By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

The Callaway Cavaliers are getting closer.

When it comes to the County Classic, the Cavaliers have usually been an afterthought.

They’ve always brought talented wrestlers to the table, but their lack of depth kept them from competing on a serious basis with LaGrange and Troup.

That is changing.

Although the Cavaliers lost both of their matches Wednesday night, they weren’t far away.

After losing to LaGrange 46-28, Callaway hung tough with Troup the whole way before falling 39-31.

“We came out kind of slow against LaGrange,” Callaway head coach J.J. Wahl said. “Against Troup, we wrestled a lot better. We win a couple of those matches (against Troup), who knows.”

Ryan Kiss (119 pounds), Brandon Hontz (135), Zach McIntyre (189), Mat Matthews (215) and Golden Sutton (275) each won two matches for Callaway, while Jasper Woods (112) won one match and came up just short against Troup.

“Ryan Kiss had a big win against Troup,” Wahl said. “He’d been beaten by him twice already. That was big for us.”

The Cavs are led by seniors McIntyre and Hontz, who have each won multiple state titles this season and appear poised to make strong runs at the state meet.

“You expect McIntyre and Hontz to be there,” Wahl said. “They’ve done it all year.”

Wahl said he was impressed with Woods, who he said “wrestled real hard. He left it all on the mat.”

Callaway will compete in a tournament at Eagles Landing on Saturday.