VALDOSTA — The Lowndes Vikings are the Region 1-AAAAA dual wrestling champions.

Lowndes dominated the region tournament, winning every match by at least 27 points. The Vikings wrapped up the title with a 50-22 win over four-time defending champion Valdosta in the finals.

The region dual championship is the first for Lowndes head coach Spencer Graybeal.

“It feels real good,” Graybeal said. “The last couple of years, I thought we had a chance to win, and now we finally got one.”

“Congratulations to Lowndes for winning the region duals. They’ve got a good team,” Valdosta head coach Benjy Scarbor said.

Both teams knew that pins were going to play a big part in deciding the region winner, and they did. Lowndes earned six pins in the finals, accounting for 36 of its 50 points.

“I thought we wrestled the best we have all year,” Graybeal said. “The kids stepped up and did a great job.”

Lowndes jumped out to a big lead with several pins. Andrew Moody pinned Joel Aguilar in the second round at 135 pounds, then Ryan Beasley pinned Kris Brown in the first period at 140 pounds. Lowndes’ Kade Williamson earned a technical fall when he outscored Joshua Holliman 22-7 at 145 pounds. After Valdosta’s Jake Davis defeated Dillon Wynn 6-3, Lowndes got three more pins. Ricky Smith pinned Demetrius Harden at 160 pounds, Josh Haskins pinned Alex Riley at 171 pounds and Brandon Johnson pinned Chris King at 189. That gave the Vikings a 29-3 lead.

“We won some key matchups, and had some things go our way,” Graybeal said. “Everybody knows it’s about the bonus points (from pins and technical falls), and tonight we were able to get them.”

Valdosta staged a brief rally with four wins in the next six matches. Allen Scruggs earned six points for his team when he pinned Kenny Mason in the first period at 215 pounds. Marshawn Sharp beat Chase Miley 9-6 at 103 pounds. Javon Scott pinned Taylor Alligood in the first period at 119 pounds, then Remone Durr scored a major decision over Kaleb Thomas, 14-2, at 125 pounds.

But Lowndes’ Dion Crenshaw beat Valdosta’s Demarcus Bartee, 3-1, and Jay Durden pinned Robert Jones in the first period at 112 pounds, and the Vikings led 38-22. Durden’s pin gave the Vikings enough points to clinch the region title. Tyler Armstrong (130 pounds) closed out the win for the Vikings with a pin of Thomas Greneker.

Lowndes had been just as dominant in the semifinals, routing Tift County 49-22. Durden, Armstrong, Beasley, Haskins, Johnson and Crenshaw all won by pins. Moody earned a key three points when he beat Jacob Drawdy, one of Tift’s best wrestlers, 11-5. Thomas won a major decision, 11-1.

“The match with Tifton was a little bit closer than last Wednesday’s match was, and we expected that,” Graybeal said. “We were able to win some of the key matchups there.”

The Vikings were even more dominant in the first round, hammering Colquitt County 69-9. Lowndes got either a pin or a forfeit victory from 11 of the 14 weight classes. Thomas, Beasley, Williamson, Wynn, Nicholas Simmons, Haskins and Brandon Johnson all pinned their opponents. Durden won by technical fall, and Crenshaw won by decision.

Winning the region championship should give Lowndes a decent seeding for next weekend’s state dual tournament.