (125), and Jacob Ayers (112) also went undefeated for the night. McCord and Martin recorded pins in all three matches. Kalen Fleming (103), Will Blackmon (140), Quinn Whitenberg (215) all recorded pins against Washington-Wilkes. Ryan Peloquin (135) earned a pin against Westside and Tavious Tate (130) recorded a pin against the Blue Devils. “We have improved tremendously in such a short time,” said Crook. “We're moving better underneath and our first move off the whistle is getting better as well.” With Elbert and Apalachee as the favorites in Area 8-AAA, the performance was especially pleasing to Crook. “We were down by only one going into that last match,” he said. “We were right there with the best. I really like our chances for the rest of the season. We showed them Hart County is for real.” The Mat Dogs are off for the Christmas holidays and return to action on Jan. 5 when they host Daniel and Stephens County. It will be the first home match of the season for Hart County. markhynds@hartcom.et
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