Eagles give Sowers two wins in debut
LowcoSports.com
Beaufort High’s wrestling team made it a victorious debut for first-year head coach Jake Sowers last week when the Eagles routed Cross High 57-18 and edged an upstart John Paul II program 42-39 in a home match Wednesday night.
The Golden Warriors, who also defeated the Trojans, 57-24, earlier in the night, took a 33-30 lead on Chris Orta’s pin at 190 pounds, But football star Will Codding came up with a pin at 215 to clinch the win for the Eagles before each team was awarded a win by forfeit in the final two weight classes.
DeGroat leads Dolphins
Battery Creek’s Gunnar DeGroat picked up where he left off after winning a Class 3A state title last season, starting his senior campaign with a perfect mark after capturing the 190-pound title Saturday at the Lowcountry Invitational at Waccamaw High School.
DeGroat also went 3-0 in the Dolphins’ opener, earning individual wins in team victories over Berkeley (57-18) and Timberland (47-33) as well as a 45-36 loss to Academic Magnet.
The Dolphins placed 10th among 15 teams in Saturday’s tournament, with six wrestlers placing in the top five in their weight classes. In addition to DeGroat’s title, Leroy Tyus was second at 285, Andrew Legree was third at 157, Quinn Mathews (106) and John Coker (120) each placed fourth, and Christian Fess was fifth at 165.
JPII off to strong start
After a season-opening split with Cross High and Beaufort High, John Paul II went 3-2 on Saturday at the Hammond Holiday Hustle, including a 54-27 win over defending SCISA duals champion Ben Lippen to start the day.
The Golden Warriors also routed Augusta Christian, 66-6, and beat Heathwood, 48-34, with their losses coming against Hammond School (48-34) and Cardinal Newman (66-18).
Alex Mercer (5-1, 4 pins), Chris Orta (4-1, 4 pins), and Daniel Snyder (4-1, 2 pins) have been the top producers for JPII thus far.
