Devils 2nd at region wrestling duals
Jan. 10—TIFTON — Second place in the Region 1-6A tournament was not the finish Tift County wrestling wanted, but head coach Shawn Watson likes his chances in the state sectionals this weekend.
By falling to Lee County in the championship, Watson thinks the Blue Devils might have landed in a more preferable bracket. "I think things swing our way," he said.
Tift's sectional will be hosted by Lassiter High School in Marietta Jan. 14, champion out of Region 7. As the No. 2 seed, the Devils will first face off against Cherokee County's River Ridge in the first round.
Watson said the Knights are a "very winnable match." Should Tift advance, they would face either Lassiter or Morrow in the finals. He's confident they can win that battle as well. Sectional winners go on the to the elite eight brackets, scheduled for Jan. 21 at Gainesville High School.
Both Donterrius Whitaker and Damion Moate won all three of their matches at the region tournament. Moate won an individual region championship when the Blue Devils were in Class 7A last year. Whitaker has had an outstanding run in 2022-23. "He's been a force to be reckoned with," Watson said.
Several Tift wrestlers went 2-1 at region, which was hosted by Thomas County Central Jan. 7.
The squad started with Northside of Warner Robins, who they beat handily. They won their pool — brackets were two pools of three teams — by defeating Veterans. That sat up a championship showdown against Lee County, a team he said matched up well with the Devils.
Several swing matches did not go Tift's way. "It forced our hand pretty quick," said Watson.
Winning might have set Lee up in a more difficult bracket. The Trojans' sectional includes Pope, which he rates as a quality program. Watson's odds are certainly better than a year ago, when a 4th place region finish set them up against North Paulding.
Thomas County Central finished 3rd in Region 1-6A. Veterans placed 4th. Each region's top four will be at sectionals. In contrast, only the winner of each sectional moves on in state to the final rounds.
