Colquitt wrestler Ethan Sellers

MOULTRIE – Colquitt County High wrestlers were in some crowded venues – including their own campus gym – over the past month looking to rack up both prizes and experience on the mat.

It will be the smallest crowd and the simplest of formats, but the biggest of prizes so far in the 2019-20 season are on the line Saturday at Tift County High. Tifton is the site of the Region 1-7A duals where the top two out of four squads earn a spot in the GHSA championships that take place Jan. 17-18 in Macon.

One of the teams going to Tifton is Camden County High, currently on a streak of five state duals titles in five years. The Wildcats will get the host Blue Devils in round 1 while Colquitt County and coach Benjy Scarbor face the Lowndes Vikings.

“The team hopes to qualify for state duals for the second time in school history,” said Scarbor, referring to Colquitt’s first-ever bid one year ago. “I am very proud of the effort that our wrestlers and coaches have put forth so far to get us here. It will be a tight match with Lowndes and pins are important.”

Wrestling at the region duals begins at 11 a.m.

Both Lowndes and Tift County joined Colquitt in the third annual Packer Classic, which used a dual format last weekend on William Bryant Court. All three region rivals were placed in separate five-team pools, and the Packers swept its competition – Lee County, Houston County, Brantley County and Walton.

Lowndes and Tift each went 2-1 to place second in their pools.

That was on Friday, then on Saturday it was a double-elimination bracket. The Packers ended up placing second to Coffee High 49-18. To reach the finals, Colquitt beat Crawford County 70-12, Islands High 57-21 and Ware County 46-30.

Lowndes defeated Dodge County 54-26 but lost to Ware 45-36. The Vikings came in fifth place after consolation wins over Brantley 51-24, Irwin County 45-27 and Lee County 36-23.

Tift County went 2-2 topping Brantley 48-30 and Houston County 54-12 but falling to Perry and Lee.