Jonatan Rivera Named Most Outstanding Wrestler

’s Christopher Murdock and Jonatan Rivera captured titles to help the Mustangs grab fifth place Saturday in the U.S. Army Cobb County Invitational at Sprayberry High School. By a vote of the coaches, Rivera was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Rivera completed a 4-0 run through the tournament with a technical fall over Pope’s Billy Meek (26-5) in the 152-pound class. The match was stopped when Rivera, now 41-3, pulled ahead 19-4 with nine seconds left in regulation. He was dominant throughout the tournament, registering two pins and two technical falls.

After a scoreless first period, Murdock pulled away late to beat Harrison’s Deuce White 8-4 in the 125-pound final. A third-place state finisher last year, Murdock captured the Cobb County title that eluded him last year, when he was a county runnerup. He improved his season record to 32-8 with the victory over White (30-6).

Kennesaw Mountain’s Rashaud Moore (32-11) was seconds away from winning the 189-pound class, taking an 8-4 lead over Pope’s Trevor Stevens (37-5) into the waning moments before being hit by stalling points that knotted the score 8-8. With new life, Stevens squeezed out a point in overtime and held on to win.

Two other Mustangs placed in the top six. Demarcus Thomas finished fourth at 119, losing the third-place match by pin in 1:37 to Hillgrove’s Dillon Boyette. Antoine Harden went 4-1 in the tournament, capped by a 10-3 win over Campbell’s Jamez Taylor in the 135-pound third-place match.

The Mustangs scored 117 points to finish behind four-time champion Pope (209), Kell (153), Harrison (144) and Marietta (125.5).