Coach Chad Smith’s Bainbridge High School Bearcats wrestling team finished fifth in a strong 10-team field at Saturday’s Lee County High School Trojans Dual Invitational Meet in Leesburg, Ga.

Smith said there was a high level of competition, which included always-strong host Lee County, along with Lowndes County, Spencer, Colquitt County, Cook County, Fitzgerald and Cook County.

The Bearcats were led by five wrestlers, who all finished with strong 4-1 records.

“Grayson Heard, Kole Gilbourn, Cole Bulger, Josh Sheard and Brandon Crawford all did exceptionally well,” Smith said, after their five strong performances.

All of the Bearcats’ losses in Leesburg were by close scores. They lost to Colquitt County by just one point, to Cook County by six points and to Lee County by 10 points.

Coach Smith expressed pleasure with his team’s overall performance in Leesburg.

‘The Bearcats really gave it their all on the mats this weekend and had a good showing,” he said. “We have a great core group of wrestlers and leaders who set great examples for the rest of our team. I look for those kids to push and help the rest of the team excel.”

On Tuesday, the Bearcats returned to Leesburg for a match against Lee County, the Thomas County Central High School Yellow Jackets and Columbus’s Hardaway High School Golden Hawks.

On Saturday, they will be in Adel, Ga., taking part in the Cook County High School Hornets Invitational Meet. Competition will begin at 10 a.m.