With the help of the one team that gave them their only region loss, Fort Mill clinched a spot in the 5A state wrestling playoffs as Clover swept a tri-match against Boiling Springs and Nation Ford Wednesday.
In beating both Boiling Springs and Nation Ford, Clover clinched their first ever region wrestling title with a 4-0 record. Fort Mill came in second at 3-1, with their only region loss being to Clover. Nation Ford was third at 2-2 in the region. Only the top two teams in the region makes the playoffs. Just who Clover and Fort Mill will face in the dual playoffs isn’t known yet.
Nation Ford is now 5-4 after beating Boiling Springs 42-30 before falling to Clover 74-5. Against Boiling Springs, Nation Ford started at 132-pounds with Ja’Derrick Foster getting a forfeit win. Boiling Springs got a forfeit at 138-pounds to tie the match at 6-6.
The Falcons then got five straight wins to go up 30-6. Getting wins for Nation Ford during that stretch was Caden Brandenburg (145) with a 12-6 decision, Steven Johnson (152) with a forfeit, Isaac Nieves (160) with a first period pin, Daniel Chestnut (170) with a 10-5 decision, and Ryan deLeon (182) with a first period pin.
Boiling Springs picked up a forfeit at 195-pounds, before Clayton Rygol (220) for the Falcons got a first period pin. Boiling Springs would rattle off two wins before heading back to the top of the lineup as Nation Ford’s Dalton Curtsinger (120) got a pin to close things out for the Falcons.
Against Clover, the host team showed their region dominance as they only dropped one match to Nation Ford. The lone win for the Falcons against Clover came as Johnson (152) picked up a 19-4 win to get a major decision and stay undefeated on the season.
All three teams will now turn their attention to the individual Region 3-5A tournament held at Fort Mill Saturday.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
