VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) — Bazemore-Hyder Stadium is home to the Valdosta Wildcats and the Valdosta State Blazers. State and national title teams have played on this football field. It's hallowed ground in Titletown, but Tuesday there was no football played. Instead, Bazemore-Hyder hosted wrestling.
Valdosta High School's 5th Annual Grapple on the Gridiron took place featuring 12 mats and 17 south Georgia JV and Varsity teams. It's an idea Wildcat head coach John Robbins took from the Big Ten, where collegiate wrestling is king.
He said to bring wrestling inside the 'Baze, the mecca for football, is the perfect way to be a part of the rich tradition inside that stadium.
"South Georgia is football territory. What a lot of people don't understand is we have a lot of good wrestling down here," he said. "All the football and history here in Valdosta, all the national championships and all the pride, I said what can I do to tie into that? What can I do to be part of that? It just made a lot of sense to wrestle out here and grapple on the gridiron, just like they do in the midwest."
The home team Wildcats finished first, while Lowndes took second.
