South Carolina 4A Wrestling State Dual Championship 2006-2007
The 4th Round (Semi-Finals) of the 4A State Dual Championships for Friday, February 9 looks like this:
Upper State Bracket
#3 Hillcrest (1st in 2-AAAA) vs. #5 Fort Mill (1st in 3-AAAA) at Lugoff-Elgin High School 8:00 p.m.
Let's start with how big these two schools are:
The 2006-2007 School Year - Attendance Figures for 195 state wide schools
#9 out of 195 schools - Fort Mill 2,280 students
#11 out of 195 schools - Hillcrest 2,170 students
Then we can check out the team trophy count:
Team State Championships - Hillcrest 0, Fort Mill 0
Team State Runner-ups - Hillcrest 0, Fort Mill 1 (in 3A)
Individual accomplishments need to get thrown in too (wrestlers counted in only one category):
State 1st in the lineup - Hillcrest 0, Fort Mill 1
State 2nd in the lineup - Hillcrest 2, Fort Mill 0
State 3rd in the lineup - Hillcrest 1, Fort Mill 0
State 4th in the lineup - Hillcrest 0, Fort Mill 0
State Qualifiers lineup - Hillcrest 2, Fort Mill 2
As the Greenville paper wrote with pride about the Rams rolling into AAAA wrestling semifinals,
the Rock Hill paper had an excellent article by Barry Byers about the agony of defeat when
Hillcrest knocked the Bearcats out of wrestling playoffs. On the other side of the Rock Hill
newspaper, positive news was there about the Jackets heading to Final Four after topping White Knoll.
And then the Upper State had 2 teams ... coaching partners for years ... Coach Brock with assistant coaches
Tommy and Robby Bell, later moving back to their alma-mater of Hillcrest ... now rivals ... certainly not
bitter rivals ... but outstanding competitive rivals, with both sides hating ot lose, and maybe more desiring
every victory possible ... one of them gets to appear in their first 4A State Championship!
Coach Tommy Bell's Hillcrest squad is led by:
103 Colin Horgan (Fr.)
112 Zach Moore (Sr., 2006 103 2nd, 2005 103 SQ)
130 Aaron Pettry (Sr., 2004 112 SQ)
140 Michael Devita (Sr., 2006 135 2nd, 2005 130 SQ)
152 Taylor Lance (Sr., 2006 152 3rd)
160 Matt Devita (Sr., 2006 160 SQ)
Coach Chris Brock's Fort Mill squad is led by:
112 John Green (Fr.)
119 James Brotemarkle (Jr.)
125 Brandon Feix (So., 2006 103 1st)
130 Cody Melton (Jr., 2006 112 SQ)
145 Michael Quinzi (Sr., 2006 140 SQ, 2005 135 SQ)
Hillcrest already defeated Fort mill once this season, handily. Fort Mill now appears to be a different
team that many are saying has a shot to pull the upset and contend for state. On the other side of the
coin, everyone I've talked too says Hillcrest is the sleeper that may steal a State Title from the
#1 or #2 ranked team in S.C. coming out of the Lower State with too much confidence that the title is
guaranteed to the Lower State. Let's see if these competitors can light up Lugoff with a close match
Friday night and give the fans a wrestling performance that highlights an upper State contender
that wants to win it all ... and we select, in a 5-10 point spread ...
SCMAT Prediction - Hillcrest wins
Lower State Bracket
#1 Fort Dorchester (1st in 8-AAAA) at home vs. #2 Summerville (2nd in 8-AAAA)
--- PLEASE NOTE --- this match is at Fort Dorchester High School, not Lugoff-Elgin
Let's start with how big these two schools are:
The 2006-2007 School Year - Attendance Figures for 195 state wide schools
#1 out of 195 schools - Summerville 3,371 students (Summerville is the largest school in the state)
#6 out of 195 schools - Fort Dorchester 2,469 students
Then we can check out the team trophy count:
Team State Championships - Summerville 11, Fort Dorchester 0
Team State Runner-ups - Summerville 9, Fort Dorchester 0
Individual accomplishments need to get thrown in too (wrestlers counted in only one category):
State 1st in the lineup - Summerville 1, Fort Dorchester 1
State 2nd in the lineup - Summerville 0, Fort Dorchester 1
State 3rd in the lineup - Summerville 0, Fort Dorchester 1
State 4th in the lineup - Summerville 0, Fort Dorchester 0
State Qualifiers lineup - Summerville 3, Fort Dorchester 2
In the last round, Summerville's team peaked and it was with the Wave wrestlers rolling past Battery Creek!
