MOULTRIE — Colquitt County has started a club wrestling program this year and the hopes are it will pay off as the one in Lowndes County has.

Lowndes County has had a club wrestling program for several years and its benefits were apparent in a three-team middle school match at the Pineland Gymnasium on Thursday.

Colquitt County fell to Lowndes Middle School 48-27 and to Hahira 63-18.

“Those two teams are pretty good,” Colquitt County middle school wrestling coach Travis Torbert said.

Torbert said the experience level was the difference.

“Their sixth-graders have been wrestling for three or four years,” he said. “Ours have wrestling for four weeks.

“We are hoping with our (club) program, that in three or four years we start to see it begin to pay off.”

Colquitt County opened its middle school season on Saturday in Tifton by defeating Lee County and Tift County, but losing on a tiebreaker to Ben Hill.

Against Lowndes on Thursday, the middle school Packers got pins from Coty Thomas, Patrick Melton and Juan DeLeon and decision from Jamarius Willis, NaBrian Page and McCants Plymel.

Colquitt County’s 18 points against Hahira came on pins by Jacob Hall, Coleman Neal and Tay Spivey.

The Packers will travel to Valdosta on Saturday to take part in the Lowndes Middle School tournament.

The tournament, which will start at 9 a.m., is expected to draw some 10 teams.

“We should get some good experience,” Torbert said. “We will match up better in a tournament than we do in a dual match.”

The middle school team will be back at the Pineland Gymnasium at 5 p.m. Tuesday to meet Bainbridge. Colquitt will face Cook at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, at Pineland.