LowcoSports.com
Lady’s Island Middle School’s girls wrestling team finished third in the team standings at the Carolina Invitational on Jan. 28 in Gilbert, with Summer Estrella claiming gold at 120 pounds to cap off a sensational season.
Estrella won five straight matches to claim the title, recording pins in 12 and 17 seconds in the first two rounds before registering another pin and a technical fall en route to the finals. In the championship match, she defeated Greenwood’s Sloan Mueller in an 11-6 decision. Estrella’s only loss of the season came to McCracken’s Trent Lazare in the finals of the Beaufort County Championships.
Londyn Clark also had a strong showing for LIMS, finishing runner-up in the 275-pound weight class.
John Paul II’s Nick Kessinger was runner-up at 114 pounds in the middle school boys division of the Carolina Invitational, which was held the same day in Lexington. Kessinger is the first middle school wrestler from JPII to place in the event, which is the de facto state tournament for middle school and JV wrestlers.
Dual playoffs on hold
The SCHSL dual playoffs were supposed to start Saturday, but winter weather throughout the state put everything on hold until further notice. As of press time, a revised start date had not been announced.
Beaufort is the No. 8 seed in the Class 4A bracket and is scheduled to open against North Augusta with the winner advancing to face host May River, assuming the Sharks take care of No. 16 seed Bishop England.
In Class 3A, Battery Creek received a first-round bye and will face either Aynor or Oceanside Collegiate in Round 2.
Bridges Prep is the No. 8 seed in Class 2A and faces Woodland in the first round with a matchup with top-seeded Timberland likely in Round 2.
The state championship matches had been scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 7, but the timeline might be altered due to the postponement of the first- and second-round matches.