Local wrestling teams ‘battle for every point’ in SC playoffs, 3 advance
Eight area teams were in action in the first two rounds of the state wrestling playoffs on Saturday, and three of them advanced to the third round on Monday.
The Rock Hill Bearcats, the South Pointe Stallions, and the Indian Land Warriors, all of which were number seeds, advanced to the third round with a pair of convincing wins.
The other three Class 5A teams were eliminated. Fort Mill, a number two seed, claimed a 52-19 win over Laurens in the opening round, but fell to Byrnes 34-27 in the next round. Third-seeded Clover and number four Northwestern were also eliminated in Saturday’s action.
Third-seeded York (Class 4A) and second-seeded Chester (Class 3A) were also knocked out of the playoffs on Saturday.
Rock Hill dispatched both Greenwood and Dorman in convincing fashion. The Bearcats routed Greenwood 69-3 and whipped Dorman 61-15.
“We wrestled well across the board today,” said Rock Hill coach Cain Beard. “We have had some adversity this year, but we have overcome it, and we are getting better and heading for the next round on Monday.”
Rock Hill will travel to Greenville to take on Hillcrest in the third round.
“It does not get any easier as you move forward,” said Beard. “You have to battle for every point.”
The Bearcats fell behind 3-0 against Greenwood and scored every point after that in the convincing victory. Dorman led the ‘Cats early by a count of 6-3, but Rock Hill rattled off 23 straight points for a 29-6 lead and coasted on from there.
Twelve Rock Hill wrestlers scored points in both matches. Justin Beck (113), Danny Love (120), Bailey Wilkins (126), Andrew Simpson (132), Tristen Bledsoe (145), Noah Thompson (152), Alex English (160), Noah Reynolds (170), Brandon Mills (182), Preston Stegal (195), and Devan Rice (285) scored wins or pins in both matches.
South Pointe moved to the third round with a 73-6 rout of North Augusta and a 47-23 victory over Travelers Rest.
“We did really well today,” said South Pointe coach Eddie Cook. “This team has improved with each match this season, and we are looking forward to the challenge ahead in the next round.”
The Stallions will host Union on Monday at 7 p.m. Union is the number two seed from its bracket.
South Pointe took a 26-0 lead against North Augusta before giving up six points. They finished by scoring the final 47 points in the match. With only four weight classes remaining in the Travelers Rest match, South Pointe was ahead 28-23, but they got 19 unanswered points to claim the win.
“We played a very tough non-region schedule,” said Cook. “I think that is rewarding us right now. When it was close, we felt like we could win, because we knew what we had coming up in the match.”
The Stallions had eight wrestlers score points in both matches on Saturday. Kemari Reaves (106), ShyQuan Ferguson (126), Matthew Belk (132), Eric Mitchell (138), Morgan Belk (145), Savion White (152), Justion Corbin (182), and Ernie Greenwood (285) were the double winners.
Indian Land made its way to Monday’s third round with a pair of victories. The Warriors toppled Berea 66-15 in the first round and knocked off Woodruff 64-9 in the second round.
Indian Land will be at home on Monday at 6 p.m. to take on the winner from the Powdersville bracket.
This story was originally published February 3, 2018 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Local wrestling teams ‘battle for every point’ in SC playoffs, 3 advance."