MACON — Over the past three seasons, Archer’s winning margin in winning the Class AAAAAA State Wrestling Dual Championships have gotten progressively larger.

But in their quest for a fourth straight title at this year’s state duals, the Tigers were going to have to fight for this one.

And they did just that, overcoming injuries to key wrestlers and a formidable opponent in North Forsyth to claim title No. 4 with a hard-fought 37-30 victory Saturday at the Macon Centreplex.

While Archer’s consecutive championship streak continued, Gwinnett’s other state finalist couldn’t derail another as Buford fell to Gilmer 45-21 in the Class AAAA final, with the Bobcats securing their seventh-straight title.

With heavyweight Jacob Lill sidelined with a season-ending broken ankle suffered in Friday’s second-round match against Collins Hill, two other front-line wrestlers just coming back from injuries, Archer’s title reign seemed very much in jeopardy.

That jeopardy only grew larger after Wahild Abdullah started the match out with a pin at 106 pounds and Paul Watkins followed with a 6-0 decision over Garrett Hipp at 113 to give North Forsyth a quick 9-0 lead

“We’ve been through so much adversity and injuries,” Archer coach Tom Beuglas said. “We didn’t have a heavyweight, so if (the final meet) came down to heavyweight, we were in trouble.”

Fortunately for the Tigers, they had some big guns to turn to after Gavin Smith got them on the board with a 7-0 decision over Cole Tenety at 120 and Vinny Artigues was awarded a forfeit victory at 126.

Trailing 15-12 in the overall match, defending 132-pound state champion Chris Diaz moved up to 145 and delivered a quick pin of North Forsyth’s Nathan Grimes in 1:15 to give Archer its first lead of the day at 18-15.

But it was Thomas Bullard who had an opportunity to turn the match permanently in the Tigers favor with the meet tied at 18-all as the 160-pound match approached.

“I was like, ‘All right, it’s six minutes,’” Thomas Bullard said. “‘I’ve got to go out and take it like a normal match and go out and get the job done.’”

Bullard needed far less than the allotted six minutes to do just that by pinning Connor Carroll in 1:31 to put the Tigers back in front at 24-18.

But even after Gabe Lee’s 5-0 decision over Andy Leggett at 170 and Daniel Bullard’s pin of Brantley Little in 2:44 at 195, North Forsyth still had a chance.

Connor Cross’ pin of Andrew Leftwich brought the Raiders to within 33-24 with two matches remaining, including a forfeit looming at 285 due to Lill’s injury.

That’s when the Tigers turned to the biggest gun left in their arsenal.

Quinn Miller, a defending state champion and nationally-ranked wrestler at 220, had not wrestled at all this season due to a back injury.

And even after he took a commanding 14-1 lead over Hunter Loyd into the third period, he wasn’t entirely sure he could finish off what he started after tweaking a knee midway through the final frame, and with his lack of conditioning starting to catch up to him.

However, the junior hung in and celebrated his birthday by giving his team a present, closing out the match victory and putting the Tigers over the top for the meet win, as well.

“I was told I was going to have to do it,” Miller said. “I was real nervous about being able to last three periods. … It feels incredible. I’m happy for the team. I’m happy for this group of seniors who have never lost a dual meet in their careers. I’m happy I’m the one who helped them do that.”

And with the margin being the closest of the now four championship finals, Saturday’s win is perhaps the most satisfying for all the Tigers.

“I told the kids, ‘With all the injuries and everything else all year, and then Jacob getting hurt (Friday) morning, if we’re truly champions, we’ll find a way to get it done,’” Beuglas said. “This one’s going to be a lot sweeter than last year, when we won 66-3. I think they feel it, too.”

Buford wasn’t quite able to match Archer’s feat Saturday against Gilmer.

However, the Wolves did earn a top-four trophy for the third straight season by working their way into the finals, a feat that may have been a surprise to most observers outside the program before this weekend.

“Compared to last year’s team, we lost two state champions and state placers,” Buford coach Jason Burton said. “But (otherwise) we’re still the same team, and nobody had us here placing or anything. So, from that standpoint, we overachieved. But from what I saw in the wrestling room and what we did (this season) my expectation was to make it to the final.

“We’re a young team and the experience all these young guys had in the finals against a great team like Gilmer — championship caliber — getting after it. They now know what it means to be a champion.”

Logan Ashton got Buford off to a flying start by pinning Gilmer’s Thomas Chastain in 46 seconds to give his team a quick 6-0 lead in the meet.

Even after Gilmer claimed 20 straight meet points over the next four matches to take a 20-6 lead, the Wolves fought back.

Wins by Trent Ferguson at 138, Jack Barber at 145 and Cooper Roberts at 152, the latter a pin, Buford had pulled as close as 20-18.

But Jordan Cavenes outpointed Tristian Bozoian 5-1 in the 160 match to give Gilmer momentum back, and the Bobcats won five of the last six matches, with only Quinton Skinner’s 8-3 decision over Micah Young at 220 interrupting the run, to put the match away.

Mountain View earns historic trophy

After reaching the state duals for the first time in its history a year ago, Mountain View earned the program’s first state trophy in its return trip Saturday by winning twice in wrestlebacks to take third place in Class AAAAAA.

The Bears defeated Lambert 38-24 in the consolation semifinals before scoring a 45-16 decision over Tift County in the third-place match behind a strong day from Justin George at 152, Ryan Grizzard at 220 and K’Maron Patterson at 285.

Saturday’s performance marked a strong comeback for Mountain View after a disappointingly narrow 26-23 loss to North Forsyth in Friday’s championship semifinals.

“That’s always a coach’s concern — how the kids react (to a close loss),” Mountain View coach Jim Gassman said. “I told (the wrestlers) they had to get over it, and our next goal is (winning) third at state and wrestling hard for each other, and they did that.”

Georgia High School Association State Wrestling Dual Championships

Saturday

at Macon Centreplex

Class AAAAAA

Archer 37, North Forsyth 30

106: Wahlid Abdullah (NF) fall Austin Fullard, 0:26

113: Paul Watkins (NF) dec. Garrett Hipp, 6-0

120: Gavin Smith (A) dec. Cole Tenety, 7-0

126: Vinny Artigues (A) forfeit

132: Riley Wheeler (NF) fall Logan Smith 3:27

138: Peter Myndresku (A) dec. Cedric Touchstone, 12-9

145: Chris Diaz (A) fall Nathan Grimes, 1:15

152: Bradley Thomas (NF) dec. Chase Degrenier, 4-0

160: Thomas Bullard (A) fall Connor Carroll, 1:31

170: Gabe Lee (A) dec. Andy Leggett, 5-0

182: Daniel Bullard (A) fall Brantley Little, 2:44

195: Connor Cross (NF) fall Andrew Leftwich, 3:51

220: Quinn Miller (A) maj. dec. Hunter Loyd, 14-1

285: Jackson Bardall (NF) forfeit