Kole Gilbourn, Brian Ordonez, Brock Merchant, Kevin Hill and Jordan Jeffery all turned in solid performances at last weekend’s state Class AAAA wrestling finals at the Gwinnett County Event Center,, despite having little experience at that level.

Brock Merchant, a senior who competed in the 160-pound weight class, did have some state experience. Competing against the 160-pound wrestler from Stone Mountain High School, he locked up with his opponent and hustled around for three rounds before falling by way of pin in the third round.

In the Bearcats first match, Kole Gilbourn wrestled the man who would go on to be the overall third-place medalist.

Both wrestlers were very aggressive at the start of the match, which ended with a first-round pin. Gilbourn is one of the few Bearcat sophomores who have made it to state.

In the next match, Brian Ordonez, who is a junior, outpointed the 135-pound wrestler from Effingham County. He then had a strong effort against Stone Mountain’s 135-pound wrestler before losing in regulation on points.

Kevin Hill, who had an impressive 12-4 record going into the state tournament, took on West Augusta’s 171-pound weight class wrestler. Both wrestlers started strong, but Hill was dominating the take down battle.

Hill, who had led most of the match, was leading by one point when a penalty was called for locking hands. The penalty gave West Augusta one point and tied the match 5-5 with 10 seconds left. He ultimately lost in the last round by just two points.

Jordan Jeffery, wrestling in the 285-pound class, competed in the Bearcats final match of the tournament. He wrestled Sean Carney, who pinned him in the first round and went on to finish third in the tournament.