Rock Hill girls, Chester boys claim SC wrestling state championships
The Rock Hill girls and Chester boys brought home high school state wrestling championships on Saturday.
Rock Hill defeated Greenwood, 46-36, to win the inaugural girls wrestling dual-team state championship. The Cyclones defeated Buford, 65-17, to win the Class 2A boys title. All the championships were held at Dreher High School in Columbia.
Dominant Chester wins first title
Chester won its first title in program history with a dominating postseason run.
The third-ranked Cyclones defeated defending champ Chesnee in the third round and then handed top-ranked Liberty its first loss of the season. They capped it off by defeating Buford for the state title.
“We’ve got a good team and were able to wrestle well at the right time,” Chester coach Dennis Jensen said. “... Very excited for our guys. It has been a long process to get to this point. Our guys have continued to work. … We have been knocking at the door for a few years and finally got here.”
It’s the school’s second boys team title in more than 60 years, with the other coming in football (2018).
Chester, which was making its first championship appearance, finished the season at 34-4.
The Cyclones won the first two matches by forfeit and then added two more wins by pin from Andre Hall (120) and Raheem Rambert (126) to lead 24-0.
Chester got four more wins by pin by Jacoby Starks Wright (138), Omari Pendergrass (144), Zion Carson (190) and capped it off by Jayren Holly (285). Darriyard Baxley (165) got a win by tech fall and Eris Steele (175) got a win when his opponent didn’t finish the match.
Buford also was going for its first state title. The Yellow Jackets got match wins from Nathan Gardner (132), Antonio Amos (150) and Tucker Bohm (215).
Rock Hill girls win thriller
Jenger Rhoades’ pin over Greenwood’s Gabby Palmore at 120 pounds in the final match Saturday gave the Bearcats’ the inaugural girls wrestling dual-team championship in South Carolina.
It’s the third year girls wrestling was a sanctioned sport by the S.C. High School League, but the previous two seasons the girls competed at the state’s individual championships. This year featured a 16-team bracket where schools competed head-to-head.
The Bearcats won individual team titles the last two seasons, but winning the first dual championship Saturday held a special meaning for the school, which has won 18 boys wrestling titles.
“It is an unbelievable feeling,” Rock Hill coach Timothy Beard said. “The girls have worked so hard all year long. We have been building for several years now, trying to where girls have a dual-team final. To be the first to win it was pretty awesome.”
Rock Hill led 40-24 and it looked like the title would be decided early, but Greenwood’s Angelique Garcia Rosalies (110) and Alanise Ricardo (115) won matches by pin to force a winner-take-all match.
Rock Hill and Greenwood entered the playoffs as the top two teams in the SCMat rankings.
Other Rock Hill winners were Maggie Cogar (130), Braylon Adams (135), Alicyah Thomas (155), Riley Farris, Brismar Valesquez (190), Kamilla Torres (100) and Serenity Davis (105).
This story was originally published February 8, 2025 at 1:34 PM.
