The Long County Blue Tide wrestling teams have had successful inaugural seasons with the girls taking second place at the area meet Friday, January 6 and the boys winning the region in their first season on Saturday, January 7.

On Saturday, January 14, the boys hosted the team sectional dual meet to decide who would advance to the state meet next Saturday. Lafayette, Hart County, and Hephzibah all made the trip to Ludowici vying for the sectional trophy.

The Tide took to the mat first to take on the Lafayette Ramblers. It was a slow start as the Tide lost their first two matches, but back-to-back wins gave them some momentum.

Christian Jones and Jerome Brown both won their matches with first period pins in the two heaviest weight classes.

The Tide lost the next three matches, one by forfeit and two by first period pins, to get into another hole.

Andre Mills took the mat next and wrestled to a tough 13-4 decision loss. Michael Midgorden followed that up with another decision loss, this time a 10-9 contest.

Jaevion Felton took his opponent to the third period before falling at the 1:02 mark. Kolton Brown pulled the Tide’s third victory, winning with a 10-9 decision.

Despite the Tide’s hard-fought victories throughout the match, the fell to the Ramblers 61-15, seeing their quest for a state duals championship come to an end.

The team still has four matches left on the year, two at home on Friday, January 20 against Pierce County and Windsor Forest and Thursday, January 26 against Bacon County and Montgomery County. The latter will serve as senior night.

The team also will look toward the individual area tournament on Friday, February 3 and Saturday, February 4 at Calvary Day School in Savannah.