KENNESAW - Top-seeded Kennesaw mountain made it back-to-back area duals titles Monday after defeating No. 2 seed East Paulding, 42-27, in the finals of the Area 5AAAAA Duals championship at North Cobb.

The Mustangs will make their second straight appearance as one of the top eight seeds at the Georgia High School Association Team Dual Wrestling State Championships, when the event kicks off at the Macon Centreplex on Friday.

"We wrestled well (Monday)," Kennesaw Mountain coach Roberto Rivera said. "The guys got pins where we thought we'd get them, and some guys stepped up and got us some points or helped us not lose points, where we thought we might have some trouble. It was a good team effort (Monday)."

Kennesaw Mountain used its overall strength from the top to the bottom of its lineup to overcome the Raiders, who took a 9-0 lead early in the match which started at 103 pounds.

East Paulding picked up a pin and a decision at 103 and 112 to get the lead. However, back-to-back pins from Chris Murdock at 119 and James Duvall at 125 gave the Mustangs a 12-9 advantage.

In the next bout at 130, Johnathan Herrera wrestled the Raiders' Antoine Mangin to a 0-0 tie entering the third period. Herrera picked down to start the third and maneuvered for an escape to earn up a 1-0 decision that put Kennesaw Mountain in front, 15-9.

East Paulding standout Kevin Olson could only muster a 9-5 decision against Allen Logan at 135 to trim the Raiders deficit to 15-12. Travis McCafferty extended Kennesaw Mountain's lead with a decisive pin over T.J. Bone and Ryan Maus collected a forfeit victory at 145, giving the Mustangs a 27-12 lead.

Alex Bremner prevented Dalton Fishbone, another one of East Paulding's outstanding wrestlers, from gaining a pin. Instead Fishbone won 4-0 to pull to within 27-15.

Returning state champion Jonatan Rivera earned a pin at 160 pounds for a 33-15 Kennesaw Mountain advantage. Julius Peacock clinched the victory following a pin at 171 pounds, giving the Mustangs a 39-15 lead it could not relinquish with three matches remaining.

"Coach said before I went out there that it was all about heart," Peacock said. "Whoever has the most heart will take it. I heard him and I just went and took it. It feels good that I could help the team to back-to-back area championships. It's awesome."

East Paulding earned 12 points over the final three matches with a pin at 189 and a forfeit at 285. Rashaud Moore's 5-3 overtime decision at 215 helped provide the final 42-27 margin.

Kennesaw Mountain defeated fifth-seeded Marietta, 38-27, in the semifinals to advance to the championship, while East Paulding downed No. 6 Harrison, 47-30.

In the battle for "true second" the Blue Devils beat the Hoyas, 43-26, to set up a showdown against East Paulding.

Marietta took an 18-0 lead after victories from Austin Burris (112), Ardon Smith (119) and Victor Perez (125). The Raiders climbed back into the match with three straight wins to trail, 18-16.

Judson Castle (145), Erik Houston (171) and Landon Brooks (189) all won via forfeit, but East Paulding picked up pins at the other five weight classes to take "true second" and an automatic berth to the state duals tournament with a 46-36 win over the Blue Devils.

"We came in knowing we had a shot to make it to state, but we needed to be perfect," Marietta coach Tommy Carthers said. "We came close. We'll keep our heads held high and we'll keep working."

Marietta defeated South Cobb (82-0) and North Cobb (52-29) to advance to the semifinals, while Harrison earned a forfeit win over Woodstock and a narrow 31-28 victory against McEachern to make the semis.