Looking at both head coaches, it would be hard to tell who won the dual match between Fort Mill and Nation Ford wrestling teams Tuesday.
Fort Mill head coach Chris Brock wasn’t happy with his team’s performance, despite getting the 45-31 win, while Nation Ford head coach Tony Forte was grinning from ear-to-ear under his mask, despite the loss.
With the win, Fort Mill improves to 7-3 overall and finishes its Region 3-5A schedule at 3-1, currently good enough to finish second and make the playoffs. Nation Ford falls to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the region with two matches left.
For Brock and Fort Mill, the match was closer than he feels it should have been.
“Forte is a great coach,” Brock said. “He got them ready to go. We weren’t as sharp as we should have been. They won matches I wasn’t expecting.”
Nation Ford gave up three wins by forfeit giving up 18 points and only lost by 14 points. Had they not had to forfeit those three weight classes; the outcome may have been different.
“I am super proud of this group,” Forte said. “I can’t complain.”
The match started at 170-pounds with Fort Mill getting an early win from Henry Debbout, who got a pin within the first 15 seconds of the match to put the Jackets up. Nation Ford bounced back at 182-pounds with a first period pin from Ryan deLeon to tie the match. Both teams would go back and forth for the next several matches giving up six-point wins.
Fort Mill got a forfeit win by Connor Montgomery (195), while Clayton Rygol (220) got a victory for Nation Ford by injury forfeit. The Falcons’ Alan Minarro picked up a second period pin at heavyweight and Aidan Eubanks got a forfeit win back at 106-pounds for Fort Mill to tie the match at 18-18.
The Jackets would take the lead at 113-pounds as Sebastian Colon got a second period pin starting a five-match win streak for Fort Mill. Winning during that streak was McGuire Harms (120) with a 9-4 decision, Cayden Richard (126) by first period pin, Noah Kitchton (132) by second period pin and Joshua Sturgeon (138) by forfeit.
Down 45-18, Nation Ford would close the gap winning the next three matches with Caden Brandenburg getting a first period pin at 145-pounds, Steven Johnson picking up a 21-7 major decision at 152-pounds and Isaac Nivens getting a 10-8 win in overtime at 160-pounds.
Nation Ford is scheduled to travel to Clover for a tri-match today against the Blue Eagles and Boiling Springs, and needs to win both to be in the running for a playoff spot. Fort Mill is done with their scheduled dual matches as they will host the individual region tournament Saturday, where the Falcons will also be participating.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
