Despite defeating three of four opponents, North Forsyth won’t be making a trip to Macon.

Third-seeded North lost its only match of Area 7-AAAAA Duals to eventual runner-up Peachtree Ridge in the second round Jan. 10 at Duluth, forcing the Raiders to settle for third place.

Only the top two teams qualify for the state duals in Macon.

No. 1-ranked Collins Hill claimed the area crown and a state berth of its own.

“We had a game plan going in against Peachtree Ridge, we just came up a little bit short,” North coach Travis Jarrard said. “We had a lot of guys wrestle well. Obviously we’re disappointed that we didn’t qualify.”

The Raiders cruised to a 65-18 victory over Mill Creek in the opening round before suffering a narrow 33-27 loss to the Lions.

“It was pretty competitive down to the end,” Jarrard said.

“They wrapped it up in the 13th of 14 matches. Definitely one of the more exiting dual matches I’ve been a part of.”
North went on to defeat South Forsyth (57-18) before overpowering Chattahoochee (45-33) in the consolation bracket final.

South finished out of the top-four rankings.

Jarrard said he was especially proud of the way his team competed after the defeat against Peachtree Ridge, wrestling hard despite knowing that a trip to state was off the table.

“After losing to Peachtree Ridge and knowing we weren’t going to qualify, it’s asking an awful lot of [your team] to come back and wrestle two more matches,” Jarrard said.

“I was very impressed with how they responded after such a meaningful loss. Lesser teams may have folded after that.”   

Jarrard said that Dylan Cross was designated the Raiders’ wrestler of the week, going 5-0 with five pins while not allowing any points to opponents.