Howard Wrestling Team Takes Bibb Championship with Mostly Underclassmen

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Cafeteria by day, wrestling facility by night.

“Just like at other schools, basketball can only practice in the gym,” says Adam Gilhouse, who took over as wrestling coach at Howard High School this season.  “We can’t put basketball goals in the cafeteria, and this is the only space we have right now that’s big enough. But it works well for us right now.”

Yes, they roll out the mats and practice in the school lunchroom every day after school.  It’s paid off for them this year: the Huskies took home the Bibb County Championship last weekend.

“It was great to see my team come together,” says senior Keiondre Wedderburn.  “They fought for each other to get the wins. A lot of them beat kids that they lost to earlier in the year.”

Wedderburn is one of just three seniors on this 13-man squad.  For Gilhouse, that’s actually turned out to be kind of a blessing.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys that are real receptive to what we’re trying to do,” Gilhouse says.  “And they work hard.”

“He’s a good coach and he gives us influence on stuff that we should do and what we should
not do,” says sophomore JaQwun Stinson.  “He’s just a really good coach.”

A coach with extremely dedicated wrestlers.

“We had a junior–Greg Pertillo–that sprained his A-C joint in his first match Saturday,” Gilhouse remembers.  “He ended up losing that match but fought back and won two matches–won by a pin.  He finished third in the tournament after fighting through that pain. That’s an extremely painful injury that he persevered through. That’s just the kind of guys that we have–guys that are willing to push through that, work hard, and put what they need second to what the team’s goals are.”

Which, by no surprise, are lofty for the rest of the season.

“Our goal this weekend is to at least get runner-up at region and try to get the whole team to
make it to sectionals,” Wedderburn says.

The Huskies’ area meet is Saturday at West Laurens. Sectionals will be at Lanier next weekend, and the following weekend, the Gwinnett Center will host the state tournament.