Notepad: Mercer hoops, Bibb County wrestlers in state championship and Macon Sports HOF class headline the week

Bibb County schools will have a number of wrestlers at this week’s state championship meet at the Macon Coliseum.

The Southwest Patriots lead the way with three wrestlers in the state title field. Senior Jamarion Hill keys the group, competing in the 165 weight class and notching a 35-4 record thus far. He finished seventh in the qualifying round.

Kenzel Freeman went 27-8 in the 175 weight class as a junior and qualified in sixth place. Kemodjae Wynes went 22-8 in the 157 weight class.

Northeast, Westside and Howard all have two wrestlers set to compete.

The city-champion Raiders are led by sophomore Ternez McCoy in the 106 weight class. He finished with a 19-8 record and qualified in sixth place. Idris Muhammed competes at the 150 weight class and went 28-11 on his way to finishing seventh in the qualifier.

Howard’s Zelin Pollard is a standout at the 190-pound level. The senior went 54-11 and qualified in sixth place. Tabais Williams finished 43-19 at the 113 level and finished in seventh at his qualifier.

Westside has two sophomores competing at the state title meet. Jordan Moore finished 11-4 in the 132 weight class and qualified in seventh, while Isaiah Eason went 13-6 in the 165 class and qualified in sixth.

Anthony Adorno will represent Central at state, as the junior went 22-4 and qualified in fifth place for the 138 weight class. Rutland also has a wrestler at the meet, as junior Robbie Wood qualified in sixth for the 175 weight class after going 16-7 on the season.

The schools will have wrestlers at the girls state championship as well. Central has two girls at this week’s title meet. Junior Zipporah Bulloch went 21-9 and finished an impressive second at sectionals for the 105 weight class.

Ambra Cystrunk, a senior in the 135 weight class, went 13-7 on the year and qualified in fourth. Senior Christian Holt also qualified for Westside, finishing in third and notching an 8-4 record on the year in the 140 weight class.

Mercer basketball teams falter late in season

Mercer’s men’s basketball team continued its skid last week, losing its third straight game Saturday in a 77-66 home defeat against Wofford.

The Bears’ signature as a team has been close games, win or lose. Head coach Ryan Ridder said the team is ranked near the top of the country in games with a margin of four points or fewer. Their recent stretch has been anything but, as Mercer lost its last three games by nine or more.

The Bears are still getting good basketball from stars Ahmad Robinson and Chip Johnson, but encounter at least one tough problem each game. Against Wofford it was 3-pointers, as the Terriers hit 12 shots from beyond the arc to sink Mercer.

“You have to give them a lot of credit, they hit those shots and turned us over,” Ridder said Monday at the team’s press conference. “When we’re in a stretch like this, I like how our guys have responded. We need to renew our focus and the guys have come in with great energy… I know we’re gonna get back to who we are on Wednesday.”

The women’s team lost its first game after a week-long rest Saturday, falling in their first SoCon rematch of the season against Samford 65-49.

The Bears defeated the Bulldogs the first time around earlier this season but could not replicate the effort despite stars Arianna Bennett, Talia Harris and Ashlee Locke breaking double digits.

“I think the biggest thing for our staff and for me as a coach is figuring out this whole bye week thing,” head coach Michelle Clark-Heard said Monday. “I felt like we were coming off a big win, then we took a bye week. There’s no excuses, but it’s just figuring that out… and going on the road to win.”

Middle school teams take home trophies

Bibb County School District crowned its middle school basketball and wrestling champions last weekend.

On the basketball side, the Ballard-Hudson Lady Tigers defeated Howard Middle School for the trophy. Weaver won the boys title thanks to a victory over Appling in the championship game.

The Howard middle school boys wrestling team also won a trophy, bringing home the middle school wrestling championship after outlasting Appling in the final match.

Mercer lax teams begin season

Both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams at Mercer began their seasons this month, and the men’s team started off with a bang.

The men defeated Hampton 23-3 in their opener Feb. 1, snagging a key road win to start the season and getting goals from a whopping 13 different players.

Will Zylstra and Dillon Bush each score four goals for the Bears. Luke Fox, Jack Sullivan, Ben Jose and Ryan Brooks all scored twice. Mercer notched 10 goals in the second period alone.

The Bears lost to Marist Saturday to move to 1-1. They play their first home game against VMI at noon Saturday.

The women’s team opened its season against South Florida, losing a defensive showdown at home 11-8 to begin their season Tuesday.

It was a slow-developing contest, as USF scored the only goal of the first quarter before both sides picked it up in the second. Mercer played great defense but could not get its offense moving, scoring only four goals through three quarters. 

Abby Morrison, Sami Lowinger and Ansley Walters all scored two goals for the Bears. Abby Soltys and Fiona Tanis each forced two turnovers on defense.

Macon Sports Hall of Fame announces 2025 class

The hall will induct 10 new members into its class later this year, according to executive director Therron Ussery on Facebook.

The group, elected Tuesday, is a laundry list of both classic local sports legends and icons in the making. Names like longtime ref Johnny Crawford, FPD softball legend Morgan Johnson Faulk and even current Northeast football coach and former player Jeremy Wiggins stand out.

The other seven set to be inducted in May are Marty Allman — who played with Pete Maravich at LSU — along with Randy Crawford, Kevin DeMichael, Marcus Grant, Eric Manuel, Gene Pollard and Jimmy Seward.

Macon Mayhem rolling into last portion of season

The Mayhem won their third straight game last weekend, defeating the Pensacola Ice Flyers 5-3 thanks to a trio of goals in the opening period.

It was the second straight win over the Ice Flyers for Macon and the team’s sixth victory in their last eight contests. The stretch has helped the Mayhem move into seventh place in the SPHL standings, good for a playoff spot.

With a 17-20-3 record, Macon is far from out of the woods, but the recent streak puts them in good position heading into the end of February and a crucial March schedule.

MGA hoops on a hot streak

The Middle Georgia State Knights won their sixth straight game Monday, defeating Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College 81-56 in a rousing home victory that moved them to 15-5 overall and 11-3 in Southern States Athletic Conference games.

The winning streak puts the Knights in a tie with Life University for second place in the SSAC East, just one game behind 13-2 Dalton State. MGA just defeated the Roadrunners at home Saturday as well, taking the win in an 87-85 thriller.

Milique Smith is the motor for the Knights, averaging 14.4 points per game to lead the team in scoring. The Thomaston native and Upson-Lee grad hit 29 points in a game earlier this season.