VALDOSTA — Valdosta High will try to win its fifth straight Region 1-AAAAA dual wrestling championship Saturday. But the Wildcats know it won’t be easy this year.

Valdosta, Lowndes and Tift County are very close in talent, and VHS head coach Benjy Scarbor feels any of the three teams could emerge victorious today in the tournament, which begins at 10 a.m. at Lowndes High School. In fact, he thinks his team is a slight underdog this year.

“It’s a tight one this year,” Scarbor said. “I think Lowndes is the team to beat, because they’re stronger overall than us or Tifton. They beat us earlier this season. We’re stronger at some weights and they’re stronger at some weights.”

Lowndes defeated Valdosta earlier this season, then defeated Tift last Wednesday. But Vikings head coach Spencer Graybeal expects both teams to be stronger today.

“It’s pretty close between us, Valdosta and Tifton,” Graybeal said. “It’s going to be exciting. It depends on who gets the pins in different matches, and who’s on that day.”

Valdosta and Lowndes both bring solid teams to the meet. Last week, Valdosta finished second at the Wildcat Invitational, while Lowndes was fifth. Five Wildcats won their individual weight classes, while Lowndes had six wrestlers place, including 135-pound winner Andrew Moody.

A year ago, Valdosta and Lowndes met in the finals, in a dual that came down to the final match. With his team holding a 26-25 lead, Valdosta’s Allen Scruggs, who would later win the 189-pound individual region championship and finish third at state, pinned his opponent in the first round and gave the trophy to the Wildcats.

As the defending region champion, Valdosta is the top seed in the tournament. That means the Wildcats wouldn’t face Lowndes or Tift until the finals, while the Vikings and Blue Devils could meet in the semifinals. But unlike past years, when the losing team in the finals automatically took second, this year, that team must wrestle another match for second after the finals.

“We want to go to state,” Graybeal said. “This year, the state tournament’s going to be seeded, so that makes being the No. 1 seed even more important.”

Valdosta will face Northside in the first round, then if the Wildcats win, they will face the Houston County-Coffee winner in round 2. Lowndes wrestles Colquitt County in round 1, then would face either Tift County or Warner Robins in the semifinals.

A dual is a team competition, where two teams face off in 14 individual matches, one in each weight class. The team that earns the most points wins. A pin earns a team six points, a technical fall (winning by 15 or more points) is worth five points, a major decision is worth four points and a decision gets a team three points. The coaches will be hoping their wrestlers can get them pins.

“In a dual meet, it’s all about pins,” Scarbor said. “We need pins from our best wrestlers, or at least techs, and we can’t afford to give up pins. The team that can get pins and not give up any has a good shot at winning the tournament.”

“You’ve got to score the bonus points, and not give the other team a chance to get any,” Graybeal said. “(A Lowndes-Valdosta match) would definitely come down to who gets pins.”

Looking at a possible Valdosta-Lowndes match, both Scarbor and Graybeal see weight classes where one has the advantage over the other. For example, Valdosta has 2008 region champions wrestling at 119 (Javon Scott) and 215 pounds (Scruggs), while Lowndes has former region champions at 130 (Tyler Armstrong), 135 (Moody), 145 (Kade Williamson) and 171 pounds (Josh Haskins).

“It’s sort of shifted. Last year, (Lowndes) was stronger at the lower weights and I was stronger at the bigger weights. Now I’m strong at the smaller weights and at 215 and heavyweight, and he’s stronger at the middle weights,” Scarbor said.