CHS honors first male wrestling state champs since 2012
(From left) CHS Hornet Head Wrestling Coach Destry Walker; GHSA State Wrestling Champion Ja’Shad Wallace (113 lbs); GHSA State Champion Kyle Terrell (285 lbs); Cook County Superintendent of Schools Joy Folsom; and Cook County Board of Education Chairman Chad Sumner.
CHS Male Wrestling Champs, 1983 to 2012
Sam Patton, the first Lady Hornet to become a state champ in wrestling!
During the Cook County Board of Education regular session on Monday, March 10, 2025, Superintendent of Schools Joy Folsom recognized Mr. Destry Walker, Cook High School Wrestling Coach, his coaching staff, and wrestlers for placing third in the State Duals Championship and for placing fifth in the GHSA State Wrestling tournament.
Cook Wrestling placed fifth overall and had a sixth-place winner, a fifth-place winner, two third-place winners, and two first-place winners.
Coach Walker introduced Ja’Shad Wallace and Kyle Terrell as the AA State Winners in their weight classes, 113 lbs and 285 lbs, respectively.
Coach Walker said that despite adversities in their lives, neither young man had missed a day of practice or match, and they embodied the spirit of three C’s in the wrestling program: Care, Commit, Compete.
Ja’Shad, a senior, is the son of Patrice Wallace and Damarrow Bryon.
Ja’Shad has participated in football and track and field while in high school. After graduation, he plans to attend Life University on an athletic scholarship for wrestling. After graduation from college, he plans to pursue a career as a forensic psychologist.
Kyle is the son of Jessica and Kyle Terrell. Kyle has participated in football while in high school. While he is only a junior, he plans to attend trade school to be an electrician after high school.
On Valentine’s Day 2025, Ja’Shad and Kyle became the first Cook High male wrestlers to become state champs since 2012. Back then, Destry Walker, now the Hornets’ head wrestling coach, won the title. And he competed in the same weight class as Kyle, 285 lbs.
The 2025 GHSA Traditional Wrestling State Championships, presented by the U.S. Army, were held February 13-15, 2025, at the Macon Centreplex.
In addition to Ja’Shad and Kyle, GHSA State Wrestling Tournament placers from Cook High School were:
• 106 lbs – Colton Bullard – 6th Place;
• 190 lbs – Jed Rountree – 3rd Place;
• 215 lbs – J’Sun Covington – 5th Place; and
• 145 lbs – Sam Patton – 3rd Place (2024 State Champion at 130 lbs., the first Lady Hornet to become a state champ in wrestling).
Coach Walker and his team not only focus on the sport itself, but they focus on academics. Cook High School Wrestling has the second-highest team GPA in AA Wrestling.