112 lbs- Chip Sandifer (SO)- West Oak, showed his talent, repeating as State Champion. He won last year at 103 lbs. Randy Martinez had an excellent season, and he will be around for awhile, as he is a freshman this year. Jess Galang (JR) - Bishop England, had one loss for third place.
119 lbs- Marquis Ratliff (SO)- Cheraw, is an outstanding wrestler. He dominated former State runner-up, Ray Robinson (SR)- North Central, in the finals match. This weight class featured two wrestlers that were the only representatives of their schools. Robinson was one of them, and the other was John Ratica of Blue Ridge who was defeated by Chris Gilchrist (JR)- Loris, who had a strong season.
125 lbs- This weight class missed Jeremy Moseley (JR)- Chapin, two time State Champion at 103 and 112, who was injured when a truck ran over his arm, resulting in ligament damage to the elbow. Kenny James (SR) is a very fine wrestler from Swansea. His match with Garnell Simpson (JR) of Crescent, was an extremely hard fought match with two tough wrestlers. James outlasted Simpson for the victory. Fred Grisset (SR)- Loris, defeated Richard Suggs (JR)- Bishop England for third place, who had earlier beaten Brandon Clay (SR)- West Oak.
130 lbs- In what had to be one of the major upsets of the day, Brad Croft (SR)- Bishop England, won the State Championship over Chuck Hemingway (JR)- Loris. Favored Matt Stewart (SR)- Liberty, was beaten by Hemingway in the semi-finals. Maurice Darby (JR)- Edisto, took third place over Chris Phillips (JR)- Crescent.
135 lbs- Ray Greer (SR)- West Oak, last years runner-up at 125 lbs., was defeated by Dan Phillips (JR)- Loris. Phillips who had a tough Lower State tournament, rebounded with very good speed and technique in his win. Clint Yon (SR)- Swansea, after a tough loss to Phillips, went on to take third place over Reese McElveen from Christ Church.
140 lbs- This weight division had results that appeared to be an exact repeat of the Upper State tournament. The top four finishers were all from Upper State. The closest match was against the winner, David Scealf (SO)- Walhalla and the third place finisher, Maxton Mejia (SO)- Chapin. As in Upper State, Scealf, who completed an undefeated season, edged Mejia as he did in the Upper State tournament. Mejia was a State Qualifier at 152 lbs. last year. In the Championship match, Scealf pinned John Barker(JR)- West Oak, as he had done at Upper State. Alden Shallcross (SO)- Christ Church, was having significant difficultly with a pinched nerve in his back. He forfeited the consolation match at Upper State, and repeated with a forfeit in the Consolation Finals at States.
145 lbs- Rhyne Stowe (JR)- Swansea, continued his dominance of this weight class with a repeat as State Champion over John Boykin - Bishop England. Ben Addy (SR)- Chapin, last years runner-up, was beaten in the first round by Boykin, and eliminated in the first consolation round by eventual third place winner, Taiwan Powe (SR)- Cheraw. Chris Selby - Walhalla took fourth place.
152 lbs- In what may end up being a weight class that has far reaching significance, Tony Klutz - Christ Church, came from the pack to capture the State Championship crown over Brandon Sifuentes, the sole participant from Chapman. Sifuentes was the Upper State Champion. The Lower State Champion, Jason Duty (SR)- Bishop England, was first beaten by Klutz in the semi-finals, and then was beaten again by third place finisher, Luke Bugenske (SR)- Chapin. This is where the far reaching significance may have occurred. Bishop England was named State Team Champions. It appears the Tournament staff may have incorrectly assigned the points of the Bugenske-Duty match to Duty. If this is the case, then the Team Championship will go to Loris. I will update this situation as soon as I receive any information.***UPDATE*** As suspected, Loris was determined to be State Champions. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to Bishop England's wrestlers, parents, coaches, and fans. At the same time I want to congratulate Loris on their fine season, and State Team Championship.
