SIMPSONVILLE — The Rock Hill Bearcats came from behind in the final five weight classes and defeated the Hillcrest Rams 34-20 to claim the Upper State Class AAAA wrestling title Wednesday night in Simpsonville.

With five events remaining, Hillcrest held a narrow 20-16 lead. The Bearcats got a pin and four decisions to come back and pull away in the end to run their record to 31-1 on the year.

“This was a great team win tonight,” said Rock Hill coach Cain Beard. “We had a lot of young men step up tonight and really perform well for us. I am so very happy for them.”

The win sends Rock Hill against Lexington on Saturday for the state championship. Lexington made its way to the finals Wednesday night by topping Summerville 33-25.

The 145 weight class started the final surge for the Bearcats. Bishop Ashley recorded a pin for the ’Cats. That gave Rock Hill a 22-20 lead with four events remaining.

Robert Mills pushed the Rock Hill lead to 25-20 with an 8-2 decision in the 152-pound. weight division. Chris Hughes followed with a 6-4 decision in the 160-pound division to give Rock Hill a 28-20 lead with two events left.

Cody Childers kept the surge alive with a 7-6 decision in the 170-pound division, and Rock Hill had a 30-21 lead. That put the match out of reach. In the final event, A. J. Walker recorded a 7-3 decision to account for the final score.

The match started in the 195-pound weight class. Cameron Bell got Rock Hill started on the right foot with a 13-5 major decision for a quick 4-0 lead. Hillcrest’s Landon Sayegh cut the margin to 4-3 with a 5-2 decision in the 220 division.

The Bearcats’ Travis Strait recorded a 4-0 decision in the heavyweight division, and Rock Hill was in front 7-3. Hillcrest came back in the 106 class to make it 7-6 as Alex Roberts won a 6-0 decision.

Logan Sexton gave Rock Hill a big lift in the 113 division by pinning Nathan Roberts, and the Bearcats were in front 13-6. Hillcrest came back in the 120-pound division as Sean Morgan recorded a 7-1 decision to make it 13-9.

Rock Hill’s Nolan Mead gave the ‘Cats a 16-9 lead with a pin in the 126-pound. class. Hillcrest won the next two events. Grant Snyder won by pin to cut Rock Hill’s lead to 16-15, and Joel Madak recorded a 15-0 win in the 138-pound class to give Hillcrest a 20-16 lead.

“We wrestled well all night,” added Beard. “We just kept coming up with some outstanding performances.”

195- Cameron Bell (RH) maj. dec. Desmond Washington, 220 - Landon Sayegh (H) dec. Josh Englis, HWT - Travis Strait (RH) dec. Vita Williams, 106 - Alex Roberts (H) dec. Devon Faile, 113 - Logan Sexton (RH) pinned Nathan Roberts, 120 - Sean Morgan (H) dec. Nick Steinberg, 126 - Nolan Mead (RH) dec. Jeremy Huggins, 132 - Grant Snyder (H) pinned Tyler Wilkins, 138 - Joel Madak (H) maj. dec. Christian Moore, 145 - Bishop Ashley (RH) pinned Patrick Meyer, 152 - Robert Mills ((RH) dec. Isiah Sayegh, 160 - Chris Hughes (RH) dec. John Michael Sweeney, 170 - Cody Childers (RH) dec. Ellison Sanders, 182 - A. J. Walker (RH) dec. Nigel Kilbourne.