MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County High wrestling team finished 14th out of 16 teams in Saturday’s Blue Devil Invitational in Tifton, but Ricky Grier had an excellent meet for the Packers.

A senior first-year wrestler, Grier won three matches to advance to the championship round, where he was finally defeated by Chris Daniels of Valdosta.

“He finally showed some attitude when he got beat Saturday,” Colquitt County coach Greg Tillery said of Grier, who wrestles in the 215-pound weight class. “Not a bad attitude, but an attitude of not liking losing. He felt he could have won the tournament. “

Grier opened the tournament with pins of Taylor O’Hearn of Lee County, Jordan Black of Lowndes and Jarvis Jones of Thomas County Central, before getting pinned by Daniels.

“This is his first year,” Tillery said of Grier, who also played fullback and defensive tackle on the Colquitt County football team last fall. “He is very coachable and has listened to what Coach (Kevin) Sumner has taught him and for the most part applied it on the mat.

“He has plenty of room for improvement, but is learning some new things each week. He is finally getting into better wrestling shape. He is not there yet, but is getting closer. He is probably the biggest surprise this year to me. A great kid in all areas.”

McEachern won the Blue Devil with a 241.5. Henry County was second with a 220 and was followed by Valdosta, 147.5; Cook, 127; Tift County, 119.5; Madison County, 108; Lowndes, 102; Coffee, 77; Fitzgerald and Turner County, 69.5; Glynn Academy, 65; Lee County, 59; Thomas County Central, 49; Colquitt County, 45; Irwin County, 43.5; and Northside-Warner Robins, 40.

“That was probably the best wrestling I have seen, except for the state tournament,” Tillery said.

Grier’s second-place finish was the best for the Packers.

Defending Region 1-AAAAA champion Antonio Sutton finished fourth at 285, getting a bye and a win over Tim McGee of McEachern, before losing to eventual champion Brent Russell of Madison County 5-3 and to Jonathan Parker of Henry County 3-1.

Nathan Fowler and Beau Weathers each opened the tournament with a victory.

Fowler, at 112, won over Josh Walker of Tift County, before falling to Matt Smith of McEachern and Zack Whiddon of Turner County.

Weathers, at 135, defeated Josh Lovett of Cook in his first match.

He then lost to Anthony Fretwell of Henry County and Daniel Cannon of Lee County.

At 145, Shawn Jimenez lost his first match, falling to Justin Rozier of Lowndes.

But Jimenez came back to win over Chuck Best of Madison County before being eliminated by Josh McDuffie of Irwin County.

Colquitt County’s Trey Brooks had perhaps the most difficult draw.

In the first round, he had to go up against Clint Cawley, the two-time state champion from Turner County and was pinned.

“He wrestled him very well,” Tillery said of Brooks.

Brooks lost his second match as well, falling to Josh Haskins of Lowndes.

The Packers will travel to Thomas County Central on Friday for a 5:30 p.m. match against the Yellow Jackets and Lee County.

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, the Packers varsity and junior varsity wrestlers will meet Lee County and Tift County at 5:30 p.m. in Leesburg.

The Region 1-AAAAA tournament will be held Feb. 10 at Coffee High.