In an intense match not decided until near the end, the Fort Mill wrestling team pulled away from the Byrnes Rebels in the second round of the 5A state wrestling playoffs winning 42-23 Saturday.
Fort Mill advances to the third round where they will face Chapin Monday, Feb. 5 at home. The Jackets improved to 21-2 on the season with the win.
The Jackets had a bye in the first round Saturday and waited to see who would win between Byrnes and Lexington in the opening round also wrestled at Fort Mill High Saturday morning.
Byrnes didn’t have much trouble with Lexington, so Fort Mill head coach Adam Marullo knew the No. 3 ranked Yellow Jackets would have their hands full with No. 11 Byrnes.
“I knew they had some good guys,” Marullo said. “Our guys wrestled well. Bonus points mattered.”
The dual with Brynes started at 120-pounds as Fort Mill dropped the opening match to go down 3-0. The dual would go back-and-forth through the first four weight classes.
Fort Mill’s Tucker Gibson won 2-0 at 126-pounds to tie the dual and Logan Shope (132) won by pin to put the Jackets up 9-3. Byrnes would then get a fall at 138-pounds to have the dual tied at 9, before Aidan Eubanks (144) put Fort Mill ahead with a second period pin.
Cade Simpson (150) would win 6-2, before Byrnes again tied the dual at 18 after winning back-to-back weight classes. Theodore Ernst (175) would pick up a 13-2 major decision to put Fort Mill back on top for good, while Byrnes got a team point deducted during the 175-pound match.
Sebastian Villatoro (190) grabbed a 7-4 decision, before a loss at heavyweight for Fort Mill would again put the Rebels within striking distance.
Luke Van Beynum (106) clinched the dual for Fort Mill with a second period pin and Jacob Nally (113) finished the dual off with a 15-0 tech fall.
Feb. 3 Roundup
The Catawba Ridge Copperheads wrestling won their first round 4A dual at Greenwood against Laurens 34-33 setting up a match with Greenwood in the second round. In the second round, the Copperheads fell to Greenwood 47-26 to end their season at 20-13 overall.
The Nation Ford Falcons wrestling fell in the opening round of the 5A playoffs losing on the road to Hillcrest 66-9 to end their dual season at 9-21 overall.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
