Abbeville – The wrestling program at Abbeville High appears to be thriving in the 2023-24 season as both male and female grapplers are competing at a high level.
Abbeville fields a Co-ed team in most varsity matches but the female members also branch out on their own and compete in duals and individual events, with great success. For the past few seasons, the school has not had enough participation to put a full team on the mat but the Panthers have still competed well with the numbers they have out.
Coach Bill Glace, himself a former Abbeville wrestler and a 2008 graduate, is quite pleased with the performance of all of his athletes. He is excited about the new wrestlers that have taken up the sport and are finding success as well.
“We are having a really good year for us,” Glace reports. “We have a good number of “new blood” that has joined the team, as well as some returning studs that are all contributing to the success of the team.”
Of the first-year performers, Glace mentions Collins Brown, Brice Williams, Parker Henderson and Caleb Hanson. The standout of that group is Brown, who was runner up at our Area Qualifier at BHP, won the Upperstate Qualifier at Hillcrest, and qualified for the Carolina Invitational at Lexington.
“This group has made contributions for varsity while really finding success in the junior varsity circuit tournaments that are sponsored by the South Carolina Wrestling Coaches Association. These guys are making huge strides, will continue to develop, and be expected to really stand out in years to come.”
The returners, who lift this year’s team up and really do the heavy lifting, are Jantzen Barnes, Carter Eby, Na'Gaevien Calhoun and senior Zack Arrowood.
“These guys have been finding a lot of success on the varsity mat (in duals), as well as in the individual tournaments. We are hopeful that these guys and, fingers crossed, a few others will find themselves competing in Anderson the last weekend in February,” Glace said.
The last weekend of February is the Class AA state individual tournament. Wrestlers must qualify through region and Upper State tournaments.
On the girls side, Abbeville does not have a fully-sanctioned team but has been competing in several all-girl individual tournaments and duals, with solid successes. The girls are 3-2 in dual matches with two wins over Dixie and a win over North Augusta. The two losses came to Greenwood by a total of nine points.
“They have done really well at the individual tournaments all year with their last one being at the Bearcat Invitational where Dallas McCurry and Kylee Jo Price finished third, and Brittany Gordon and Cecilia Cramer finished in fourth.
“We have one young lady that has come out this year as a senior, Natalie Guire, and she has really been tearing it up. She has placed in a lot of tournaments and compiled a record of 18-4 with 13 pins.”
Glace says the true breakout season has been turned in my Brandi Guzman. A second-year wrestler, Guzman has come into her own this year.
“She really put the team on her back the other night in the dual with Greenwood and then with Dixie when she pinned both of her opponents which was the surprise upsets in both of those duals and was a real determining factor for both duals,” Glace said.”
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