Briefs
College wrestling
Back-to-back major decisions, including one from Jared Walker, helped the Washington & Jefferson wrestling team edge McDaniel, 23-22, in a nonconference dual meet at Waynesburg University.
Walker, a South Fayette graduate, earned the 16-7 major decision over Garrett Vandervalk at 165 pounds. Hunter Neely then won 14-5 at 174 to give the Presidents a 23-16 lead.
McDaniel earned a pair of decisions in the final two bouts which left it one point short of a comeback.
W&J’s Manny Dovshek, a Bentworth graduate, won by fall at 125.
Georgia’s Fromm to NFL
Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm is heading to the NFL, despite some struggles during a junior season that led to speculation he might return for one more year with the Bulldogs.
Fromm announced his decision Wednesday in a statement on his Twitter page, one week after leading the Bulldogs to a 26-14 victory over Baylor in the Sugar Bowl.
“This decision and process has been unbelievably difficult,” he wrote. “But through much prayer and counsel, I have decided that it is time for me to take on the next challenge in my life and pursue my lifelong dream of playing in the NFL.”
Fromm threw for a career-high 2,860 yards this season, with 24 touchdowns and just five interceptions. But he posted the lowest completion percentage (60.8) and quarterback rating (141.2) of his college career, leading to him dropping in many NFL draft projections.
Late in the season, he had a stretch of five straight games where he failed to complete 50% of his passes. Once viewed as a potential top 10 pick, some analysts are now predicting that Fromm will fall into the second round.
Still, Fromm will be remembered as one of the best quarterbacks in Georgia history. He was 35-7 record as the Bulldogs’ starter, including three straight appearances in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
As a freshman in 2017, he took over in the season opener after Jacob Eason was injured, made his first college start at Notre Dame the following week and held the job for the rest of his career.
Fromm sparked Georgia to its first SEC title since 2005, a memorable Rose Bowl victory over Oklahoma in the playoff semifinals, and a trip to the national championship game, where the Bulldogs lost to Alabama in overtime.
The past two seasons, Georgia settled for Sugar Bowl bids after losing to Alabama and LSU in the SEC championship game.
Fromm thanked his teammates and coaches, singling our head coach Kirby Smart.
In the NBA
Brandon Ingram had 29 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated Chicago 123-108 on Wednesday night to drop the Bulls to a fifth straight loss.
JJ Redick hit six 3-pointers on his way to 24 points, while rookie Jaxson Hayes had 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks to help the Pelicans win for the seventh time in 10 games.
Zach LaVine scored 32 for the Bulls, who are in the midst of their longest losing streak this season. Thaddeus Young scored 18 in his return to the city where he was born.
- Nikola Jokic scored 26 of his 33 points in the second half, including the winning basket with 7.9 seconds left, and the Denver Nuggets pulled out a 107-106 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Jokic backed down Dorian Finney-Smith on the right side of the lane and got a favorable bounce on his left-handed layup. Jokic, who was coming off a career-high 47 points Monday in a win over Atlanta, scored his first points with 4:31 to play in the first half.
On the Mavericks’ final possession, Finney-Smith’s pass from the baseline to Tim Hardaway Jr. was off the mark.
Luka Doncic led Dallas with 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. The Mavericks played their fifth straight game without Kristaps Porzingis (right knee soreness), who is second on the team in scoring and rebounding.