Rock Hill Crowned First Ever Girls Wrestling State Duals Champion
By Dennis Brunson
hssr.com Associate Editor
Columbia – The South Carolina High School League crowned its first ever girls wrestling state duals champion on Championship Saturday on February 8 at Dreher High School. And the winner was …?
Rock Hill, which beat Greenwood 46-36. The first ever AAAAA Division I and AAAAA Division II champions were crowned as well. Carolina Forest beat Boiling Springs 42-31 to claim the DI crown, while Fort Mill edged Lugoff-Elgin 33-28 for the DII title.
May River rallied from a 35-11 deficit to beat Laurens 36-35 for the AAAA championship, West-Oak won the AAA crown with a 58-12 triumph over Aynor, and Chester beat Buford 65-17 for the AA-Class A title.
Girls: Rock Hill 46, Greenwood 36
Rock Hill head coach
Cain Beard and his Bearcats had been waiting for the opportunity for a long time.
This is something that the girls and I have been working toward for the last five years,” Beard said. “We started our girls program during the 2019-2020 season with six girls. It has grown tremendously over the course of the last few years. This season we had 16 girls on our roster. We have several girls coming from our middle schools so I am excited about the future of the program.”
Winning matches for RH were Maggie Cogar at 130 pounds, Braylon Adams (135), Alyciah Thomas (145), Riley Faris (170), Brismar Velazquez (190), Kamyla Torres (100), Sirenity Davis (105) and Jenger Rhodes (120).
Rock Hill has had singles champions before, but this is something different.
“What makes this year different and even more special is that all of our girls got to be a part of the playoff run to win the first ever state dual team title,” said Beard of the 16-team tournament. “From our best girls to our least experienced, all of the girls got to feel what it is like to be the very best wrestling team in their state. That feeling will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”
5A Division 1: Carolina Forest 42, Boiling Springs 31
Carolina Forest finished with a 30-4 overall record in winning the first boys state title in any sport in school history.
“It means the world to me,” Panthers head coach Matthew Perdue said. “We were the first ever boys team to win a state title for our school, so it was a big deal, not just for us, but for our whole school. It was on my bucket list so getting one early in my coaching career. was awesome.
“We knew this year could be the one. We were returning all 14 starters from the previous year.”
Winning matches for CF were Joseph Britt (106), Isaac Demedeiras (113), Calvin Grover (126), Amarius Johnson (138), Josh Brown (144), Preston Crone (150), Brody Bailey (157) and Marshall Deforest (165).
5A Division II: Fort Mill 33, Lugoff-Elgin 28
Fort Mill won its third straight state title with the triumph over Lugoff-Elgin. To get to that match though, the Yellow Jackets ended Eastside’s run of nine consecutive state titles in the semifinals.
“Although beating Eastside was a major accomplishment, beating Lugoff Elgin for a third state championship was bigger for our program,” said FM head coach Adam Marullo. “ We knew that both matches would be a challenge, and I have the upmost respect for both coaches and programs.
“There was concern about keeping the team focused after beating the 9-time defending champion Eastside. It was such a big win and our kids were so excited, I had to immediately remind them that beating Eastside wasn't our goal, winning another state championship was.”
Ted Ernst (215), Jon DaSilva (285), Lucas Van Beynum (113), Cole Wartinger (120), Tucker Gibson (126), Lincoln Greene (138), Jayden Nguyen (144) and Vincent Damico (157) were victorious for FM.
AAAA: May River 36, Laurens 35
May River won the final five matches to score 25 points and beat Laurens by a point for its first ever wrestling state title.
Beau Gwynn won by technical fall at 285 for five points as did Stephano Caderlon at 106. Ryan Seman at 113 and Marcus Foulk at 120 both won by pins for six points apiece to cut the lead to 35-33. Liam Engblom won by decision at 126 for three points that gave MR the title.
Other winners for May River were Danon White (132) and Josh Echeverria (190).
AAA: West-Oak 58, Aynor 12
West-Oak won the first six matches for a 27-0 lea and never looked back as it won its fourth consecutive title.
“Winning a state title is not something you take for granted,” said West-Oak head coach Derek Strobel. “Each one is special. Each team has to face different challenges that the other teams didn’t. It means a lot to this team to win it because they had to prove themselves. We lost a lot of seniors from last year that you just can’t replace. Our newer guys had to step in and make a name for themselves.
“Winning four in a row is an amazing feat. something that hasn’t been done at West-Oak before. These guys really bought in to the system and trusted the coaches. Hopefully we can keep the streak going.”
Picking up victories for West-Oak were Marcus Thaxton (144), Sy Strobel (150), John Canfield (157), Gatlin Greer (165), Wyatt Saxon (175), Gage Ballard (190), Gunner Mease (106), Luke McLane (113), Peyton Durham (120), Cason Loven (126) and A.J. DeLaCruz (132).
AA-CLASS A: Chester 65, Buford 17
Having lost in the Upper State finals to West-Oak the last two seasons, Chester took advantage of West-Oak’s move to AAA to win its first ever wrestling state crown.
“Winning the state title was the next step in our program,” said Cyclones head coach Dennis Jensen “We made the Upper State finals the last two years and lost to West Oak and returned all but two kids this season. It was a historic accomplishment for the school as this is only the second male team state title in the last 40-plus years.”
Winning for Chester were Travis James (106), Eduardo De Paz (113), Andre Hall (120), Raheem Rambert (126), Jakobe Starks Wright (138), Omari Pendergrass (144), ZyTavious Whitlock (157, Darriyarn Baxley (165), Eris Steele (175, Zion Carson (190) and Jayren Holly (285).
