MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County wrestling team needed pins in its final two matches in the Region 1-7A duals at Camden County on Saturday to advance to the state prelims.

The Packers got them and will be at West Forsyth on Saturday to take a shot at reaching the state finals.

Colquitt will face Region 6 champion West Forsyth in its first prelim match.

If the Packers can manage to get past the Wolverines, they will face the winner of the match between Region 3 runner-up Harrison and Peachtree Ridge.

Colquitt must win both matches to advance.

The top eight preliminary round survivors will move on to the Class 7A state championship, to be held Jan. 21 at Buford High School.

The Packers were seeded No. 5 in the region tournament and had to get past No. 4 Valdosta to be assured a berth in the prelims.

Colquitt trailed the Wildcats 37-26 with just the 215-pound and 285-pound matches remaining.

Sophomore Matt Dillon put the Packers in a position to win with a pin in the second period.

Junior JaQuavion “Turk” Daniels, who got a late start to his wrestling season while helping the Packers football team advance to the state semfinals, gave the Packers the 38-37 win with his third-quarter pin.

While the victory over the Wildcats clinched a berth in the prelims, the Packers still had to face defending state duals champion Camden County in the second round.

Another outstanding Camden County team won 82-0.

Colquitt came up short in its final match, falling to Lowndes 43-28.

The Vikings, who will go to the state tournament as Region 1’s No. 3 team, lost to Richmond Hill 36-35 in the semifinals before Camden claimed the region title with a 67-6 win over Richmond Hill.

“We made some mistakes in the dual, but survived to the next round,” Colquitt County coach Benjy Scarbor said.

In the win over Valdosta, the Packers also got a 9-4 decision by Britton Marshall at 120 pounds; a pin by Eric Henson at 126; a pin by Billy Lawton at 144; a 19-4 major decision victory by Michael Bledsoe at 150; and a pin by Russell Flowers at 157.

In the loss to Lowndes, the Packers got pins by Marshall at 120, Randy Smith at 144, Flowers at 157 and Trenton Dunbar at 165 and a decision by freshman Cristobal Camarena at 113.