Tift County finishes 3rd at Blue Devil Invitational

Published 3:00 pm Tuesday, December 6, 2022

TIFTON — One Tift County team placed 3rd at the annual Blue Devil Invitational Dec. 3, but head coach Shawn Watson is looking at more than just results for his squad.

Watson said his goal was to get as many wrestlers as much mat time as possible. While the main crew of Devils went 3-2, his other squad entered at meet won two duals and, for most of the day, a mat was free for junior varsity wrestlers to get reps.

“C” teams were good news for the 3rd place Blue Devils. Their wins were over Cairo, Cook and Colquitt County to earn the top spot in their pool. “We have a pretty good match,” he said against Lowndes. “We lost three (matches) in a row … that made [the score] look a lot worse.” Lee County won over Tift for a true 2nd place. By that time he admitted his wrestlers were beginning to feel the effects of a full day of competition.

“I’m proud of them,” said Watson.

Lowndes was the overall winner, with Lee County finishing 2nd. Twelve teams from 11 schools participated in the duals.

Donterrius Whitaker was a definite exception to the wear and tear. Whitaker won all five of his matches, said Watson. Damion Moate had a strong day, though there was one match against Lee County Watson said “I wish we could re-run.” His opponent, Aiden Chilson, won 3rd at the 2022 state meet.

Though Watson quickly said that Tift still has work to do, all signs are positive for the program. Numbers are very high at the high schools level and the middle school team has become a state powerhouse. From those teams, Watson has brought in Zac Martin to be part of the high school coaching staff. Rayder Schemmel, Britt Wilson and Billy King continue to work with the middle school.

Time on the mats at the Blue Devil Invitational also gave opportunities to the Lady Devils on the team. That program is not only growing, but it’s Watson’s hope that Tift can have a full duals team eventually.

Tift’s schedule will remain busy in December.

Varsity competes at the Hornet Duals Dec. 10 in Adel, with the Jefferson Invitational, Packers Duals and Union Grove Duals awaiting. Junior varsity is penciled in to go to the Panther Invitational, the Wildcat Invitational and the Tournament of the Titans in Ashburn.

Once the calendar turns over to 2023, the Blue Devils’ competition includes the Region 1-6A team duals at Thomas County Central Jan. 7 and the 1-6A individual tournament at Veterans High in February.