2011 3A SC Wrestling State Tournament

COLUMBIA - In what could only be described as a scene of pure jubilation, West-Oak High School wrestling coach Jeff Jordan addressed his newly crowned 3A State Championship squad in the locker room following the nail-biting conclusion to the State Duals Playoffs on Saturday.

Amidst the shouts and applause from his squad, he let it be known just how proud he was of them.

"36-0, that's unheard of," Jordan yelled. "The shirts shall read:'Perfection!'" The Warriors, however, came nervously close to losing that unblemished mark in the biggest match of the year against Chapin at Dreher High School.

For a team that had been anchored by its senior ranks all season, West-Oak turned its hopes to a sophomore, Bill Sexton, in the final bout down 27-26.

Needless to say, Sexton's name is one that will go down in West-Oak lore for years to come.

His technical fall gave the Warriors the 31-27 victory and their second State title in wrestling, with the first coming in 1994, and only the second State title period for West-Oak.

Sexton, admittedly, couldn't take sole credit for the Warriors'proudest moment.

"I couldn't do it by myself," Sexton said. "My teammates had to step up and help us as well." To be precise, he wanted to show thanks to the senior leaders of the squad.

"We couldn't have done this without the seniors," he said. "They stepped up and were the captains for us." The Warriors jumped out to an early 18-3 lead, but two pins and a decision from the Eagles knotted the score. West-Oak answered with a decision by Timothy Rogers at 103 and a technical fall by Brandon Croney at 112 to go back on top 26-18.

A pin and a decision by Chapin gave it the 27-26 lead with just a single bout to go, setting the stage for Sexton's heroics.

"Bill is just a sophomore, but he's been doing it a long time though," Jordan said. "I'm not going to say I had a lot of confidence, but I knew he'd go out there and give it everything he had. I've never been so jacked in my life." Jordan, though, knew that the victory was bigger than just the joy amongst his team, but rather it was a statement for the loyal West-Oak faithful which came out in droves to Columbia.

"I tell you what, we love our fans, our administration and our school," he said. "All we can say is Warrior Pride, that's it.

This win was for the West-Oak community. Anyone that was in our attendance:This is for you; this is why we did it." There's certainly no doubting the road which West-Oak took en route to the State crown. In a span of two and a half weeks, the Warriors took care of the Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 teams in the state, leaving no doubt that they are in fact the kings of 3A in South Carolina.

"We had to battle all the way through it," Jordan said. "It was a gauntlet, we had to suffer through it and did what we were suppose to do to come out on top."

West-Oak 31, Chapin 27
135 - Bower (W) won by decision, 5-4.
140 - Owens (C) won by decision, 8-5.
145 - Welborn (W) won by decision, 8-5
152 - Westbury (W) won by decision in OT, 10-8.
160 - Warren (W) won by major decision, 9-1.
171 - P. Kern (W) won by technical fall, 19-4.
189 - Moore (C) pinned Severance, 2:52.
215 - B. Owens (C) pinned Smith, 4:31.
Heavy - Taylor (C) won by decision, 4-1.
103 - Rogers (W) won by decision, 7-5.
112 - Croney (W) won by technical fall, 18-3.
119 - Hope (C) pinned Dickert, 0:47.
125 - Bidinger (C) won by decision, 8-2.
130 - Sexton (W) won by technical fall, 22-7.