Fort Mill tops Lugoff-Elgin to win AAAAA Division II wrestling state title

Lexington -- t was déjà vu to the “fourth” power on Wednesday for Fort Mill High School wrestling.

For the second straight year, an undefeated Yellow Jackets squad faced Lugoff-Elgin for the

AAAAA Division I state title. The Jackets were also seeking to claim a fourth consecutive state title and

extend the Palmetto State’s longest winning streak in the sport to 67.

          All of those goals were reached as Fort Mill defeated the Demons 52-11 at the White Knoll

gymnasiumto finish 30-0.

         “It shows what these kids are capable of,” FM head coach Adam Murillo said. “This is actually two

years in a row they’ve completed an undefeated season. In the past four years, these guys have

lost only three duals.

         Lugoff-Elgin took an early 3-0 lead after Tyler McChesney won by points over Cole Wartinger at

in the 132-pound weight class. The Yellow Jackets’ 138-pounder Cooper Van Beynum responded by edging Cody

Wunder 7-6 to tie the match.

         Pinfall wins by Jayden Nguyen (144), Keenan Coston (150) and Lincoln Greene (158) and a

decision win by Broden Mitcheson (165) put Fort Mill up 22-3.

        Lugoff-Elgin got decision wins by Jakaleb Robinson (175) and Logan Hinton (215) in the

next three matches to get within 27-11. Fort Mill did not lose again as it closed out a fourth

straight title with five straight wins.

        Maurice Lawrence (190) got a 21-5 technical fall victory. Heavyweight Kristian Villatoro, Peter

Escudero (106) and Luke Van Beynum (120) were pinfall victors, the latter coming in 18

seconds.

      “We did not execute tonight,” Lugoff-Elgin head coach Ted Monroe said. “They’re the best

team in South Carolina. I’m not talking in this classification. I’m talking about South Carolina –

period.”