VALDOSTA — When Jessie Tuggle clutched the three-foot tall trophy Monday and turned toward the thousands in the home stands of Bazemore-Hyder Stadium, the place erupted in cheers.

Valdosta officially became TitleTown.

ESPN returned to the Valdosta High School football stadium for a 2 p.m. taping Monday, which aired later in the day, declaring Valdosta as TitleTown USA.

“I think it’s great for the community,” Valdosta State football coach David Dean said. “It says a lot for all those who set the precedent early in high school football, and every sport which takes place in Valdosta. It’s exciting to be part of TitleTown.”

The news hit the area early Monday morning and spread around noon, when people began showing up at the stadium.

ESPN then let the world know during the 6 p.m. showing of “SportsCenter.”

Not only were fans, athletes and coaches of Valdosta State, Valdosta, Lowndes, Valwood, Open Bible and Georgia Christian in attendance, but also there were Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, Sen. Tim Golden (D-Valdosta), Valdosta Mayor John Fretti, City Manager Larry Hansen, the Georgia Bridgemen, the Valdosta Marchin’ Cats and others.

“We’re obviously ecstatic about the TitleTown USA designation,” Mayor Fretti said. “And we’re going to make the nation proud of Valdosta carrying this title.”

Valdosta received 29.2 percent of the votes on an Internet vote held Wednesday through Sunday.

Out of the 20 finalists, just the top six were mentioned during the “SportsCenter” presentation of TitleTown USA. Parkersburg, W.Va. finished second, with 24.4 percent of the votes, followed by Green Bay, Wis. (11.2 percent), Massillon, Ohio (6.7 percent), Boston (5.8 percent) and Gainesville, Fla. (5.2 percent.)

Valdosta hit the voting en masse and picked up support from throughout the country. That included Donna Nix, the mother of ESPN reporter Wendi Nix, who voted around 100 times for Valdosta after her daughter visited the city for the TitleTown USA taping on July 9. Donna Nix was so impressed with the showing of Valdosta back on July 16 she tried to find out if the town was the winner before it was allowed to become public Monday afternoon.

“She called me and wanted to know where I was, and I said TitleTown USA, I can’t tell you where, but I’m in TitleTown,” Wendi said. “She asked, ‘Is it Valdosta, is it Valdosta?’”

Indeed, it was Valdosta, and although word got out Monday morning, ESPN broadcast it to the world that evening.

“We were able to really showcase Valdosta to the entire nation,” Cagle said. “This victory really solidifies in my mind the true national champion that Valdosta is.”

Cagle has been on a week-long tour to various media outlets throughout Atlanta and the state of Georgia trying to urge the state to vote for the South Georgia city. The campaigning and relentless voting from Valdosta paid off as the city picked up nearly 30 percent of an estimated one million votes.