The first time Washington and Farmville Central met was right after New Years. The Pam Pack had some time off to fine tune some things and focus internally after a dominant first half of the season. The boys did seem just a bit rusty in their return to the mat, though. They narrowly escaped with a three-point win at Ayden-Grifton a few days prior.

It was a competitive bout, as expected, when they hosted the Jaguars — the other top contender out of the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference. Washington walked away with a 42-33 win, but coach Chris Penhollow and the Pam Pack knew they could do better.

“We looked at the lineup and found where we could take six (points) from them and add six for us,” Penhollow said. Henry Jennins was inserted at 120 pounds and everybody else shifted up.

“Then we had some kids wrestle a little better.”

The improvements can be at least somewhat traced back to when Washington traveled to the Ram Duals. The boys suffered some tough losses at the hands of Havelock and Orange. Penhollow thinks it served as a bit of a wakeup call and encouraged them more to put in the work to improve.

“It was a tough weekend that got them a little bit grounded,” he said. “Guys came in hard and worked hard for the week leading up to (the Farmville Central) match.”

The team wasn’t allowed to formally practice because of exams. The boys showed plenty of drive by getting together and putting in the time for informal workouts. It included exercises such as running the cross-country trail and hitting the weight room.

“You don’t see that a lot at the other schools. It just goes to show you they wanted it,” Penhollow said.

And they got it. The work resulted in a win over the Jaguars that earned Washington its second straight conference title. Repeating as league champions was one of the goals the Pam Pack set early on.

Now that that’s checked off, they can set their sights on their postseason goals. Saturday marks the conference tournament. Unlike a lot of other sports where a vote determines all-conference honors, wrestlers in each weight class battle it out to determine the best at each level.

The tournament will be at Farmville Central.

The boys are taking it seriously, but they’re also looking ahead to the beginning of the postseason on Tuesday. Penhollow has submitted to the state to host the duals. So far, it’s Washington, Providenve, First Flight and either Dixon or Croatan.

The boys are excited at the prospect of getting a shot at Dixon after getting knocked off by them this time last year.

“We saw them in the second round and they got us pretty good. They went on to win the state championship,” Penhollow said. “Because of what happened with Dixon, I don’t want to say they’re hoping for them, but I think they’d like to see them again.”

Washington’s probable first match will be with First Flight, so sights are set there first.

“They’ve got some solid kids, but they’ve got some serious holes. That’s nothing against them, that’s just how it is sometimes,” Penhollow said. “If we wrestle well, we should be able to beat them. Then we’ll match up against either Dixon or Croatan.”