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MARIETTA - Pope claimed two individual championships and placed 11 of its 14 wrestlers in the top eight Saturday at Sprayberry, giving the Greyhounds 224.5 team points and their first Cobb County Wrestling Invitational title in 13 seasons under coach Jim Haskin.

"This is a great accomplishment for me personally and for these kids," Haskin said. "All of the discipline and the hard work is really paying off. This is our first Invitational title in some 20 years and we need to try and take this momentum into the region and state tournaments."

The Greyhounds rallied from Friday's half-point (99.5-90) deficit against Harrison and moved well into the lead after dominating the consolation rounds with eight third- to eighth-place finishers. The Greyhounds led Harrison 216.5-187 heading into the championship finals.

Four of Pope's five championship wrestlers were wrestling in the invitational finals for the first time in their careers with Dexter Bushart (112 pounds) - a finalist last year - and Patrick Anthony (103) claiming victories.

Harrison had three individual champions - Josh Condon (152), Alex Medved (140) and Ryan Medved (135) - and placed 11 wrestlers in the top eight to finish second with 201.5 points. Walton (153) and McEachern (152) also had three individual champions and finished in third and fourth place, respectively, in a very tight race.

The Raiders' champions included Jeff Olsen (171), Phil Holloway (130) and four-time invitational champion Andrew Lanham (145).

"Winning four of these is pretty sweet, but I'm still working on winning that state title," Lanham said. "Until I get that one, I won't be totally happy."

The Indians, winners of six of the last seven invitationals, received victories from Keith Parker (215), Joe Malandro (189) and Brian Westerman (119), who was the only returning champion off McEachern's squad.

"It feels great to win this again," Westerman said. "We got a lot of guys wrestling in the finals and we're really helping each other to do well here and to do well at state."

Kell placed fifth with 146 points while Kennesaw Mountain finished sixth (114.5). The Longhorns had five wrestlers in the finals with Angelo Tabachino earning the victory at 285. The Mustangs placed three wrestlers in the finals, but each of them came up short.

Other champions included Sprayberry's Alex Hudson, a three-time winner at the event, at 125 pounds and Pebblebrook's Kyle Green at 160 pounds.

"Winning another Cobb County title feels the same," Hudson said. "But, winning these last two here at Sprayberry does make it special. Winning this is really tough, but it really prepares you for state because you get to wrestle against some of the best there is in Georgia. These are guys that you'll probably see down the road."

Green surprised everyone - except himself - with his victory. The only Falcon to make the finals, he trailed, 3-2, in his match against Kennesaw Mountain's Elliott Zimmerman and scored a two-point reversal with 12 seconds left in the match to take a 4-3 win.

"It was hard to score against (Zimmerman)," Green said. "So, I waited until it got close to the end of my match and pulled a great move on him. It was a long shot, but it worked.

"It feels good to win. I gave it everything I had. Nobody expected me to win, but I did it."

Condon, a two-time state champion and a winner at last year's Invitational, was named the weekend's Most Outstanding Wrestler. He was the only wrestler to post a pin victory among the fourteen weight classes, pinning Kell's Brian DeCormier in 5:15 after leading, 24-12.

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