DULUTH — Facing the choice between going quietly or fighting, Joe Pittman fought — and won.

South Forsyth’s senior 171-pounder earned an impressive comeback in his Class AAAAA state final match Saturday, and made a little history for his school in the process.

By topping Camden County’s Kevin Steele at The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Pittman became the first black state champion in South Forsyth history.

It didn’t come easily, though.

At one point in the second period, Steele had earned a 7-2 lead on points and it looked like Pittman’s only chance would be to score a pin.

But Pittman fought back, and by the end of the second period, he had tied the match 7-7 and was going for a pin when the whistle blew. Pittman went on top in the third with an escape point and maintained the lead from there, winning a 10-9 decision and kissing the sky once the final whistle blew.

“I looked at the clock [and thought] ‘It’s not over, I can still come back, just do what my dad taught me, show some heart and just never give up,’” Pittman said.

“I saw him getting tired. When he was on top, I noticed he was getting weaker trying to hold me down, so I knew I had one move in me to get him on his back and that’s exactly what I did.”

Pittman finished 55-0 on the season. He made it to the finals by pinning George Monroe (Alpharetta), earning a 15-0 major decision over Malik Baldwin (Lovejoy), taking a 5-4 decision over Jeremy Wester (McEachern) and slipping past Dillon Dupree (Lassiter) in a 9-7 semifinals decision.

Pittman had dyed one side of his hair royal blue and the other side a silver-white shade for the match. He explained that it was part of a deal he made with teammate and wrestling partner Ryan Marionneaux, who finished third at 103 pounds.

“We made a pact that if we made it to the finals that we would dye our hair blue and silver to match the team colors.
I made it to the finals, so I had to do it,” Pittman said with a grin.

Pittman’s father, Gene Lydick, said Saturday’s result was the culmination of years of hard work for his son.

“He’s wrestled ... for two years, every day ... sometimes two practices, three practices a day. That’s a Division I caliber wrestler right there,” Lydick said.

Indeed, Division I is exactly where Pittman will end up. He’s accepted a wrestling scholarship to the University of Nebraska.

“Everything he accomplished, he accomplished it because he wanted it bad,” coach Zack Elrod said.

“Those last two matches he had were extremely tough, probably the closest matches he’s had all year. He stayed calm, cool and collected the whole time and was able to pull it out in the end.”

Elrod also credited Marionneaux for his third place showing.

“He gave it his all and had a great run in the tournament. Semifinals match, maybe didn’t have our best match, but he regrouped, came back the second day and ... pinned his [opponent] in the consolation finals in 30 seconds. It just shows you he has a great heart,” the coach said.

Also making strong showings in the Class AAAAA brackets were North Forsyth’s Chris O’Connor (third, 135 pounds) and Brian Kennedy (fourth, 189 pounds).

“I’m absolutely thrilled for the two of them,” North coach Travis Jarrard said of O’Connor and Kennedy.

“Chris was in a pretty tough weight class. He really stepped his game up and finished higher than most people thought he could.

“Brian has overcome ... a lot of things to do as well as he did. I was happy for him.”

South finished 12th in the team standings with 55 points. North was 14th with 51 points.