South Carolina 2A Wrestling State Dual Championship 2006-2007
The 3rd Round of the 2A State Dual Championships for Wednesday, February 7 looks like this:
Upper State Bracket
#3 Walhalla (1st seed) at home vs. #9 Ninety-Six (5th seed)
Upstart Ninety-Six is showing it has a lot more wrestling left in their season after halting Broome's
season short of expectations. Coach Brian Neal of Ninety-Six always fields a tough team that can
challenge the elite. On Wednesday, his task is to figure out how to beat Walhalla on a road trip.
Senior Michael Rounds leads the Ninety-Six team at 140 lbs. with his #2 ranking in the state.
The other five Ninety-Six wrestlers that are ranked are all Juniors. Ninety-Six has not one
wrestler in the lineup that was a State Placer or State Qualifier in the past! Here they
stand in the Elite Eight catching state-wide attention, saying what's on paper doesn't mean
a thing! Walhalla on the other hand is once again in the State's Top 3, yet still seeking their
team's first ever state title. Two times a runner-up ('02,'96) is not a charm and I'm sure this
team's determination is raising it up a notch. With the #2 ranked team, Chesterfield, already
in the 1A State Dual Finals, there is only one team ranked ahead of Walhalla, and Loris is on the
other side of the bracket. Walhalla is led by 112 Ethan Lecroy (3rd last year), 130 Andrew Vaughn
(State Qualifier [SQ] from 2 years ago), 135 Jared Holcombe (2nd last year), 140 Zach Satterfield
(2x SQ) and a number of other solid ranked wrestlers. On paper this looks like a Walhalla win for
Coach Rick Somerville's team. We agree, though count on this to be a close contest ...
SCMAT Prediction - Walhalla wins
#5 Woodruff (2nd seed) at home vs. #4 Crescent (3rd seed)
Woodruff and Crescent have two of the most successful 2A wrestling programs, and this year only
one advances to the Semis. Woodruff has four state titles and three runner-up finishes. Crescent
has two state titles and a runner-up finish, including being the defending state 2A-1A dual champs!
Coach Daniel Westmoreland of Woodruff picked up for Coach Chad Singleton this season after Coach
Singleton took the head coach position at Dorman. Coach Westmoreland has been terrific in his
first year at Woodruff! Over at Crescent, Coach Chris Strickland's team has been through some
challenges compared to last season's undefeated state title run. In early January Crescent lost
a close dual with Walhalla, 37-29, and finished just behind Chesterfield at the Hardee's Blue Devil
Tournament at Dreher. So, they have been close but need to peak this week to see a two-peat.
Woodruff has 140 Justin Christopher (Jr., 2006 130 SQ) and 171 Brandon Crowe (Sr., 2006 152 SQ,
2005 140 SQ) as their lone returning state qualifiers, though they have a very balanced lineup
with lots of additional talent. Crescent has 125 Cody McCall (So., 2006 112 SQ), #1 ranked 135
Justin Walker (Sr., 2006 130 4th), 152 Nick Horne (Sr., 2004 130 SQ), 189 Todd Tabor (Sr., 2006 189 SQ)
and #1 ranked 215 Steven Earwood (Sr., 2006 215 3rd). For this classic match-up we know it will be a
close match with a single digit difference in points, and we narrowly pick a winner ...
SCMAT Prediction - Crescent wins
Lower State Bracket
#1 Loris (1st seed) at home vs. #25 Hanahan (5th seed)
Hanahan defeated Bishop England (37-34) in the last round for Hanahan's first win over Bishop England
in 14 years! That has to be one of the most exciting playoff victories for Hanahan over their region
rivals! Coach Ray Adkins has been with the program two seasons and accomplished tremendous success
in a short time. Had Bishop England won it would have kindled an interesting match with Loris that
had a "1999 flashback" written all over it. If you were around that season you'd remember the following:
1999 was the first time that all the state tournaments were held at one site, Furman University.
It's a huge undertaking to pull off such a large tournament and year one had one small mistake, only one.
