1999 2A-1A SC Wrestling State Tournament

Loris wrestling coach Mike Morris packed up his car Tuesday with his team's trophy and medals and headed to Columbia.

It wasn't that he didn't like the runner-up trophy and silver medals, but he was dropping them off at the South Carolina High School League offices in exchange for gold.

Due to a scoring error, Charleston Bishop England was wrongfully awarded the Class A-AA team championship at the state meet at Furman University in Greenville. Loris, which believed it lost by one-half point, was named the 1999 state champs on Monday with a 91-89 victory.

"I wish we could have celebrated Saturday night," Morris said. "It's been a roller-coaster day."

Morris will present his wrestlers their state championship medals during an assembly next week, and intends to purchase state championship rings.

"We will get state championship rings," Morris said. "We'll do whatever we have to do to get them."

The scoring error was made in the 152-pound consolation final. Chapin's Luke Bugenske defeated Bishop England's Jason Duty, but Duty received the three third-place points. A change in the color of anklets may have led to the mistake.

Coaches from Hanahan and Bamberg-Ehrhardt who were keeping track of team points at the meet couldn't account for the Bishops' three points, but were told by tournament organizers the score was correct.

BE heavyweight Ryan Sherrer's pin late in the heavyweight championship match appeared to give the Bishops the title.

It was Bugenske's father, George, who called Morris at Loris High on Monday to alert him the Lions should be state champions.

"I had a hard time teaching fourth period knowing we could possibly be state champs," Morris said.

Morris pulled his six wrestlers that placed at the meet out of class to take a team picture, and rounded up the silver medals from his confused wrestlers. He then told them they were state champs.

"The kids were all emotional," Morris said. "They took a victory lap around the cafeteria and halls yelling, 'State champs!'"

Perhaps the happiest Lion was Fred Grissett, the team's only senior and Morris' first four-year wrestler. Grissett had hoped to win the 125-pound state title, but finished third.

"It was kind of bittersweet for him," Morris said. "He'd been down all weekend because he didn't win it."

The state championship would have been a surprise even if it had come Saturday.

The Loris program is just four years old, and the Lions were 2-4 in their first six matches this season. They finished sixth in the state last year, but with significant losses off the team, Morris hoped for a top-eight finish this season.

He lost four 1998 starters to graduation, two starters were ineligible, his heavyweight couldn't make weight for most of the year, and he had another starter not come back out for the the team.

"We only had six wrestlers with experience, and I really think that's why we started 2-4," Morris said.

The Lions finished the season 13-5-1.

Loris was third in the Lower State meet, behind BE and Cheraw, and barely edged out fourth-place Swansea. Upper State champion West Oak was considered the top team in Class A-AA.

The Lions have been strong from 119 pounds to 135 all season. Chris Gilchrist took third at the state meet at 119, Grissett was third at 125, Chuck Hemingway was the 130-pound runner-up, and Dan Phillips won the state championship at 135.

The two wrestlers who came on the most to turn the Lions' season around were 189-pounder Benzell Vereen, who finished third at the state meet, and 215-pounder Daryl Swinton, who won a state title in his first year of wrestling.

"I think the biggest surprises have been Daryl Swinton at 215 and Benzell Vereen at 189," Morris said. "Those two really brought the team around."

Entering the Horry County Invitational, Swinton couldn't be seeded because he had a losing record of 6-7. He ended the season at 26-9 despite weighing nearly 20 pounds less than his weight limit.

Vereen, whose record was below .500 last year, finished this season at 30-8.

Phillips, a junior, was 8-15 as a freshman while wrestling at 130 despite being just 117 pounds. He couldn't beat teammates Grissett or Mitch McLeod at the 119 and 125 classes. Phillips entered the state meet as the Lower State's third seed because he was disqualified in the L-S semifinals due to locked hands and stalling calls.

The state championship was Phillips' ultimate revenge for the DQ. He finished the season 34-7 after going 29-9 last year and finishing third in the state.

The Lions will attempt to defend their state title next year, in the program's fifth season.

"The scary thing is Fred Grissett is our only senior," Morris said. "(The program) has grown by leaps and bounds. Our first first year we were 4-13, and we were terrible.

"Grissett's our first four-year wrestler. Next year we'll have seven or eight kids in there for four years, so we've really come along. Hopefully winning this state title will bring more out. I'd love to have 30 or 40 kids."

Loris began a B-team wrestling program this season.