Creekview Advances 10 Wrestlers To State Tournament

Cambridge High School in Milton, GA. hosted the 2014 5AAAAA Sectional tournament this weekend.  The Section tournament is an unusual event that does not follow a few important customs that you would normally see during the year.

Seeding is not done in the normal manner - A top seed from a Region will be matched up with a lower seed from another Region.  Top seeds might meet on one side of the bracket before the final.  Many different formulas can be used.  This prevents a wrestler from "Gaming" the current system to avoid an opponent at State.  There is no way to establish "Top Seeds" just by looking at the bracket.

There are also no trophies, medals or award ceremony of any kind.  This tournament is just to see if you are good enough to be the top 8 of 16 in your weight class in your half of the state.  The same competition is happening on the other side of the state to find their top 8.  Those 16 wrestlers will meet next Thursday, Friday and Saturday to settle who is the best.

The only "prize", is a wrist band that allows the wrestler entry to the tournament at the Arena At Gwinnett Center on Thursday.

The Grizzlies still had 10 of 11 Region qualifiers after the first rounds on Friday.  Six of those had already guaranteed themselves a spot at State with 2 consecutive wins.  By late Saturday morning, the other 4 Grizzlies knew they were going as well.

Hunter Smith (170lbs) and Joseph Sorrentino (182lbs) both won Section Championships and made Grizzly history as well.  They were the first wrestlers from Creekview to win both a Region and Section title in the same year.

Smith (170) would start with a second period pin in the first round and a tech fall (20-5) in the second.  His semi final against Bindschucz of Apalachee ended in a 6-2 decision.  The final round would also be won by a decision of 7-4 over Graham of Clarke Central.

Sorrentino (182), started out with a pin in 1:10 over Grier of Northside and another in 1:22 to put down Blake of Glynn Academy.  In the semi final, Cizek of Cambridge would fall in the second period for Sorrentino's third pin.  The final round against Simonds of Flowery Branch also ended in a pin in 1:20.

Freshman Bryce Davis (106) also made it to the final round seeking the number one spot.  After pinning Blount of Jones County in just 38 seconds and Adams of Heritage in the second period, he would win a close 4-3 decision over Grant of Ware County.  The final was a hard fought battle that Davis (106) eventually lost 5-2.

The Grizzlies also advance 7 additional wrestlers to the State tournament.

Grant Slater (120) 3rd place

Coda Stewart (152) 3rd Place

Christian Saragusa (220) 4th Place

Brock Tupman (285) 4th Place

Ryan Camp (126) 5th Place

Justin Goss (132) 5th Place

Kyle Merinda (145) 8th Place.

Wrestling was not the only thing happening at the tournament on Saturday.  Scott Filosi (who has a wrestler on the Cambridge team, Brandon Filosi at 126 lbs), introduced 9 year old Jack Burke to the crowd.  Jack is fighting a genetic disorder called "NF".  Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves on the brain and throughout the body.  As with any disease of this magnitude, even the best insurance does not pay for non medical expenses.  Cambridge Wrestling was able to help Jack by selling tee shirts and taking donations at the event.  If you would like to know more about "NF", or you can help with a donation, go to www.curenfwithjack.com