The Fannin County High School wrestling team traveled to Jeff Davis High School and made their mark as the 2023 AA State Dual Runner-Ups, Saturday January 21.
During the Elite Eight match, Fannin outscored Murray County 68 to nine to put the team into the Final Four.
The Rebels matched up with Toombs County and won 39 to 27 to send them to the State Championship match.
Fannin went up against Rockmart High School and scored 22 to their 47 making them the AA State Dual Runner-Up.
Head Coach Chuck Patterson said, “It was a long drive down there for most of the teams in this tournament, so it was important that we got a practice in on Friday night, huge thank you to our administration for allowing us to leave early so we could get down there and get a good sweat in before Saturday morning. I started telling the story of how this tournament would play out on Tuesday after practice, and it pretty much all came to fruition except the last part.”
He continued to praise his team saying, “I could not be prouder of our group of young men and women. They competed fiercely all day long and are coming away with the best dual team finish in program history! They finished their dual team season with a record of 26-3.”
The Rebels will begin preparation “for the individual portion of the season, and hopefully we will get another crack at a team title in a couple weeks. We have a lot of kids who will be on the podium in February. I have never been more proud of a team. These guys have and continue to surprise me with their drive and ability to persevere through adverse conditions. Go Rebels!”