While many of us were enjoying the holidays, time off from work and eating delicious meals with family and friends, several Dodge County Wrestlers were sweating it out on the mat competing against the best wrestlers in the nation and honing their skills.
At The Wrestling Academy’s Christmas Camp in Lawrenceville, Crosse Bearden brought the thunder while learning new skills in arguably the toughest two-day camp in Georgia.
Earlier in the week, Vincent Mannella, Christian Grauberger and Aiden Greer attended the Overtime Training Center’s camp in Holly Springs where they took their game to the next level drilling and working with top-level kids.
Following camps, even more Dodge County grapplers travelled to the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta to compete in the Dixie Duals Tournament and the Dixie All-American Crown Series Nationals.
During the Duals, Anthony Mannella, Vincent Mannella, Porter Faulk, Grauberger and Greer battled it out against dual teams from across the USA competing against all-star teams from Alabama, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Florida and Tennessee, the grappling Indians represented Georgia wrestling in grand fashion.
A day later, Kenzie Graham, Anthony Mannella, Vincent Mannella, Faulk and Greer tested their stuff in the Dixie Nationals…one of the toughest tournaments in the USA.
After the sun settled on Atlanta, three wrestlers had beaten the odds and earned All-American Status by placing in the top six.
Graham, who wrestled in this same tournament as a freshman, returned as a junior with some unfinished business placing second in the 138-pound high school division.
At the 65 pound 10U bracket, Vincent Mannella, scrapped with some serious competition losing only one match to the tournament champion and settling for a third place finish.
At 80 pounds, 10U, Faulk making his National level tournament debut, fought like a caged lion to bring home the third place plaque and All-American status.
Finally, while most of us were preparing for New Year’s celebrations, Christian Grauberger, was up North in Marietta at the Pope Karen Dearborn Memorial Tournament where he rolled through a full bracket winning all his matches and finishing up a great week with another gold medal.
