SCMAT begins a three part series covering the 1999 and 2000 2A-1A wrestling scene in South Carolina.

This is Part 1 of our series, which will start with the 1999 2A-1A Wrestling State Tournament.

In these three Exclusive SCMAT articles, we will find reversals of sports success that only Saturday afternoon TV could once provide us.

Growing up in the 1970's, sports were the essential part of my life. There were no video games, cell phones or Internet ... we played lots of sports. When we left the house in the morning until we returned sometime around dark, we lived and breathed sports. The entire day was consumed with bicycles, baseball, basketball, football, swimming, ping pong, capture the flag, tennis, Putt-Putt ... you name it. Except on Saturdays at 3:30pm. That's when we all headed inside to watch our favorite sports, on "The Wide World of Sports". This was ESPN ... before ESPN.

There was the iconic opening music, with Jim McKay hosting ABC's Wide World of Sports (1961-1998), and his famous words going into American pop culture forever ... and we all knew what lay ahead that afternoon ... "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat".

There is an English language adage that "A picture is worth a thousand words", however for me the photo above is the complete opposite, and few know the story. This has been one of my favorite photos, after decades in the sport of wrestling, yet it stayed in a box for 20 years, since ten thousand words cannot completely describe the image and story ... the photo may eventually leave you staring and wondering ... how can you "take back" a jump this high? You know it is a leap that was all about "the thrill of victory", however "the agony of defeat" lurked nearby.

Though these newspaper articles were about the finish between Loris and Bishop England, we will see that the team race was far more competitive ... and we should even start with the Lower State and Upper State ... but, before we do let's see why 1999 was such a unique transition year to begin with.

In 1999, 2A-1A was the only classification in SC that still recognized the Team Champion based on team points at the State Individuals. 4A was the highest classification and 4A had moved to the State Duals format in 1993. The 3A classification followed suit in 1994 and also went to the State Duals format for recognizing the Team Champion.

2A-1A did not appear to be moving in that direction at all. In fact, 2A-1A seemed to be thriving on the team race being decided by an open field with all teams having a chance going in to the final two weeks of the season.

The 1999 4A State Team Champion had already been decided 3 weeks prior to State Individuals, with Rock Hill (Coach Jim Barnes) defeating Dutch Fork (Coach B.D. LaPrad) in a 35-25 State Duals Finals.

The 1999 3A State Team Champion had already been decided 2 weeks prior to State Individuals, with Lugoff-Elgin (Coach Tim Wash) defeating Eastside (Coach Jack Kosmicki) in a 39-25 State Duals Finals.

1999 was the first time all classifications had been together in the same gym for the State Tournament(s) since 1977. The SC Wrestling Coaches Association felt it was time to bring all classes back together for State Individuals, so fans and wrestlers could see the best wrestlers on the same weekend. Furman University was the host site for the State Tournaments in 1999.

So, the 2A-1A Team Championship and 2A-1A Individual Champions would be decided at Furman University, while 4A and 3A would only crown Individual Champions.