Six Bainbridge High School wrestlers advanced to Sectionals after placing in last weekend’s area tournament. Peyton Register, at 126-pounds, and Tyler Storey, at 170-pounds, won area championships at the tournament.

Register is the first sophomore in BHS history to win an area championship in wrestling and Tyler became only the third wrestler in school history to win back-to-back area championships.

They will be joined in sectionals by Tristan Manley, who finished fourth at 132-pounds, DeAndre Lewis, who finished fourth at 152-pounds, Tre Storey, who finished third at 195-pounds, and Ryan Adama, who finished second at 220-pounds.

“I was very surprised at some of our guys,” Head Coach Chad Smith said. “I thought some didn’t wrestle as good as they could have, and some really brought it together and peaked at the right time. Overall I was very impressed by our efforts.”

The Bearcats started off strong as all eleven wrestlers advanced to the second round of the tournament and eight advanced to the quarterfinals. Adams, Tyler Storey, Tre Storey, Tanner Brown, Lewis, Manely and Register won their quarterfinals matches to advance to the semifinals.

“Ryan Adams had a tough match with Monroe but advanced,” Smith said. “Tre Storey finished his match quickly to advance, Tanner brown and DeAndre Lewis pulled nice upsets.

Tristan Manley won a tight match and Peyton Register used a very rare leg cradle to pin his opponent.”

The semifinals proved to be a tougher test for the Bearcats as Register, Tyler Storey and Adams were the only wrestlers to advance to the finals. Tre Storey forfeited his semifinal match with a knee injury, but he was able to come back with a victory to finish third. Manley and Lewis both lost their matches in the semifinals and the consolation finals to finish fourth in the tournament.

In the finals, Adams suffered a loss to a Timothy Hall from Cook County in the third round. Tyler Storey and Register finished off a strong tournament by capturing area championships.

“In the championship round Tyler continued to prove dominance over the region winning his second consecutive region title,” Smith said. “Peyton Register pulled the upset victory over Crisp County to win his first region title.”

Sectional B for AAAA will take place at Gilmer High School in Ellijay, GA on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 5-6. The top eight wrestlers in each weight class will then advance to the State Finals (top 16 wrestlers in each weight class) at the Infinite Energy Arena in Gwinnet.