ROCK HILL – Nine local wrestlers were crowned Region 3-5A champions in a moved-up tournament on Friday.
The region tournament held for individuals at Rock Hill High School was moved to Friday, Jan. 23 instead of being held on Saturday, Jan. 24 because of the winter weather expected to blanket the area.
Fort Mill came away winning the tournament with 209 points and five region champions. Catawba Ridge had three region champions finishing fourth and Nation Ford had one region champion and finished fifth.
The region titles started for Fort Mill with Jayden Nguyen (144) winning with a 17-2 tech fall over Indian Land’s Moses Cherry. Lincoln Greene (150) was next as he picked up a first period pin over Nation Ford’s Zach Nieves and then Broden Mitcheson (165) got a 5-2 decision over Indian Land’s Ethan Geary.
The next region title for Fort Mill came from Maurice Lawrence (190) with a 11-2 major over Catawba Ridge’s Andrew Coursey and rounding things off was a 3-0 win by Ted Ernst (215) in beating Nation Ford’s Bryan Flippins.
Peter Escudero (106), Lincoln Marks (138), Keenan Coston (157), Mason Metcalf (175), and Krystian Villatoro (hwt.) got second place finishes for Fort Mill. Morrison Murphy (113), Grayson Wallen (126), and Cole Wartinger (132) finished third for the Jackets.
Catawba Ridge had three winners starting at 113-pounds with Jacob McClure getting a 7-2 win over Rock Hill’s Briggs Wood. Taylon Winker (126) won for the Copperheads with a tech fall over Rock Hill’s Sahir Caracmo and Alex Johnson finished things off for Catawba Ridge with a 13-1 win over Fort Mill’s Villatoro.
Also placing for Catawba Ridge was third place finishers Wyatt Ellison (138) and Will Woods (215). Angel Acosta finished fourth at 132-pounds for the Copperheads.
Nation Ford’s lone winner was Camron Maygar (175) with a 6-5 decision over Fort Mill’s Metcalf. Finishing second for Nation Ford was Nieves (150) and Bryan Flippins (215). Finishing third for the Falcons was Robert Saddler (157) and Brad Flippins (165).
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
