The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets wrestling team opened their Region 3-5A schedule against long-time rival Rock Hill Bearcats.
Fort Mill came in undefeated on the season and ranked No. 1 in 5A Division II, while Rock Hill was ranked No. 8 in 5A Division I.
While the dual went back-and-forth in the early going, Fort Mill pulled away winning seven of the final eight matches to improve to 21-0 on the season with a 48-23 win, despite not being at full strength.
“Once everyone gets healthy, we should be alright,” said Fort Mill head coach Adam Marullo. “It’s the next man up. As long as we are peaking in February, that is the goal.”
The two teams went back-and-forth through the first four matches with each team getting two wins. Rock Hill started picking up a decision at 106-pounds, before Fort Mill got a forfeit win by Jett Heilman at 113-pounds to take a 6-3 lead.
After falling at 120-pounds, Luke Van Beynum bounced back for a win with a second period pin to put the Jackets on top 12-9. Rock Hill regained the lead at 14-12 after a tech fall at 132 and then got a first period pin to go up 20-12.
From there, the rally was on as Fort Mill rattled off six consecutive wins starting at 144-pounds with a second period pin from Jayden Nguyen. Lincoln Greene (150) picked up a first period pin to put the Jackets back in front at 24-20, as they would not trail anymore in the match.
Gabe Snipe (157) won 13-10 and Broden Mitcheson (165) got a first period pin for the Jackets. Fort Mill’s Mason Metcalf (175) won with a second period pin and Maurice Lawrence (190) won 2-0 to clinch the dual for the Jackets.
Fort Mill wrapped up the match with a first period pin by Krystian Villatoro at heavyweight.
The Jackets will host Northwestern on Thursday, Jan. 8, and then travel to Clover for a tri-match against Indian Land and Clover on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
Jan. 6 Roundup
The Nation Ford girls’ basketball team improved to 2-0 in Region 3-5A with a 57-36 win over Indian Land. The Lady Falcons are 6-8 overall.
The Nation Ford boys’ basketball team also improve to 2-0 in Regin 3-5A with a 62-59 win over Indian Land on the road. Nation Ford is now 12-3 overall.
The Fort Mill girls’ basketball team dropped to 6-11 overall and 1-2 in Region 3-5A with a 61-36 loss to Rock Hill on the road.
The Fort Mill boys’ basketball team beat Rock Hill 74-52 to improve to 14-3 overall and 3-0 in Region 3-5A. Jermier Nelson led with 27 points and AJ Washington had 26 points for the Jackets. Wallace Campbell added 15 points in the win.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
