Fort Mill head wrestling coach Chris Brock has told his wrestlers for years, “one day one of these matches is going to come down to you.” On Wednesday night, freshman Lincoln Greene got his number called and he answered.
The Jackets entered the last match up 33-31 and the two 106-pound wrestlers entered the last period tied at 4-4, before Greene got a take down in the period to get the advantage. Greene’s score in the third period made it 6-4 and he held on for the win to give third ranked Fort Mill the 36-31 win over the No. 1 ranked Chapin Eagles punching their ticket to the 5A state championship dual.
Brock said he knew how tough Chapin was so he was well prepared with his game plan, figuring things could come down to the last match.
“I knew that there was a strong possibility of that happening,” he said. “We lost a couple we weren’t anticipating losing. Our guys gutted it out and did what they had to do. Our 106, it came down to him and he got it done. He works hard.”
Fort Mill will face Lower State champion Summerville in the finals at Dreher High School in Columbia, which is set for 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11.
Brock said he was happy for his seniors and those who have been in the program for a while.
“It means everything,” he said. “Most of these seniors have been with me since they were 5-or-6-years-old. I got pictures of them in my office when they were 5 or 6-years old in baggy singlets. It means a lot to them. They have worked hard and stuck with me. These kids grew up here and it finally paid off.”
The last time Fort Mill made it to the state championship in wrestling was in 1998 when they were in the 3A classification when their head coach was current Catawba Ridge High principal Darren Wilson. Fort Mill fell to Lugoff-Elgin in the finals that year. Ironically, the Jackets only loss on the season has been to Lugoff-Elgin as they improved to 26-1 overall on the season with the win Wednesday.
The last time Fort Mill had made it to the Upper State finals in wrestling was in the 2016-2017 season, so it has been a while since they had been in the position, they were in Wednesday night. The match started at 113-pounds with Chapin jumping out to a 4-0 lead after a major decision on their part.
Fort Mill bounced back at 120-pounds with Tucker Gibson getting a 6-5 decision to pull the Jackets within one. Aidan Eubanks then picked up a second period pin at 126-pounds to give Fort Mill the lead, where they would never relinquish it.
The Jackets continued to perform well with Logan Shope (132) getting a 14-1 major decision and Gavin Mitcheson picking up a first period pin at 138-pounds. Taylor Johnson (145) won 9-1 and Noah Kitchton (152) won 16-6 to give Fort Mill a 27-4 lead as the Jackets won six consecutive weight classes.
But Chapin didn’t get to the No. 1 ranking in the state by being bad. The Eagles rallied and won the next four matches to pull within two points at 27-25.
Fort Mill looked to senior Henry Debbout (220) to right the ship and he did with a third period pin to give some breathing room to Fort Mill and make it 33-25. Chapin then got a pin at heavyweight setting up a showdown at 106-pounds.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
