By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

He pushed them, prodded them, and demanded that they give more.

On Friday, one day before the Callaway Classic, LaGrange High wrestling coach Scooter Weathers put his men through the ringer during a challenging practice.

The following day, LaGrange went out and posted a 5-0 record to win the Callaway Classic at Callaway High.

After going 4-0 in pool competition, LaGrange outlasted Callaway 48-36 in the championship match.

“We had a hard practice (on Friday),” Weathers said. “They were fussed at it, and pushed and motivated. They responded. They came out today with a totally different purpose, and they wrestled.”

Matt Callaway, who won each of his matches on Saturday, said winning the tournament “was a great morale booster for sure. We’ve just got to keep practicing like we did yesterday.”

Jacob Anderson felt Friday’s practice helped propel the team to Saturday’s winning performance.

“We had probably the hardest practice of the entire year, and I know it just carried over,” Anderson said. “I’m really proud of the way we responded.”

Colin Cavender added that “I’m proud that we actually went out here and did our moves, did what our coaches told us.”

LaGrange opened pool competition with a 54-11 win over Chapel Hill, and it then beat McIntosh 54-12, Haralson County 45-22 and Mount Zion 58-24 before edging Callaway  to win the title.

“Our guys wrestled hard and were more physical than we have been all year,” Weathers said. “We were missing two wrestlers in our lineup today and the guys didn’t let that bother them. We spotted each team a 12-point lead and battled adversity. I really thought we competed well. We seemed to gain more and more confidence each match. I keep saying how young we are and we as coaches know what they can do and they showed it today.”

One of LaGrange’s top wrestler was freshman Austin Skiff, who went 5-0.

Skiff is a brand-new wrestler, and he’s making tremendous strides this season.

Earlier this season, Skiff won a junior-varsity championship in the Chattahoochee River Wrestling Association tournament.

“I feel like every single practice I’ve gotten better because of all my teammates pushing me,” Skiff said. “And coach John (Rich) and coach Weathers, they’re amazing, and so are coach Shirey and coach Matt.”

Also going 5-0 in the Callaway Classic was Alex Morrissette, and Matt Callaway was 4-0.

Joseph Bozeman and Christian Whaley were 4-1, Colin Cavender went 3-0, Colton Clines posted a 3-1 record, and Isaiah Coleman and Jacob Anderson were 3-2.

Charles Ray and Qua Thornton were 2-0, Asa Leath was 2-1, and Devin Harris, Tavarrious Reed and Jaden McCurty each won one match.

Weathers was appreciative of Callaway, and its coach Jason Boatman, for hosting the tournament.

“Thank you to coach Boatman for running a great tournament,” Weathers said. “He is doing an outstanding job with the Callaway program.”

LaGrange will be at Troup on Friday for the area duals.