MACON - Pope's first dual wrestling state championship is one match away, but the Greyhounds will have to go through three-time defending champion Collins Hill again to get it.

After Pope eked out a 33-24 victory over third-seeded Camden County in Friday's semifinals of the Class AAAAA duals at the Macon Centreplex, top-seeded Collins Hill beat No. 4 Valdosta, 60-6, in the other semifinal to set up the teams' second straight championship battle, which will be decided tonight at 7:30 p.m

It wasn't an easy road for Pope to get its shot at revenge against Collins Hill.

Leading Camden County, 30-24 heading into the last match of Friday's semifinal, Philip Montgomery held on for a 5-4 decision at 152 pounds to clinch the victory for the Greyhounds, who had trailed by two with three matches remaining. Patrick Anthony's 10-3 decision at 140 and Brooks Climmons' 22-7 technical fall win at 145 gave Pope the lead heading into Montgomery's match.

"We gutted it out," Pope coach Jim Haskin said. "We felt we'd win nine of the 14 matches, but we only got eight, so it was close like we thought. Now, we're in our second final in a row."

The Greyhounds won four of the first five matches as Brandon Savransky (171), Aaron Griffin (189), Charlie Farr (215) and Thomas O'Reilly (285) each picked up consecutive wins to give Pope a 16-3 lead.

But Camden County responded with three straight victories and trailed, 16-15, heading into the match at 125, which Tommy Nickles won because of a head-butting penalty against Nigel Hamilton. Nickles was awarded six points, and three points were deducted from the Wildcats' team total, giving the Greyhounds a 22-12 advantage.

Camden County, however, responded with two straight pins to take the 24-22 lead and set up the dramatic finish.

En route to the final, Pope routed Stephenson (58-9) and Brookwood (54-9). Nickles, Anthony, Climmons, Savransky, Griffin, Farr and O'Reilly led the charge as each finished undefeated Friday.

In the top half of the bracket, Kennesaw Mountain overcame a big deficit in its dual against Valdosta, but came up one match short as the Wildcats edged the fifth-seeded Mustangs, 37-33, in the quarterfinals.

Valdosta took an early lead with a decision at 152 pounds, but Jonatan Rivera put Kennesaw Mountain on top, 6-3, with a 55-second pin at 160. Julius Peacock followed with a 4-1 decision at 171, giving the Mustangs a 9-3 advantage.

The Wildcats battled back, however, with three pins, a major decision and a technical fall to win five straight matches and go on top, 30-9, with six contests remaining.

Kennesaw Mountain coach Roberto Rivera gamefully maneuvered his wrestlers into different weight classes at the start of the match to set up this scenario, and the strategy nearly worked. Chris Murdock and Johnathan Herrera recorded back-to-back pins at 119 and 125, respectively, to trim the Wildcats' advantage to 30-21.

Valdosta's Ramone Durr earned a major decision at 130 for a 34-21 lead, but Allen Logan and Ryan Maus collected two more pins for the Mustangs at 135 and 140 pounds, respectively, leaving the Mustangs trailing, 34-33, with one match left.

Kennesaw Mountain's Travis McCafferty battled Valdosta standout Javon Scott to a 2-all tie after one period, but an escape and takedown in the second frame gave Scott a 5-2 edge.

McCafferty pulled to within two after an escape, but Scott earned another takedown in the closing seconds of the final period for a 7-3 win, which gave the Wildcats the four-point victory.

"We knew Valdosta would be tough, but it came down to that last match, and we were trailing by only one point," Roberto Rivera said. "There were a couple of guys I expected to win that didn't come through, and there were others I didn't expect to do well that did, so there are positives and negatives.

"We fought hard, though, and it's not over yet. We're going to keep fighting hard and try to come out on top."

Kennesaw Mountain won its first-round match, 42-29, against Lovejoy. Jonatan Rivera, Peacock, Murdock, Herrera, Logan and Maus all finished undefeated.

The Mustangs will take on either Johnson-Savannah or Union Grove in the second round of consolation matches today at 9:30 a.m.