Clover Heavyweight Avoids Pin To Help Clinch 5A DI State Championship

By WORTHY EVANS

Contributing Writer

LEXINGTON — Clover heavyweight wrestler Messiah Outing’s mission at the 5A Division 1 state championship match Wednesday night was not to get pinned.

Going into the 285-pound match between Outing and James Island’s Steven Hernandez at the Lexington High School gym, the Blue Eagles held a 34-28 advantage, and a pin by the Trojan wrestler would subject the matchup to tiebreak criteria established by the National Federation of High School Sports.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match,” Clover head coach Michael Fitzgerald said. “We’d wrestled them earlier in the season, we’d seen them at other places, and it was going to be a grind,” Fitzgerald said. “there was a late move there at the end that really put us in a position to win, but yeah it was a nail-biter to say the least.”

Outing accomplished the mission and spared the finer points of determining a winner. Through three rounds and six minutes of action, Outing’s defensive posture resisted every effort Hernandez exerted to turn Outing’s shoulders to the mat. While Hernandez won with a score of 8-1, his victory brought only three points to James Island—while Outing’s resistance secured a 34-31 victory and gave the Blue Eagles their first state wrestling championship.

“We talk about it with our guys all the time, it’s not necessarily the guy who gets the pin, it’s the guy who doesn’t get pinned,” Fitzgerald said.

Taking points away from their opponent was the strategy for the Blue Eagles from the start.

Keygan Waters avoided a pin from James Island’s Robby Baty in the 106 match. Even though the Trojans took a 3-0 lead, the Blue Eagles won the next three classes—Beckham Boggess pinned James Baty at 113, Luke Hudson won a technical fall over Caedman Stoyles at 120, and Aiden Santiago won by decision over Sam Harris at 126—to take a 15-3 lead.

James Island’s Luke Ridgeway got the Trojans back into it with a pin of Henry Parker at 132, and Trent Collins followed up with a decision over Jamison Smithers at 138 to make it 15-13 Clover.

After that match the teams exchanged victories in each weight class.

Clover’s Xavier Gonzales pinned Jacob Rasamee at 144, but James Island’s Sebastian Bruno won by decision Keller Brunnelson at 150.

Clover’s Tyrone Norris III won by a technical fall over Mikah Brown at 157, but James Island’s Mark Johnson pinned Casey Roden at 165.

Clover’s Owen Tatum won by decision over Marcus Van Sickle at 175, but James Island’s Copeland Grooms pinned Will Naves at 190.

At that point Clover clung to a 29-28 lead, but when Ethan Vought won by technical fall of James Island’s Morris White at 215, the Blue Eagles were in a position to win—all that was left for Clover to clinch the win was for Outing to outlast Hernandez.

“We thought we had a couple of places where we could flip some matches, we knew they were going to kind of flip some as well,” Fitzgerald said. “We kind of stole some points there, but when we won at 157, then we were in a position to match our best with good matchups and seal the victory.”

James Island was looking for its first state wrestling championship since 1997 and came close to turning the tide of Clover throughout the match.

“I’m definitely super proud of the team,” head coach Tony Bolen said. “They fought, and even our last guy did everything he could. There’s a lot of little things that each guy could do. Three points, you could find that about anywhere in that match. You feel good to get here, but you also hurt for the guys, especially the seniors.”