VALDOSTA —
Tift County won the Region 1-AAAAA traditional wrestling championship on Saturday at Lowndes High School.
Tift had three individual region champions, had wrestlers place in the top three in 13 of the 14 weight classes and qualified wrestlers for next weekend’s sectional tournament in all 14 weight classes. Tift earned 184 team points, two points more than second-place Lowndes.
“Congratulations to Tifton,” Valdosta head coach Benjy Scarbor said. “Compliments to (Tift head coach) Shawn Watson. He’s a great coach and a great guy in general. He does things the right way.”
Host Lowndes finished second. The Vikings, who won the region dual title last month, had six individual region champions. They also qualified 13 wrestlers for sectionals.
“We won six out of seven finals. We qualified all 13 wrestlers for sectionals. We had six region champions. It was a good day,” Lowndes head coach Spencer Graybeal said. “I’m pleased with my wrestlers.”
Valdosta finished third. The Wildcats had three region champions and qualified 11 wrestlers for sectionals. Coffee finished fourth and Colquitt County was fifth.
Valdosta’s Marshawn Sharp won his fourth region championship. He became only the third wrestler in Wildcat history to win four region titles. His cousins, Jamal and Jovan Scott, were the other two.
“I’m pretty excited,” Sharp said. “This has been a goal since my freshman year.”
Sharp was the 1-AAAAA region champion at 103 pounds as a freshman and the 112 pound champion as a sophomore and a junior, and also won the state championship at 112 pounds last year. He pinned his opponent in the second period of the 126 pound final on Saturday.
“I’m going to enjoy this, but then I’m going to get back to work on Monday, and get ready for sectionals,” Sharp said.
Sharp’s twin brother Darshawn won his second region championship, adding the 113 pound region title to the 103 pound title he won a year ago.
Valdosta’s Kris Brown won his first region title in his senior year. In the 170 pound final, Brown was tied 0-0 with Tift’s Gunnar Schemmel heading into the third period, but earned six points in the third period and won the match 6-0.
Scarbor was pleased with his team’s performance. Eight of the 13 Wildcats that competed on Saturday were first-year wrestlers.
“I’ve got to be satisfied the way it came out. We’ve got two real strong competitors in front of us,” Scarbor said. “(Lowndes and Tift) are both very high quality teams this year. They’re loaded with experience, and we don’t really have a lot. We had a great first two rounds. We were three points out of first after the first two rounds.”
Lowndes had the most individual region champions on Saturday. Matthew Moody (145 pounds) won his second consecutive region title. Chad Maldonado won the region championship at 120 pounds. Jake Croft was the 132 pound champion. Mark Stubbs took first at 160 pounds. Brandon Bell was the 182 pound region champion.
In the final match of the day, the 285 pound final, Lowndes’ Stacey Wright and Colquitt’s Bryce Giddens were tied at 1-1 with 28 seconds left in the match when Wright took Giddens down to the mat. That takedown earned Wright his second consecutive 285 pound region title.
Lowndes’ Chase Miley finished second at 126 pounds. Jose Castanon (113 pounds) and Byrd Ison (152) took third, while Jay Durden (138), Brian Bell (170), Austin Ogburn (195) and LaRenick Rollins (220) took fourth.
For Valdosta, Derek Smith (106), Reggie Dennis (120) and Clarence Williams (138) finished second. James Lane (182) was third, and Norman Davis (132), Jarvese Gillard (152) and Deion Williams (160) placed fourth.
The other region champions were: Tift County’s Nick Campbell (106), Adrian Martin (138) and Beau Bergeron (195), Coffee’s George Johnson (152) and Colquitt’s Travis Register (220).
The top four finishers in the region tournament qualify for the sectional tournament, which will be held next Friday and Saturday in Tifton.
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Related Photos
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Valdosta’s Kris Brown attempts to flip over Coffee’s Devante Jerrigan during a match at Saturday’s Region 1-AAAAA tournament at Lowndes High School. Brown was the 170 pound region champion. Ed Hooper | The Valdosta Daily Times
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Lowndes’ LaRenick Rollins pins Tift County’s Jacobie Dixon in the final seconds of their Region 1-AAAAA tournament match. Rollins had trailed the entire match, and was seconds away from losing. Ed Hooper | The Valdosta Daily Times
Discussion
Tift County wins region wrestling championship
Valdosta’s Sharp earns fourth 1-AAAAA title
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