After losing to Lowndes in the finals, Valdosta had a dogfight with Tift County, battling for second place and the other spot in the state duals. But a last-match win gave the Wildcats a 37-35 victory, and a trip to state.

“We’re going back to state with a young team,” Scarbor said. “We did the best we could. We’ve got a lot of injuries, and we’ll have to get them repaired before February gets here. Qualifying for state was one of our goals, and we did that.”

The Wildcats fell behind 19-0 early in the match, but rallied with some big wins. But Tift still led 35-34 heading into the final match.

With a spot in the state tournament on the line, Valdosta sent one of its younger wrestlers, Aguilar, to the mat against Alan Coleman of Tift. With his teammates cheering him on, Aguilar wrestled one of the best matches of his career. He took control in the second period, maintained the lead in the third and won the match 10-5 to put his team in the championship.

“Joel’s replacing another guy who’s injured. We needed that win, and he won the match,” Scarbor said. “Coming down to the last match is very emotional. Hopefully that can give us a charge for practice this week.”

Valdosta has made the state dual tournament every year it has been held. The Wildcats were chasing their fifth straight region title, but fell short in the finals.

In the consolation match, Tift won the first four matches. Then Riley started to turn the tide in Valdosta’s favor when he pinned Christopher Barber at 171. Tift’s Justin Hasty won by pin at 189, making it 25-6, but then some of Valdosta’s top wrestlers stepped on the mat, and the rally began.

Scruggs pinned James Lawson at 215. Then Bartee, fighting through a cramp for much of the match, pinned Buck Benson at 285. Sharp followed with a 10-1 major decision at 103, cutting the Blue Devils’ lead to 25-22.

Tift’s Jeremy Bozeman scored a pin at 112, but Scott responded with a pin at 119, making it a three-point match once again. Then Durr gave Valdosta the lead, 34-29, with a pin at 125. But Jarrod Heath put Tift back on top with a pin at 130. That set the stage for the final match, and Aguilar came through for the Wildcats.

In the first round, Valdosta pounded Northside 61-12. The Wildcats then dispatched Houston County 60-18 in the semifinals.

The state dual meet will be held Friday and Saturday.