Clayton News Daily

By Anthony Rhoads

The Henry County Warhawks will be going after their second straight Area Duals Championship today.

Henry County, the 2004 Area Duals 2-AAAAA champion, plays host to this year's Area 3-AAAA Duals today at Henry County Middle School with action beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Other teams participating in the tournament include Carver-Columbus, Dutchtown, Eagle's Landing, Griffin, Hardaway, Luella, Stockbridge and Upson-Lee.

Henry County, which was No. 1 in the pre-season state rankings, enters this weekend as the No. 2 team in Class AAAA.

Last weekend, Henry County finished fourth in the Chattahoochee Invitational. Brett Warrington was named the tournament MVP after winning the 135-pound division.

The only other ranked team in Clayton or Henry County, Union Grove, is traveling to Starr's Mill for the Area 4-AAAAA Duals.

Union Grove is ranked No. 8 in Class AAAAA. Union Grove head coach Joey DiNino said Starr's Mill, ranked No. 6 in Class AAAAA, should be the favorite to win the area championship. He also expects Fayette County and East Coweta to be competitive.

"It should be a great weekend of wrestling," DiNino said. "I feel very confident that we can win but we will need a strong team effort."

Senior Candler Woods, a two-time state champion, broke the 200-win mark this past weekend at the Chattahoochee Invitational. Senior Wil Carter and Junior Jake Skelton also reach milestones as they broke the 100-win mark the last two weeks.

Other teams in the Area 4-AAAAA Duals include Lovejoy, Mundy's Mill and Newnan.

Here's where other Clayton and Henry teams will be this weekend:

Morrow and Riverdale travel to Redan High School for the Area 2-AAAAA Duals. Other teams include Lithonia, Newton County, Stephenson and Tri-Cities.

Jonesboro, which won the Clayton County meet last weekend, travels to Columbia for the Area 5-AAAA Duals. Other teams include Cedar Grove, Mays, Mt. Zion, North Atlanta, North Clayton, Southwest DeKalb and Stone Mountain.

Eagle's Landing Christian Academy travel to Social Circle for the Area 2-A Duals. Other teams competing include Athens Christian, Bryan County, Commerce, Jefferson, Landmark, McIntosh County Academy, Montgomery County, St. Francis, Towns County, Treutlen, Twiggs County, Washington-Wilkes and Whitefield Academy.