County titles up for grabs in swimming, wrestling
- 1/26/12
- Categorized in: Sports
County bragging rights in swimming and wrestling will be at stake Jan. 27-28 as the county championship in both sports will be determined.
Defending champion Southwest DeKalb will be led by heavyweight Gabe Echols in the 2012 DeKalb County Wrestling Championships at Miller Grove on Jan. 27-28. Echols, who won the heavyweight class in the county meet last season, was 15-0 through Jan. 11. A team title this year will give Southwest its third county championship and back-to-back titles for the first time.
Marist, which won the county title in 2010, recently won two matches in the state duals tournament after winning the Area 6-AAAA Duals tournament. Stephenson, McNair and Southwest also participated in the state duals.
Columbia and Redan are tied for the most county championships with eight.
In swimming, Lakeside has long dominated both the boys’ and girls’ county meets. Dunwoody snapped the Lakeside girls’ streak of 14 straight county titles last season. It was Dunwoody’s first girls’ county title since 1996, when it won its 11th consecutive championship. The Lakeside boys won their eighth straight county championship in 2011.
Lakeside and Dunwoody hold the top individual times in the county in every boys and girls event except one this season.
The finals of the county swimming championship will be Jan. 28, beginning at 11 a.m., at the Dynamo Swim Center in Chamblee.
Dunwoody’s Shawn Pyne has the county’s top girls’ times in three events–the 50 freestyle (26:04), 100 backstroke (1:05.60) and 200 freestyle
(2:06.41)–and the second best time in the 100 freestyle (58.25).
Lakeside’s Anna Ewing has the fastest time in the 100 freestyle (58.07) and is just behind Pyne in the 50 (26.42) and the 200 freestyle (2:06.47).
Erin Collins of Lakeside has the fastest reported time in the county for the 100 butterfly (1:04.00) while teammate Lizzy White follows at 1:04.82.
For the boys, Dunwoody’s Matt Kizer has the county’s top times in the 100 backstroke (58.07) and 200 free (1:51.04), while teammate Justin Wulff has the top time in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.65).
County champion winning streaks
Wrestling
5: Columbia (1999-2003); Briarcliff (1963-66)
3: Chamblee (1977-79); Walker (1969-71)
Boys swimming
8: Lakeside (2004-11)
7: Dunwoody (1989-95)
5: Redan (1982-86)
Girls swimming
14: Lakeside (1997-2010)
11: Dunwoody (1986-96)