Though the Munford High School wrestling team didn’t earn as many medals as head coach David Cline hoped, one grappler found his way to the medal stand and a second nearly did.
“They all wrestled very well, about as good as they could,” Cline said about his six wrestlers who competed at the Class AAA state meet last week in Chattanooga. “I was extremely happy.”
Junior Wemauwaumu Moktani, known as Mo, performed the best, finishing fourth in the 126-pound class.
“Mo just hit another level. He was on a mission and it worked out for him,” Cline said. “I was very happy for him. It was an emotional day because it’s such a big deal to medal. I played a lot of sports and I don’t know any sport that’s this hard.”
After dropping his first match, Moktani won four straight matches before falling in the third place match.
Senior Gavin Haynes, wrestling at 170, went 2-2 in Chattanooga and finished one win away from earning Munford’s second medal.
Juniors Christian Perez Jr. (138) and Jermyah Davis (195) were both wrestling in higher weight classes than they did during the regular season. Cline said they wrestled up in the region tournament to increase their chances to make state and performed admirably at the state meet.
Perez went 1-2 and Davis went 0-2, losing his second match by one point to a returning medalist.
Senior Chase Millican (120), a four-time state qualifier, won his first match before dropping his next two. Freshman Kannon Blagg (106) went 0-2.
With Moktani, Perez Jr., Davis and Blagg returning next season, Cline feels like the program is headed in the right direction.
“We will be better next year than we were this year,” Cline said.
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