Class 4A Elite 8 State Duals Preview

STATE CHAMPIONS WILL BE CROWNED THIS WEEKEND!!

CLASS 4A

The Bracket- Class 4A
#12 Southeast Whitfield vs #1 Lovett
#10 Heritage, Catoosa vs #5 North Oconee
#9 Troup vs #2 Central, Carroll
#4 Sonoraville vs #3 Chestatee

Congrats to Region 7 for pushing all 4 teams through to the Elite 8, that feat takes a lot of talent and a little bit of bracket draw luck, but they accomplished something impressive.  Really the only surprise for me was North Oconee, but that had nothing to do with their talent level, and everything to do with their draw.  Chestatee probably has the toughest opening round match for any 2 seed in the entire State,  but when you have to split up the 4 teams from the same Region, things like that are bound to happen.

Quarterfinals
I expect both Lovett and Central, Carroll to roll to victories in the opening rounds, but Chestatee is in for a dogfight against a tough Sonoraville team, the Eagles pull out a narrow victory.  The Heritage vs North Oconee match up is a true pick 'em, but the Titans really impressed me with their win over West Laurens last week, and I think they will get the job done.

Semifinals
This may be the best set of semifinals of any classification in the State of Georgia.  North Oconee will hang around with Lovett, but eventually the Lions will prevail on the strength of their upper weights, I see a 39-27 victory for Lovett.  Central, Carroll vs Chestatee will be an awesome back and forth match.  Both teams are very strong in the light weights and the key to this match will be who can win the weights where neither team has their top end talent.  150, 165, 175, and 190 will be the 4 key weights in this dual and the team that can win 3 of them will be the team that advances to the Finals.  I'm taking Central, Carroll by a slim 36-32 margin.

Consolation Rounds
Heritage, Catoosa over Southeast Whitfield
Sonoraville over Troup

Chestatee over Heritage, Catoosa
North Oconee over Sonoraville

3rd Place Match
A rematch of the Region 8 finals between Chestatee and North Oconee.  I can't see any revenge gained here as Chestatee takes care of business once again.

Finals
One thing is for certain, the Lions will win the State Title.  The first 3 weights in this dual could each feature a top 5 wrestler from both schools, and I wouldn't be too surprised to see Central jump out to an early lead.  However Lovett will come storming back with Moffett and Mance in the middle weights and Kauffman and Bell up top to take their 2nd straight State Duals Championship.  Final score 43- 29.

Final Standings
1. Lovett
2. Central, Carroll
3. Chestatee
4. North Oconee

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