Rock Hill headed to 5A state championship
Rock Hill and Fort Mill entered Wednesday’s Upper State finals evenly matched, but the visiting Bearcats took advantage of Fort Mill in their most vulnerable spots to earn a trip to the 5A state championship, winning 43-29.
Fort Mill was ranked No. 1 in 5A, while the Bearcats were right behind at No. 2.
This was the third time Fort Mill (20-5) and Rock Hill (52-7) met this season. The first match was at the Wildcat Duals in December and saw the Bearcats beat Fort Mill 37-26. Ten days later, the two met up again at Fort Mill with the Jackets getting a 48-28 win in a Region 4 battle.
Wednesday’s matchup was so anticipated that the start was delayed to allow those waiting in line to see it to get in the door at Fort Mill High.
The match began at 138 pounds, meaning top-ranked AJ Leitten started things off for Fort Mill against Rock Hill's Bailey Wilkins. Wilkins is ranked second at 126 pounds, but weighed in at 130 pounds for the match. Leitten, who turned 18 Wednesday, started things off with a pin to put Fort Mill up 6-0.
"We would like to have started around 60 or 70," said Rock Hill head coach Cain Beard, referring to the 160-pound or 170-pound weight classes. "But our guys did a great job. I can't say enough about the job they did. We put together a great performance."
Rock Hill bounced back at 145 pounds with a 9-5 decision from Chris Clayton to get on the board. Rock Hill won in a weight class the Bearcats had lost in their second match with the Jackets, which Beard said he felt was a key.
Fort Mill's Jake Hart came out at 152 pounds and re-energized the home crowd with a technical fall over Alex English. 16-1. to extend the Jackets’ lead.
Rock Hill bumped up several wrestlers to wrestle at heavier weights, while others fell into their normal spot in the lineup. At 160 pounds, Fort Mill's Jordan Markowski and Rock Hill’s Coleman Hoffman battled to the buzzer with Markowski getting the 12-10 win.
Turning point
Rock Hill was able to get back in the match with a quick pin at 170 pounds by Noah Reynolds, which pulled the Bearcats back to within 5, 14-9. Rock Hill got another pin at 195 pounds by Brandon Mills, which put the Bearcats in control. From there, they dropped one match, but never lost the lead.
"We really have no margin for error in those upper weights," said Fort Mill head coach Chris Brock. "We just wrestled poorly."
Critical
Fort Mill was able to get a decent draw and got a lead early. The Jackets got wins from their most experienced wrestlers, such as Leitten, Hart, Markowski and Brock.
Star contributions
Rock Hill was strong where Fort Mill was weak. The Bearcats got key wins from Jose Mora at 106 pounds and Jose Nunez at heavyweight.
On deck
Rock Hill will face the winner of the 5A Lower State championship between River Bluff and Ashley Ridge. River Bluff is ranked third in 5A and Ashley Ridge is ranked sixth.
The state finals are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Dreher High School in Columbia.
Rock Hill 43, Fort Mill 29
138 - AJ Leitten (FM) pinned Bailey Wilkins (RH), 145 - Chris Clayton (RH) dec Josh Cizmadia 9-5, 152 - Jake Hart (FM) tech fall Alex English (RH) 16-1, 160 - Jordan Markowski (FM) dec Coleman Hoffman (RH) 12-10, 170 - Noah Reynolds (RH) pinned Caden Haverson (FM), 182 - Garrett Davis (RH) pinned Greg Vernon (FM), 195 - Brandon Mills (RH) pinned Triston Morris (FM), 220 - Wade Brock (FM) dec William Ramirez (RH) 6-2, 285 - Jose Nunez (RH) pinned JaQuan Johnson (FM), 106 - Jose Mora (RH) pinned Jackson Strong (FM), 113 - Eli Rhodes (RH) major Jacob Sturgeon (FM) 19-6, 120 - Justin Beck (RH) pinned Zach Hornbrook (FM), 126 - Brody Claassen (FM) win by forfeit, 132 - Nick Greek (FM) win by forfeit.
This story was originally published February 8, 2017 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Rock Hill headed to 5A state championship."