In the 2A-1A classification, after the first 13 weights were settled, Bishop England's Ryan Sherrer pinned
Cheraw's Brad Pitman in the last few seconds of the 275 lbs. match to apparently give Bishop England
a 1/2 point victory. Bishop England was presented the team state championship trophy holding a 92-91.5
edge over Loris. Some confusion occurred at the awards stand with the correct 3rd/4th place finishers
at 152 lbs. earlier, but it wasn't fully recognized (at the time) the magnitude of the mistake that
was almost missed. The South Carolina High School League did a recount of team points on the
following Monday, and it was determined that 3 points awarded to Bishop England's Jason Duty for
3rd place should have gone to Chapin's Luke Bugenske who actually won the 3rd place match 15-8.
After a review, the SCHSL believed that a change in the anklets, which switched Chapin from red
to green, was not properly recorded at the scoring table, prompting the incorrect winner for 3rd.
The South Carolina High School League certified new results giving Loris the team championship
with 91.5 points, sliding Bishop England to 2nd place with 89 points. This was Loris' first
team championship, though they did not know they had won it until two days after the State Tournament,
likewise, Bishop England did not realize they had to settle for second place until two days after
celebrating with the 1st place trophy. After Loris achieved a tie for the team title in 2000 with
Crescent, the 2A-1A classification went to the Dual State Championship already adopted by 4A and 3A.
So, this round almost saw Loris and Bishop England square off again, but Hanahan had other plans.
Flashback over ... sorry to take the attention off Hanahan and Loris' 2007 teams for a moment,
but I like SC wrestling history! Hanahan is led by 119 Nick Goodman (Jr., 2006 112 SQ) and
130 Marcus Shaw (Jr., 2006 130 3rd). Loris is led by 119 Terrance Cox (So., 2006 103 SQ),
145 Lionel Peoples (Sr., 2006 135 SQ), 152 Alfonzo Oliver (So., 2006 145 SQ), #1 ranked
171 Jonathan Outley (Sr., 2006 160 4th) and #1 ranked 2x state champ, Jonathan Willard, who is
just a junior hoping to join the 4 title club next year. As far as a team winner, this is easy
on paper, but you have to believe Coach Thomas Britt won't try and "party like it's 1999" until
the weekend is over ... and he may even wait until after next Monday just to be sure ...
SCMAT Prediction - Loris wins
#7 Cheraw (2nd seed) at home vs. #26 Edisto (6th seed)
Cheraw always seems to be right there at the top, and this year is no exception. Coach Brad Porter
has Cheraw poised to make it to Lugoff-Elgin Friday. Cheraw is led by 112 Raffeal Burkette
(Jr., 2006 103 4th), 125 Shaw Wallace (Sr., 2006 119 SQ, 2005 112 SQ), 130 Kendario Lewis
(Jr., 2006 125 SQ, 2005 119 SQ), 171 Kenyatta Gary (So., 2006 171 SQ) and 189 Desmond Chambers
(Jr., 2006 189 4th). Cheraw won the state title back in 2003 and could pose a surprise challenge
to Loris in the next round if they both win Wednesday. Edisto's Coach Raleigh Jackson guided
his team to a 36-30 win over Buford on Monday. Edisto is led by 152 Lawrence Buck (So., 2006 140 SQ).
We go with the home team in this match ...
