Rock Hill wrestling tops Hillcrest, advances to Upper State finals

The Rock Hill High Bearcats moved into the Upper State finals with a 39-28 win over the Hillcrest Rams in the Class 5A wrestling playoffs at Hillcrest Monday night.

Coach Cain Beard’s Bearcats will take on Fort Mill on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Fort Mill with the winner going to the state finals on Saturday.

Rock Hill spotted Hillcrest, the number one team from Region 2, a 4-0 lead when the match began at the 160 weight class.

The Bearcats bounced right back on Noah Reynolds pin to take a 6-4 lead. When J. B. Mills made it two straight pins, Rock Hill was in front 12-4.

The ‘Cats had to forfeit at 195, and that cut their lead to 12-10. The next two classifications were split, and Rock Hill had a 15-13 cushion. Hillcrest won at 106 to take a 16-15 advantage at the halfway point.

Eli Rhodes won a decision at 113, and Rock Hill regained the lead at 18-16. They would never trail again.

Rock Hill won the next four classes. Justin Beck (120) recorded a pin, Danny Love (126) won by default, Jared Blake (132) scored a decision, and Bailey Wilkins (138) registered a pin. That left Rock Hill left them with an insurmountable 39-16 lead.

Rock Hill forfeited the final two matches.

Rock Hill 39, Hillcrest 28

106 - J. Mora (RH) lost 7-6, 113 - E. Rhoads (RH) won 9-5, 120 - J. Beck (RH) won by pin, 126 - D. Love (RH) won by default, 132 - J. Blake (RH) won 11-5, 138 - B. Wilkins (RH) won by pin, 145 - Rock Hill forfeited, 152- Rock Hill forfeited, 160 - J. Montuori (RH) lost 19-8, 170 - N. Reynolds (RH) won by pin, 182- J. B. Mills (RH) won by pin, 195 - Rock Hill forfeited, 220 - W. Ramirez (RH) won 5-3, 285 - J. Nunez (RH) lost 7-6.

Crescent tops Chester

The Crescent Tigers defeated the Chester Cyclones 42-21 in the third round of the Class 3A wrestling playoffs Monday night at Chester.

Crescent took an early 6-0 lead at 138, but Chester kept it close for quite a while.

When Chester won at 170 the match was even at 9-9. The Cyclones fell behind again by a score of 18-9, but back-to-back pins, the second by Xi Simpson at 285, gave Chester a 21-18 lead.

The Cyclones had to forfeit the next match at 106. That gave Crescent a 24-21 advantage. The Tigers closed out the match with a pair of decisions and two pins.

“I am extremely proud of the season we had,” said Chester coach Joe Conlan. “This improved every day, and they fought harder than any team I have had at Chester in nine years.”

Crescent 42, Chester 21

106- Grobbs (Crescent) wins by forfeit, 113- Donald (Crescent) dec. Stillwell, 120- Porter (Crescent) dec. Gonzales, 126- McBride (Crescent) pinned McClurkin, 132- Epps (Crescent) pinned Mills, 138- Taylor (Crescent) pinned over Dixon, 145- Mills (Chester) dec. Ellis, 152- Brewster (Crescent) dec. Evans, 160- Evans (Chester) dec. Cartee, 170- Simpson (Chester) dec. Gaylord, 182- Burgin (Crescent) pinned Patton, 195- Spires (Crescent) dec. McClurkin, 220- Evans (Chester) pinned Adams, 285- Simpson (Chester) pinned Lee (Cresent).

Belton-Honea Path tops South Pointe

The Belton-Honea Path Bears defeated the South Pointe Stallions 57-13 in the third round of the Class 3A playoffs Monday night at Belton-Honea Path.

This story was originally published February 6, 2017 at 9:18 PM with the headline "Rock Hill wrestling tops Hillcrest, advances to Upper State finals."