Alan Cordero, a youth wrestler, and his family show off his medals. (contributed photo)
Dalton Bowman, a youth wrestler from Cedartown, shows off his Tour of Georgia awards. (contributed photo)
Alan Cordero wrestled in the six-and-under, 49-pound class and came in third place while Dalton Bowman wrestled in the eight-and-under, 100-pound class and came in second place.
“Alan did an outstanding job with only having one loss in the tournament by the narrowest of margins, 4-3,” stated James Bowman and Shane Lee in a press release. “Alan went 5-1 at the tournament to capture third place.”
As for the younger Bowman, he only lost once at state.
“Dalton had an awesome day in the tournament,” the press release read. “He went 2-1 to capture second place. The only loss was during the championship round.”
The young Bowman was also rewarded at the state tournament for his success in the Tour of Georgia.
“Dalton was our only wrestler to finish with a medal in each of these six tournaments,” the release read. “Dalton was recognized during a ceremony at the state tournament and received a trophy for accumulating over 38,000 points in these six tournaments. That is an unbelievable accomplishment.”
According to the two coaches, the season was nothing short of magical.
“What a year it has been,” they stated. “This has been an unbelievable season. It is hard to put into words how exciting this season has been and the buzz we have created across the state of Georgia about youth wrestling in Cedartown.”
The MatDawgs started the year with over 35 wrestlers in early November.
“We explained up front that this was going to be the toughest sport they had ever been involved in, but also the most rewarding,” Lee stated. “Our wrestlers have trained relentlessly for four months and from day one we had only one goal and that was for each kid to qualify for state.”
The duo said the team came very close to reaching that goal.
“We had 15 young men that stayed with the sport and pushed their body and mind to the limit,” the press release said. “We had 12 of the 15 wrestlers qualify to compete in the big and little kids state tournaments. The state tournaments is the best of the best youth wrestlers in the state of Georgia.”
According to the coaches, the MatDawgs traveled around northwest Georgia since the start of December competing in tournaments every weekend.
“We have had a lot of people stand up and take notice of youth wrestling in Cedartown,” the coaches stated. “Several wrestlers have medaled at each tournament. We have taken a first year team and competed with teams that are well established with wrestlers that have been wrestling for three plus years.”
The wrestlers that qualified and competed at state were: Cordero, Drew Kirkpatrick (six-and-under), Andrew Cromer (eight-and-under), Andrew Peek (eight-and-under), Landon Foor (eight-and-under), two-time state wrestler Curtis Lee (eight-and-under) and two-time state wrestler Bowman.
Others that qualified were Gage Lameka (10-and-under), Robert Peek (12-and-under), James Sheffield (14-and-under), Lane Bond (14-and-under) and Tyler League (14-and-under).
“These young men, through hard work, were able to experience the atmosphere and energy at the state tournaments,” the elder Lee said. “I know it was extremely exciting for the coaches and our wrestlers to be there representing Cedartown in our first year.”
The coaches, who are clearly excited about the first-year program, said the success of this season was amazing.
“We have in our first season reached a level that no one would have expected,” Lee stated. “We had over 80 pins this season and over 100 wins as a team. This is a foundation that we will continue to build on.”
The coaches want to thank the wrestlers, parents, grandparents and community for their support.
They also want to thank the sponsors, Polk School Superintendent Marvin Williams, the Board of Education and Cedartown High Principal Hal David.
“We would like to especially thank our wives Stacey Bowman and Yvonne Lee for all they do for our team and understanding what we have to do with our team,” the coaches concluded. “They have been extremely helpful at each tournament keeping up with wins, losses, pins and getting kids to the mat for their matches.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the MatDawgs wrestling program can contact Lee at 706-766-6300.
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