2022 Bearcat Invitational: Clover wrestling sees ‘tremendous efforts’ in Rock Hill event

The Eastside Eagles won the 41st annual Bearcat Invitational Wrestling Tournament at Rock Hill High School this past weekend.

The Eagles tallied 223 points to lead the 23-team field in the annual event, which started on Friday. Eastside had three first-place finishes, and only Lake Norman matched that total. The Eagles added an equal number of runners-up places. Only Lugoff-Elgin’s four second place finishes were more than Eastside. (L-E finished second with 202 points.)

The Clover Blue Eagles led the area teams with a solid performance that netted them 174.5 points and a third place finish. The Blue Eagles had one runner-up, four fourth places, three fifth spots, one sixth and one seventh.

Clover head coach Mike Fitzgerald was very pleased with his team’s effort in the tournament, which served as a measuring stick on where the Blue Eagles stand.

“We expected to do well,” he said. “We had some tremendous efforts throughout our lineup, but we also had some wrestlers to step up and do better than we had anticipated.”

The veteran coach also added this note to his assessment of the weekend.

“This was the first time all season that we have been able to put our best on the mat at one time,” he added. “This lets us know where we stand as a team.”

The region schedule starts this week, and he feels like his team is ready to defend its region title.

“We have a lot of confidence right now,” he said. “We must continue to work hard every day and execute because there are some very good teams in the region.”

Mallard Creek was fourth at 146, and Lake Norman completed the top five with 143.5 points.

The Indian Land Warriors scored 124 points and finished seventh, while the Rock Hill Bearcats were eighth with 117.5 points. The Chester Cyclones were ninth with 110.5 points, and the Nation Ford Falcons and the South Pointe Stallions tied for 10th with 74 points.

The Catawba Ridge Copperheads tallied 70 points and finished 13th, while the Lancaster Bruins had 32 points and came home 19th.

Top individual performers

Several area wrestlers earned top-four finishes in the annual event.

Dylan Layton of Indian Land was the only area competitor to claim a championship. He won the 145 weight class.

Four other area wrestlers were runners-up in their division. They were Drew Endres of Indian Land in the 126 classification, Yannis Charles of Clover in the 145 division, Dawson Cashier of Rock Hill in the 170 weight class and Emmanuel Davis of South Pointe in the Heavyweight group.

Six more earned third places. Three were from Chester. They were Drue Shipman (132), Shaheim Willard (160) and DC Carter (195). Indian Land’s Max Yegge (138), Caden Brandenburg of Nation Ford and Waverly Brooks of Rock Hill (Heavyweight) rounded out the third place finishers.

Another half dozen finished fourth, and four were from Clover. They were Enoch Long (138), Will Grice (160), Kaevon Gardner (182) and Nicholas Mackins (195). Chester’s Trent Bowser (126) and Indian Land’s David Floyd (220) rounded out the fourth-place finishers.

‘Another good tournament’

Rock Hill head wrestling coach Cain Beard was pleased with the number of teams that participated as well as the quality of competition.

“We lost a few teams because of COVID, but I thought we had another good tournament,” said Beard. “The competition and the excitement in the crowd was tremendous.”

In the girls’ division Clover and Rock Hill were the only two area teams to compete in the 12-team field.

Clover finished with one championship and one third-place finish, while Rock Hill got one runner-up, two third places and a pair of fourth places.

Clover’s KC Gardner was the only local wrestler to win her bracket. She won Bracket 3, and her teammate Kori Harris was third in Bracket 4.

Rock Hill’s Mia Read was the runner-up in Bracket 1, and teammate Serenity Davis finished fourth in the same division. Taniya Roberts and Kalijah Campos finished third. Roberts was in Bracket 6, and Campos competed in Bracket 8. Trinity Davis completed the ‘Cats top four finishes with a fourth place in Bracket 4.

Beard talked about the increase in participation in the girls’ events.

“I was pleased with the turnout in the girls’ division. We had 39 to participate this year,” said Beard. “That was more than two years ago. The competition was better up and down the line this time around. Girls’ wrestling is getting better every year as more people are participating, and the competition is also improving.”