LaFayette High School’s boys and girls wrestling teams are preparing to take center stage in downtown LaFayette as the annual Rumble on the Square returns Tuesday afternoon, November 10, bringing high school wrestling outdoors for a unique community event.
The Ramblers will welcome Northwest Whitfield for the boys’ competition, while the Lady Ramblers will face Carrollton, a two-time defending state championship program in girls wrestling.
Weigh-ins are scheduled for 4 p.m., with wrestling beginning at 4:30 p.m. Fans unable to attend can listen to the action on Georgia 93-7 FM WQCH, with radio coverage beginning at 4:15 p.m.
LaFayette boys wrestling head coach Jacob Harris said the event has become a highlight of the season for his wrestlers and an opportunity to showcase the program in front of the hometown crowd.
Harris credited LaFayette City Councilman Chris Davis with helping bring the idea to the community after seeing similar events elsewhere.
“He had witnessed this happening in other places and pitched it to me like something we should try,” Harris said. “Very thankful that the city supports it. Our admin go to great lengths to make sure that they get us taken care of. It’s awesome.”
The event will feature two wrestling mats set up downtown, allowing the boys and girls teams to compete in front of spectators in an atmosphere unlike a traditional high school gymnasium.
Harris said the wrestlers have embraced the opportunity.
“This is one of those things that all the boys, at least, this is what they circle the calendar for,” Harris said. “They look forward to being able to go into a venue that’s completely different and entertain our hometown.”
While the event provides an exciting setting, Harris said he will also be evaluating his team’s competitiveness and aggressiveness as the season gets underway.
“I’m looking to see, are we trying to score points? Are we attacking?” Harris said. “If we’re attacking and trying to score points, then things should take care of themselves.”
Harris emphasized that he wants his wrestlers to compete aggressively throughout their matches, regardless of the score.
“If we’re winning by 13, I want to win by 15. If we can get a pin, let’s get a pin,” Harris said. “I just want to see us compete for a whole six minutes.”
The Ramblers enter the season with a mixture of experienced wrestlers and promising newcomers.
Among the returning standouts is Isaac Hamilton, a two-time state placer and three-time state qualifier. Harris also highlighted Eli Pearson, who has experienced success at the sectional level, along with upperclassman Aiden McGuire.
The program has also added talented newcomers, including Cooper Mariakis, whom Harris described as the top-ranked freshman wrestler in Georgia.
“We’ve got a ton of talent, but we also got a lot of youth,” Harris said.
The road to postseason success will not be easy. Harris described LaFayette’s region as one of the toughest in the state, noting that he believes nine of the region’s 10 teams are ranked among the top 25 in their classification.
“It could theoretically be harder getting out of area to go to sectionals than what it would be to get from sectionals to state,” Harris said. “It’s going to be tough, challenging, but I think we can definitely handle it.”
Meanwhile, LaFayette girls wrestling head coach Hannah King is equally excited about the opportunity to showcase her rapidly growing program.
“I think they’re probably nervous, but it’s one of the coolest events of the year,” King said. “It’s such a good opportunity for them to showcase their ability in one of the best settings that you can possibly have.”
King said the Lady Ramblers have grown to 20 wrestlers this season, with approximately half of the roster returning from last year.
Several returning wrestlers have already qualified for sectionals, and King believes some could advance to the state tournament this season.
She also expressed excitement about the team’s younger wrestlers, noting that several newcomers recently won all their matches during weekend competition.
LaFayette plans to field a full 14-wrestler varsity lineup against Carrollton, along with approximately 10 or more junior varsity matches.
The Lady Ramblers will face a significant challenge against a Carrollton program that has captured back-to-back state championships.
“Carrollton’s a returning two-time state champ team, but I feel pretty good about how it’s going to play out for us,” King said.
Beyond the competition, King said the continued growth of girls wrestling in LaFayette has been especially encouraging.
The high school program now has 20 wrestlers, while LaFayette Middle School has approximately 10 girls participating. At the youth level, King said participation has grown to more than 20 girls, including children as young as four.
“It’s rapidly growing in LaFayette as a whole,” King said, adding that she believes the program could eventually have enough wrestlers to field separate A and B teams.
King also has a personal connection to the program’s history.
A former LaFayette wrestler herself, King began competing at age five and continued through high school. She was a member of the Ramblers’ 2009 state championship team, competing in the varsity lineup when girls and boys wrestled together.
King said Harris contacted her several years ago about helping establish and grow a dedicated girls wrestling program at LaFayette.
Now, she is helping lead a new generation of female wrestlers in the same community where she competed.
Both coaches are also hoping for more comfortable conditions than last year’s event, which featured bitterly cold temperatures.
King joked that she has already prepared for the possibility of chilly weather.
“I’ve preemptively got hand warmers and all the things this year, so we’re gonna be prepared for it,” she said.
With talented wrestlers, strong competition and growing community interest, Rumble on the Square offers LaFayette an opportunity to celebrate both its wrestling tradition and the future of the sport.
The event begins with weigh-ins at 4 p.m. Tuesday in downtown LaFayette, followed by wrestling at 4:30 p.m.
Live radio coverage begins at 4:15 p.m. on Georgia 93-7 FM WQCH.