Wayne Grandy
MOULTRIE — Like the Colquitt County boys basketball team that is scheduled to open its season this weekend, the Packers wrestling team will be without some football players when it hits the mats for its first match today.
A young Colquitt County wrestling team will get its first taste of competition in the 2009-2010 season when it travels to Lovejoy High in Hampton today for the two-day Tara Classic.
The 16-team, six-mat tournament will feature both varsity and junior varsity competition.
Colquitt County will be the only South Georgia team in the field.
Also competing in the double-elimination event are Central-Carrollton, Jonesboro, Upson-Lee, Lakeside-DeKalb, Redan, Griffin, Mundy’s Mill, Westlake, Harris County, Langston Hughes, Mt. Zion, Forest Park, Charles Drew, Druid Hills and Tri-Cities.
“I think we have a decent chance to finish in the middle to the top part of the field,” said coach Travis Torbert. “But we’ve got a lot of young guys and a lot of new guys.”
In fact, Torbert said that as many as 10 freshmen could wrestle today.
Some of the Packers young wrestlers have some experience, but three — Cameron Boyd, Arin Thompson and Creig Harris — have never wrestled before this season.
When the Packers compete today, veteran junior Jose Zunun will wrestle at 112.
The 119 spot will be held by either Johnny Ward, Anderson Glenn or Matthew Deal.
The two who do not wrestle in the varsity competition will be in the junior varsity division.
Ian Ramos will wrestle at 125 and Will Burt at 130.
Colquitt will have no wrestler at 135, although Aaron Gondor, a sophomore transfer from Pelham ineligible for varsity competition, will be in that weight class in the junior varsity match.
John Boatwright will be at 140 and Marquavious Clark wil be at 145.
The Packers will have no varsity wrestler at 152, although Thompson, a senior who transferred from Westover, will be in that weight class in the junior varsity meet.
Antonio Slaughter will be at 160; Chris Johnson at 171; Travis Register at 189; Quan Henry at 215; and Dalton Dillon at 285.
Dillon, Henry, Register, Boatwright, Ramos, Ward and Glenn are freshmen.
The only seniors are Clark, Slaughter and Johnson, although senior Dillon Underwood is expected to wrestle at 189 or 215 when he joins the team after football season.
The rest of the Packers roster included Taylor Greene, Matt Norman, Richard Smith, Caleb Collins, Arturo Sierra, Raekwon Scott, Dylan Royal, Mitchell Adderton, Ronnie Caldwell, Calvin Blount, Blake Segers, Ikeem Blakely, Mason Jones, Tareik McNeal, Jay Jones, Blake White and Nicholas Masonoff.
Junior Tommy Marshall, sophomore Bryce Giddens and freshman John Gray, all still with the football team, will compete for a spots.
Torbert will be assisted this season by Kevin Sumner and Kirby Bodiford.
The Packers’ first home match will be at 5 p.m. on Dec. 3 against Lawton Chiles and Dougherty at the Pineland gymnasium.
