With the GHSA Traditional Wrestling State Championships just around the corner, Brunswick High invited some of the top programs in the state to Brunswick Square Garden this past Saturday.
The Port City Nigel Hamilton Memorial saw wrestlers from more than a dozen top programs congregate in one final tuneup ahead of the regional, sectional and state tournaments.
“Lee County is good, Colquitt is good, Gainesville pretty good up in north Georgia, Cherokee Bluff came, Columbia High School from Florida,” Brunswick head coach Tommy Bartolotta said. “This was the first year in maybe two or three years that they had an open weekend in-between the state duals and the region.”
Coming off its ninth straight dual state championship, Camden County’s ‘A’ team took first place among teams at the Port City Memorial while the ‘B’ team finished second overall. Brunswick placed third as a team.
Individually for the Pirates, Blake Etheridge took first place in the 157-pound weight class with a 4-0 decision over Richmond Hill’s Caden Whittaker.
Brunswick standout Anthony Lowe also won the 215-pound weight class with a pinfall of Lee County’s Weston Bryan to remain undefeated on the year at 41-0.
Lowe was also awarded the Nigel Hamilton Spirit Award for Outstanding Attitude and Performance.
Hamilton wrestled at Glynn Academy and Camden County during his prep career, and he was set to take on a position as an assistant coach at Brunswick High when he passed away this past September.
“Nigel wrestled for me at Glynn Academy in 2007-09,” Bartolotta said. “He was a regional champ at Glynn Academy in 2008. He transferred to Camden and wrestled for Coach (Jess) Wilder and Coach (Ryan) Alfau over there, and he was a state placer and won state in 2011.”
Also placing for Brunswick was Stunnar Hutchinson (120), Comari Cone (144), Titus Washington (165) and River Creel (285), who each placed second in their respective weight classes. Thomas Clay (132) and Sebastian Hutchinson (190) both finished fourth.
Glynn Academy, which placed fourth at the team dual championship, saw Jack Lombardo and William Bruce place fifth in the 113-pound and 120-pound divisions, respectively, and Zion Gervais (132), Caleb Cross (150) and John Sams (175) earned sixth-place finishes.
Traditional wrestling region tournaments begin today as Brunswick and Glynn Academy travel to Effingham County for the Area 2-6A Tournament.