Families from all corners of Georgia will be in Douglas County this weekend for the Georgia High
School Association Class 5A Boys Team Duals Wrestling Championships at Legacy Arena.
The championships begin with 16 teams from across the state, including Thomas County Central near the Florida border, South Effingham near Savannah, Coffee County in southeast Georgia and Habersham Central in the northeast Georgia mountains.
Two teams from neighboring districts, Villa Rica and South Paulding, will also compete for the Class 5A title. The teams were the top two seeds in Region 5A, which includes Alexander, Lithia Springs and New Manchester high schools. New Manchester is hosting the state event.
Douglas County School System Athletics Director Eric Collins said the event will boost the local economy as teams stay in local hotels, eat at restaurants and purchase gas and other items.
"If they come down and they wrestle until late on Friday, more than likely some of those folks are going to be staying in our local area as well, eating in our restaurants," Collins said. "And even with South (Paulding) and some of the teams that are not far away, South and Villa Rica are obviously very, very close, but even some of the teams that may not necessarily spend the night, they'll be eating in our restaurants and of course, they'll be gassing up at our gas stations."
Wrestling begins Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the double-elimination bracket and continues all day Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m. Four mats will allow four matches to take place simultaneously, Collins said.
This is the first GHSA state athletic championship held in Douglas County, according to Collins. While DCSS teams in various sports have won state titles over the years, those contests all took place outside the county, often at neutral sites set by the GHSA.
But with Legacy Arena giving the county a world-class venue capable of hosting a variety of sporting events, Collins said the district is already in conversation about hosting the separate traditional state wrestling championships next year.
The district has also expressed interest in hosting GHSA basketball sectionals and state volleyball semifinal matches, Collins said.
View the championship bracket here.
To purchase tickets for this weekend's state wrestling championships, visit https://gofan.co/app/school/GHSA.