MOULTRIE —
Colquitt County’s Travis Register stayed with his plan and the result was the Packers first-ever state wresting championship.
Register and Camden County’s Desmond James both went into Saturday’s 220-pound final at the Arena at the Gwinnett Center undefeated and the talk through the tournament that one the two wrestlers’ “zeroes must go.”
It wasn’t Register’s.
He built a 2-0 lead on an illegal hold and an escape and held on to win 2-1 and complete a 34-0 season.
“It feels absolutely amazing to go through all this and win,” the Colquitt County High junior said.
James, a senior, took a 38-0 record into the match but was unable to use his strength against Register.
“I knew it was a good matchup,” said Colquitt County coach Travis Torbert. “We knew (James) was good on his feet, but we knew if we could defend against his set ups, we’d be fine.
“We just outlasted him. Travis did what he had to do. This is all on him.”
Register said, “He’s a senior and he’s real strong, but I knew if I could just last with him, I would be OK.”
There was no scoring in the first period.
Register got his points on the full nelson by James in the second period and then stood up for a second point.
James was unable to get another third period point that would have sent it into overtime.
Register finishes the season with a 34-0 record and is a remarkable 97-16 in his career. He is 65-8 the last two seasons.
Register went into the matchup with James having pinned his other three state tournament opponents: Graben Higgins of South Cobb, Jaquan Eady of Coffee and Levi Satterfield of Cherokee.
Asked how he could top being on a state semifinal football team and winning a state wrestling championship, Register replied he’d just have to win the state championship in both sports next season.
No Packer had ever reached a state championship bout before, although several have taken third-place finishes.
And Colquitt County’s Bryce Giddens turned in his second bronze-medal performance in a row on Saturday when he won his final four state tournament matches.
The Packer senior, wrestling at 285, had won his opening bout over Jeffrey Schumacher of Etowah, but then fell to eventual undefeated state champion Blake Cunningham of Brookwood.
Giddens started his trip through the wrestlebacks by pinning Taylor Ratcliff of Cherokee and Sharrod Pittman of McEachern.
On Saturday, he defeated North Gwinnett’s Alex Stoehr 12-3.
Giddens and Stoehr had split a pair of matches in last week’s Sectional.
After eliminating Stoehr, Giddens still needed to get by Zach Carmin of Collins Hill.
Giddens pinned Carmin in the second period to win the bronze medal.
“After he took that loss, he turned it on,” Torbert said.
Giddens finishes his outstanding Packer wrestling career with a 94-22 record.
As a freshman, he finished second in the region, but his sophomore season was cut short by a bout of pneumonia.
Last year, he was second in the region, sixth in the sectional and third in the state.
This year, he finished second in the region, fourth in the sectional and third at state.
Cunningham won the state championship when he pinned Stacey Wright of Lowndes.
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Related Photos
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Travis Register finished his undefeated junior season with the first state wrestling championship in Packer history. Connie Southwell
Discussion
Register wins Packers' first state wrestling championship
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