SCMAT Prediction - Cheraw wins
Brackets for some past SC State Wrestling Dual Tournaments can be located here --- 2006 4A State Duals < = > 2006 3A State Duals < = > 2006 2A-1A State Duals < = > 2006 SCISA State Duals 2005 4A State Duals < = > 2005 3A State Duals < = > 2005 2A-1A State Duals Please note in the 3A Dual bracket below - Lake City made it to the Finals in 2004, not Georgetown. 2004 4A State Duals < = > 2004 3A State Duals < = > 2004 2A-1A State Duals 2003 4A State Duals < = > 2003 3A State Duals < = > 2003 2A-1A State Duals 2002 4A State Duals < = > 2002 3A State Duals < = > 2002 2A-1A State Duals 2001 4A State Duals < = > 2001 3A State Duals < = > 2001 2A-1A State Duals Finally, a History of the SC 2A State Wrestling Tournament AA State Title determined by Dual Championship - 2007 - TBD 2-10-07 AA-A State Title determined by Dual Championship - 2006 Crescent 32, Chesterfield 27 (Chris Strickland, Lance Abernathy) 2005 Chesterfield 57, Broome 22 (Lance Abernathy, Steve Carruth) 2004 Chesterfield 34, Crescent 30 (Lance Abernathy, Chris Strickland) 2003 Cheraw 62, West-Oak 15 (Brad Porter, ?) 2002 Swansea 43, Walhalla 22 (Chad Meredith, Trey Gardner) 2001 Woodruff 44, Swansea 26 (Chad Singleton, Quincy Riley) AA-A State Title determined by Team Points Championship - 2000 Tie - Loris Mike Morris 83-83 Crescent Russell Blackston 1999 Loris Michael Morris 91.5-89 Bishop England Paul Spence 1998 Chapin Bob Taylor 153.5-99 Edisto 1997 Chapin Bob Taylor 105.5-95 Woodruff Scott Adkins 1996 Chapin Bob Taylor 104½-99½ Walhalla Kurt Kruzberger 1995 Swansea Quincy Riley 117-116 West-Oak Sammy Grant 1994 West-Oak Sammy Grant 129½ -114 Chapin Bob Taylor 1993 Chapin Bob Taylor 130-110 Swansea Quincy Riley 1992 Swansea Quincy Riley 143½-130½ Blue Ridge Malcom Singleton AA-A combined with class AAA 1991 Battery Creek Nathan Day 98 - 80 Swansea Jeff Slagle 1990 Swansea Jeff Slagle 114½ -81½ Lugoff-Elgin Eddie Whitt 1989 Swansea Jeff Slagle 119½ - 119 Dreher Joe Soltish 1988 Dreher Joe Soltish 111½ -78½ Belton-Honea Path John Abercrombie 1987 Belton-Honea Path John Abercrombie 80 - 76 Hanahan Randy Learn 1986 Swansea Jeff Slagle 93 - 78 Camden John Thompson 1985 Swansea Jeff Slagle 91½ - 81½ Belton-Honea Path John Abercrombie 1984 St. Andrews Ed Coles 139½ - 35 J. F. Byrnes Roy Turner AA-A 1983 Woodruff Danny Holland 158 - 122½ St. John's (JI) R. L. Lail, Jr. 1982 Woodruff Danny Holland 135½ - 131 Swansea Tom Williams 1981 Swansea Phil Williams 188 - 167 Woodruff Danny Holland 1980 Swansea Phil Williams 202½ - 122 Chapin Paul Lareau 1979 Swansea Phil Williams 199 - 21 Woodruff Danny Holland 1978 Woodruff Danny Holland 187½ -167 Swansea Frank Shealy (All Classifications 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A together) 1977 Airport Jim Barnes 122 - 80 Bonds-Wilson James E. Cox 1976 Airport Jim Barnes 75 ½ - 68 Fort Johnson Chester Willis 1975 Lower Richland Jim Fitzpatrick 73 - 57 Airport Jim Barnes 1974 Lower Richland Rudolph Cooper 55 - 41 ½ Summerville Jim Flowers 1973 Lower Richland Rudolph Cooper 65 ½ - 35 Union Jim Barnes 1972 Lower Richland William Tourek 48 - 41 ½ Bishop England Jack Cantey 1971 Fort Johnson M. Leroy Jackson 56 - 53 Brookland Cayce John Checkovich 1970 St. Andrews Rusty Hamilton 113 - 61 James Island Edward Hertwig 1969 St. Andrews Rusty Hamilton 130 - 93 James Island Edward Hertwig Best wishes to all teams that are competing in this year’s 2A State Wrestling Duals Tournament! Article by Mark Buford Wrestling USA Magazine’s SC State Editor