160 lbs- Robert McCall (SR)- West Oak convincingly won the State Championship against Andre Hancock (JR)- Chesterfield. McCall was excellent defensively against a very quick Hancock. Brian Mellard (JR)- Edisto, defeated Jacob Crawford (SO)- Chapin, twice, on his way to claiming a third place finish. He beat Crawford in the opening round, and then again in the Consolation Finals.
171 lbs- Rodney Wallace (SO)- Bamberg -Ehrhardt, dominated this weight class most of the year. The runner-up last year at 152 lbs., he pinned nearly every opponent this year. A surprise loss at Lower State was erased when he defeated Robert Freeman (SR)- Swansea, in a pivotal match for Swansea. Earlier, two time State Champion, Robert Sweetman (SR)- Liberty, lost to Wallace in the semi-final round. Sweetman captured third place with a win over Jeremy Mabry (SO)- Cheraw.
189 lbs- In another upset of sorts, Kantrell Heyward, a tall lanky wrestler from Baptist Hill, defeated Jacob Holliday (SR)- Walhalla. Holliday was a fourth place finisher last year at this weight class. Benzell Vereen (JR)- Loris, placed third in a victory over Ben Able (JR)- Ninety- Six. Heyward was not ranked in the top six, and was a third place finisher at Lower States.
215 lbs- Controversy seems to make its mark at the State Championships in recent years, and this weight class gave us our dose. In the opening match of this class, Ben Spitzer (SR)- West Oak, the number one ranked wrestler and Upper State Champion, lost to Zach Smith (JR)- Cheraw. Some sort of altercation broke out involving the two wrestlers at the edge of the mat. Both wrestlers were disqualified from the tournament. Daryl Swinton (JR)- Loris, Lower State Champion, went on to claim the State Championship title over Steve Dixon (SR)- Ninety- Six. The consolations saw Adam Reen (S0)- Buford, defeat Randan Berry (SO)- Bamberg -Ehrhardt.
275 lbs- In what was the most exciting match of the evening with the team championship on the
line, Ryan Sherrer (SR)- Bishop England, came from a 0-5 deficit to tie the match 5-5, and then
pin Brad Pittman (SR)- Cheraw for the State Title. Upper State Champion, Mike Langley (SR)-
Buford, claimed third place with victory over Ben Dunn (SO)- Crescent.
These are the corrected standings following the points recount:
| Team | Points | 1st,2nd,3rd,4th totals. | |
|
1. |
Loris | 91.50 |
2/1/3/0 |
|
2. |
Bishop England | 89.00 |
2/1/1/2 |
|
3. |
West Oak | 88.00 |
2/2/0/0 |
|
4. |
Swansea | 83.50 |
2/1/1/1 |
|
5. |
Walhalla | 77.00 |
1/2/0/2 |
|
6. |
Crescent | 64.50 |
1/1/0/2 |
|
7. |
Cheraw | 61.00 |
1/1/1/1 |
|
8. |
Christ Church | 39.00 |
1/0/0/2 |
|
9. |
Chapin | 37.50 |
0/0/2/1 |
|
10. |
Ninety Six | 32.00 |
0/1/0/1 |
| Bamberg-Ehrhardt | 32.00 | 1/0/0/1 | |
|
12. |
Buford | 31.00 |
0/0/2/0 |
|
13. |
Liberty | 27.00 |
0/0/2/0 |
| Edisto | 27.00 | 0/0/2/0 | |
|
15. |
Chesterfield | 23.00 |
0/1/0/0 |
|
16. |
Baptist Hill | 20.00 |
1/0/0/0 |
|
17. |
Woodmont | 19.00 |
0/1/0/0 |
|
18. |
North Central | 17.00 |
0/1/0/0 |
|
19. |
Chapman | 14.00 |
0/1/0/0 |
|
20. |
Blue Ridge | 7.00 |
0/0/0/1 |
|
21. |
Woodruff | 3.00 | |
| Indian Land | 3.00 | ||
| 23. | Calhoun County | 2.00 | |
| 24. | Academic Magnet | 0.00 | |
| Garrett | 0.00 | ||
| Hanahan | 0.00 | ||
| Aynor | 0.00 |