The Ellis wrestling team had two sure wins to close the season. After belting Lexington and Thomasville by 72 and 78 points in December, the Jaguars whipped them by 45 and 72 last week.

In a 66-21 decision over visiting Lexington on Jan. 17, Ellis actually lost four of seven weight classes against the Yellow Jackets’ seven-man team. The margin was lopsided because eight Jaguars – Jacob Perry, Bryson Parker, Emerson Belk, Charlie Frye, Ashton Douglas, Tyler Tilley, Jeremy Flores and Robby Landry – received forfeits. Ellis got pins from Tyler Snyder at 106, Matthew Downey at 126 and Isaac Webb at 160.

The next day, Ellis rolled up a 78-6 win at Thomasville. Perry (83), Belk (120), Downey (126), Josh Blizard (132) and Webb (160) had pins. Snyder (113) and Logan Ramsey (152) won decisions. Taking seven forfeits were Ethan Deas, Parker, Zane Smith, Frye, Douglas, Tilley and Flores.

Webb was the star with a 10-0 record that included eight pins. Tilley, Flores, Blizard, Downey and Perry all went 8-2 as Ellis finished 7-3 for the ninth straight winning season for the 10th-year school. Frye and Snyder went 7-3. Nate Whitley, who was injured late in the season, went 5-1.

“I feel like we improved a lot throughout the season,” said coach Justin Perry, who is 25-9 in three years. “We were in every match, even the ones we lost. The guys worked extremely hard, especially the sixth graders. They really bought into the coaches and the system we try to run. I believe if we could have put together a full lineup all year we would have been very hard to beat.”

Perry is confident about the prospects of 2017-18.

“We have over 10 sixth graders,” he said. “I believe we have 13 that will return next year. Six of the 13 started at some point during the season. We also have eight seventh graders that should return next year. If we can spread some of the kids out, we should have a great season next year.”