MOULTRIE – The Colquitt County wrestling team won all three of its matches in convincing fashion to take its own Packer Classic on Saturday at the high school.
The event was the final tune-up for the Packers before Saturday’s Region 1-7A duals at Camden County.
Colquitt opened with a 64-18 victory over Veterans High and followed with a 51-20 win over Tallahassee’s Lincoln High, one of state’s top programs.
And in their finale, the Packers won seven straight matches to go from a 15-12 deficit to a 51-15 lead in what became a 51-27 victory over former and future Region 1-7A foe Tift County.
“This is the best we have wrestled all year,” coach Benjy Scarbor said.
Lee County was third and Cook finished fourth.
Also competing were Ware County, Cairo, Lowndes, Valdosta, Perry, Jones County, Berrien, Coffee, Northside-Warner Robins, Crisp County and Chiles.
Between the matches against Veterans and Lincoln, the Colquitt County senior wrestlers and senior mat girls were honored.
The senior wrestlers are Turk Daniels, Eric Henson, Billy Lawton, Trenton Dunbar and Ki’Myra Crawford.
The senior mat girls are Kamaya Sanders, Nychelle Jones, Glenda Cinto, Wendy Ajpop, Diamond Barajas, Isela Garcia and Alyssa Henson.
The opening match against Veterans was tied 12-12 before Russell Flowers won a 10-2 decision over R.J. Denson at 157 and the Packers coasted from there.
Flowers’ win was the only match that went past the first period.
Colquitt got pins from Henson, at 132; Randy Smith, at 150; Dunbar, at 165; Rafael King, at 190; Matthew Dillon, at 215; Daniels, at 285; Luis Garcia, at 106; Cruz Grijalva, at 120; and Britton Marshall, at 126.
After dropping a decision at 138 to open its match against Lincoln, the Packers got a pin from Lawton at 144 and never trailed again.
The Packers also got pins from Flowers, Dunbar, Dillon, Daniels and Grijalva.
In the match for the championship against Tift County, the Packers opened with back-to-back pins by Smith at 150 and Flowers at 157.
Three matches later, the Blue Devils led 15-12.
But Dillon followed with his third pin of the day to put the Packers up 18-15.
Daniels, Garcia and John Brady Tillman followed with pins, Grijalva won a decision at 120, and Marshall and Henson finished the run with pins to put the Packers up 51-15.
Colquitt forfeited its final two matches.
Daniels, the defending state runner-up at 285, raised his record to 29-3 with his three pins.
Flowers, who wrestled twice at 157 and once at 165, won three times and is now 25-5.
Randy Smith also won three in a row at 150 and is now 20-6. Dillon and Grijalva also went 3-0.