Coach Kenny Walker's Summerville squad is led by:
112 T.J. Hall - Summerville (Sr., 2006 112 SQ, 2004 103 SQ)
119 Eli Ashby - Summerville (Fr.)
130 Van Collins - Summerville (Sr., 2006 119 SQ, 2005 112 SQ)
135 Ashley Bracklein - Summerville (Fr.)
140 Berlin Oliver - Summerville (Jr., 2006 125 SQ)
#1 ranked 160 Christian Johnson - Summerville (Sr., 2006 145 1st, 2005 135 SQ)
Coach B.D. LaPrad's Fort Dorchester squad is led by:
112 Sonny Bugarin - Fort Dorchester (Fr.)
#1 ranked 125 Gerald Jenkins - Fort Dorchester (Sr., 2006 112 3rd in OK)
130 Seiji Borja - Fort Dorchester (Fr.)
135 Wesley Dallas - Fort Dorchester (So.)
145 Brent LaChance - Fort Dorchester (Sr., 2006 140 SQ)
160 Mel Capers - Fort Dorchester (Sr., 2006 152 2nd, 2005 145 4th)
215 Daunte Nixon - Fort Dorchester (Sr., 2006 215 SQ)
#1 ranked 285 Robert Quinn - Fort Dorchester (Jr., 2006 275 1st, 2005 215 3rd)
Expect over 1,000 fans to be in the Fort Dorchester gym Friday night ... I'd even guess 1,500!
Summerville had 1,200 in attendance for these two team's Dual match to settle the region a few weeks
ago. This will almost rival the attendance for the combined 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A state tournaments in
the past when attendance figures have been in the 2,000 range.
This match honestly boils down to one key factor, some wrestlers wrestle to win with a fear of losing,
and some wrestlers wrestle to win with a desire to win (beyond our comprehension). From match to match
this mentality can change, even for some of the best. This match is not about the coin flip, the coaches,
prior accomplishments (team or individual), the home mat advantage or any other logic. It is purely about
the 14 wrestlers that put it all together and want to win this match more. And, if they say there is a 1 degree
difference between boiling water and hot water, this is the match that will be separated by 1 degree.
The last two matches this season have seen a 2 point swing to Summerville and a 1 point swing to
Fort Dorchester, so count another #1-#2 battle!! Our state has really needed this parity and competition
down to the last match and I would have to guess it is exhilarating Charleston more than the rest of the state
knows ... many call this the state finals, but do not overlook the Upper State champion and the fantastic match
ahead of us on Saturday ... welcome to the Big Dance in S.C.!
... I'd rather not pick this outcome, but if I had to ...
SCMAT Prediction - Fort Dorchester 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 4A State Wrestling Tournament State Title determined by Duals Championship - 2007 - TBD 2-10-06 2006 - Summerville 31, Lexington 30 (Coach Kenny Walker, Coach Derek Strobel) 2005 - Summerville 43, Rock Hill 16 (Coach Kenny Walker, Coach Tim Wash) 2004 - Summerville 41, Rock Hill 21 (Coach Kenny Walker, Coach Tim Wash) 2003 - Dutch Fork 37, Spring Valley 34 (Coach BD LaPrad, Coach Ken Wilson) 2002 - Summerville 32, Dutch Fork 31 (Coach Kenny Walker, Coach BD LaPrad) 2001 - Summerville 33, Dutch Fork 18 (Coach Kenny Walker, Coach BD LaPrad) 2000 - Rock Hill 40, Irmo 19 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach Dave Maas) 1999 - Rock Hill 35, Dutch Fork 25 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach BD LaPrad) 1998 - Summerville 38, Rock Hill 29 (Coach Kenny Walker, Coach Jim Barnes) 1997 - Rock Hill 54, Dutch Fork 13 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach BD LaPrad) 1996 - Rock Hill 38, Irmo 21 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach Dave Maas) 1995 - Rock Hill 31, Summerville 21 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach Mike Frye) 1994 - Rock Hill 36, Summerville 24 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach Mike Frye) 1993 - Summerville 31, Rock Hill 22 (Coach Steve LaPrad, Coach Jim Barnes) State Title determined by Team Points Championship - 1992 Summerville Steve LaPrad 123½ - 97 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 1991 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 124 - 114 Summerville Steve LaPrad 1990 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 176½- 80½ Summerville Steve LaPrad 1989 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 169 - 167 Summerville Steve LaPrad 1988 Summerville Steve LaPrad 204 - 169½ Rock Hill Jim Barnes 1987 Summerville Steve LaPrad 181½ - 133½ Rock Hill Jim Barnes 1986 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 157½ - 104 Summerville Steve LaPrad 1985 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 178 - 174½ Summerville Steve LaPrad 1984 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 161½ - 96 Irmo B. D. LaPrad 1983 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 151 - 126½ James Island Mark Agner 1982 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 164 - 130½ Summerville Steve LaPrad 1981 Summerville Steve LaPrad 170 - 132 Rock Hill Jim Barnes 1980 Rock Hill Tom Ellenberger 148 - 119½ Irmo B. D. LaPrad 1979 Irmo B. D. LaPrad 96 - 95 Rock Hill Tom Ellenberger 1978 Airport Jim Barnes 110½ - 69 Rock Hill Tom Ellenberger (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 4A State Wrestling Duals Tournament! Article by Mark Buford Wrestling USA Magazine’s SC State Editor