TIFTON — So far, so good for the Tiftarea Academy Panther wrestling team.

At last week’s GISA Region 3-AAA tournament, all five of the school’s varsity wrestlers qualified for the state tournament. Now, the goal is to see what they can do at state, which begins today in Americus.

“It’s great,” said head coach Brian McGahee. “The guys have worked hard.”

The Storm Dome in Americus is the host site for the tourney, which will continue through Saturday.

Alex Richter (132 pounds), Zach Willis (145), Jonathan Turner (160), Michael Garvey (170) and Austin Woods (182) will all be competing.

Woods, Willis and Richter will each have a first round bye, according to brackets posted by the GISA. Turner will start against Will Sasser of Gatewood and Garvey’s opponent will be Garrett Williams of Bulloch Academy.

They are all focused and ready, he said. “They all have their eyes on the prize.”

Willis has had the most success at state. He won the last two state titles at 138, was fourth place as a freshman and qualified in 2012. Woods is in his fourth tournament and was third place last year. Richter will be in his third tournament and Garvey his second. Only Turner is a newcomer.

McGahee enjoys that the meet is a relatively close drive away. “Our fanbase can come,” he said.

Despite a small crew, he said that they finished third in region, with two region champs (Richter and Willis), a runner-up, a 3rd place and a 4th place.

“We’d like more numbers,” he said, “but our quality speaks for itself.”

It has allowed this year’s group to become close.

He described Tiftarea wrestling as being “a little family” that keeps in constant contact.