YORK – Three Catawba Ridge wrestlers won individual Region 3-4A titles Tuesday evening at York Comprehensive High as 11 Copperhead wrestlers qualified for the 4A Upper State tournament.
Jakob Kees (132), Jarrett Eubanks (152) and Nate Teel (182) all won region titles in their respective weight classes. Kees won by decision over Indian Land’s Giovanni Capuano at 132-pounds, Eubanks got a pin over Brian Adams from Indian Land at 152-pounds and Teel also got a pin over Indian Land wrestler Anthony Rodriguez.
Indian Land won the event with 228 points as they had seven individual champions. Catawba Ridge was second with 160 points and York was third with 126.5 points. South Pointe was fourth with 120 points and Lancaster rounded out the scoring with 65 points.
Besides the three winners, Catawba Ridge had six wrestlers finish second in the runner-up position. Taking second for the Copperheads was Alex Teel (113), Connor Stukitz (126), Levi Jones (145), Forrest Rozelle (160), Alex Bunz (220) and Tony Atkins (heavyweight).
Catawba Ridge also had two wrestlers, Clark Ostendorf (120) and Jacob Webster (195), place fourth to qualify for the Upper State tournament. The 4A Upper State tournament is Feb. 18 and 19 at Eastside.
The Copperheads will open up the 4A dual playoffs this Saturday, Feb. 5 at 10 a.m. as they wait for an opponent to be decided between Easley and AC Flora who will open the playoffs at Catawba Ridge. The winner of that match will wrestle Catawba Ridge in the second round on the same day. Catawba Ridge is ranked 16th in 4A in the latest polls and Easley is ranked 15th.
Jackets finish second to qualify for playoffs
In other wrestling news, Fort Mill beat Boiling Springs 53-19 to finish their Region 3-5A schedule with a 3-1 record in second place. Clover won the region title for the second consecutive year by going 4-0 on the season in region duals. The region schedule was finished with a make-shift dual tournament held at Boiling Springs Tuesday after the tournament was canceled at Fort Mill last week because of possible weather-related issues.
Fort Mill now sits at 15-7 on the season and will open the 5A state playoffs Saturday on the road at Hillcrest where they will take on Blythewood in the first round. If they win that match, they would take on the winner of Hillcrest and Spartanburg in the second round on the same day at Hillcrest.
Nation Ford ended their dual season at Boiling Springs falling to the host Bulldogs 49-23 and Gaffney 54-23. The Falcons ended their dual season with a 4-9 record and turn their attention now to the 5A Upper State tournament which they are hosting Feb. 18-19.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
