Here’s an early look at the what the high school wrestling playoffs will look like
The first two rounds of the wrestling playoffs are set for Saturday, and eight area schools are competing.
Three of the teams will play at home with the other five on the road.
Fort Mill, the Region 3-5A champion, will be at home to take on Mauldin in the first round. A win for the Yellow Jackets sends them against the winner of the match between Boiling Springs and J. L. Mann.
Rock Hill, the runner-up in the region, will be at Lugoff-Elgin for the first two rounds. The Bearcats take on Dorman in the first round, and a win puts them against the winner of the match between Lugoff-Elgin and T. L. Hanna.
Clover, the third seed from the region, and Northwestern, which was selected as the Upper State At-Large team, will travel to Laurens. Clover goes against Byrnes in the first round, while Northwestern meets Laurens. The winners meet in the second round.
The South Pointe Stallions, who won the Region 3-4A title, will be at home in the opening round. They get a first round bye and will take on the winner of the match between Travelers Rest and Orangeburg-Wilkinson.
York, the runner-up in the region, will be at Belton-Honea Path for the first two rounds. York takes on Blue Ridge in the first round and a win pits them against Belton-Honea Path in the next round.
Indian Land, the champion in Region 4-3A, will host the first two rounds. The Warriors take on Mid-Carolina in first round action, and a victory moves them to the second round against the Powdersville-Chesnee winner.
Chester also made the post-season. The Cyclones, who were the runners-up in the region, travel to Broome for the opening two rounds. Chester goes against Emerald in first round competition. A win advances them to the second round where they get the Liberty-Broome winner.
Region performances
Each of the local playoff teams had plenty of wrestlers earn the top spot in the region in their weight classes.
Rock Hill led the way in Region 3-5A with six. Colton Smith (106), Bailey Wilkins (132), Jose Mora (145), Michael Ramirez (152), Webber Moore (182), and Garrett Pfirman (Heavyweight) earned titles for the Bearcats. Clover had five region winners. They were Yannis Charles (120), Amir Muhammad (138), T. J. Stacey (170), Matt Courtwright (195), and Grayson Latham (220). Fort Mill had three region champions. They were Sebastian Colon (113), Joshua Sturgeon (126), and Josh Cizmadia (160).
Rock Hill’s Wilkins was named the Wrestler of the Year, while Fort Mill head coach Chris Brock was tabbed as the Coach of the Year.
South Pointe led the way in Region 3-4A with six champions. They were Keomoni Reeves (113), Matthew Belk (138), Shy’Quan Ferguson (152), Eric Mitchell (170), Nygel Moore (182), and Issac Ekanem (195). York had four pick up top honors. They were Luke Rumfelt (120), Kaleen Heard (126), Luke Dixon (132), and David Tripp (160). Lancaster’s Immanuel Bush was the top performer in the heavyweight division.
South Pointe’s Eddie Cook was named as the Coach of the Year, while Ekanem was tabbed as the Wrestler of the Year.
Indian Land dominated the division winners in Region 4-3A. The Warriors had ten individual champions. They were Drew Enders (106), Max Yegge (113), Dylan Layton (120), Clint Creech (126), Weston Nguyen (132), Solomon Cortez (138), Grant Witherspoon (145), Terrell Ottinger (152), Markeith Drakeford-Yegge (160), and Xavier Dreese (170). Chester had two performers win their weight classes. They were Jadarius Evans (182) and Teddy Murphy (Heavyweight).
Indian Land head coach Leon Boulware was selected as the Coach of the Year and the Warriors’ Layton and Drakeford-Yegge were named as the Wrestlers of the Year.