We need more of these ...

As a sport we need more marquee matchups … we get that in many of the state duals, but the fact that Eastside and Hillcrest (South Carolina) haven’t wrestled in a dual in years is not a good thing for the promotion of our sport. We need to highlight the best teams and let them compete against one another. It was a packed crowd that gathered at Hillcrest to watch a great dual come down to the final match.

Here is the dual in full from Coach Koz …

113- Bronek Snizaski (E) dec. Coby Cortese (H) 9-3

120- Colton Holmes (H) pinned Nik Snizaski (E)

126- Ty Tice (E) tech. fall Trent Smith (H) 15-0

132- George Maholtz (E) pinned Harrison Holmes (H)

138- Colt Schrader (E) pinned Parker Cheely (H)

145- Hunter Jagodzinski (H) pinned Brandon Charlton (E)

152- Thomas Snipes (H) maj. dec Lane Schrader (E) 12-1

160- Jack Wyland (E) dec. Ethan Ellinger (H) 5-2

170- Austin Kilgore (H) dec. Baron Leonard  (E)10-6

182- Jackson Harms (H) inj. def Langston Scott (E)

195- Roy Price (E) pinned David Prince (H)

220- Daniel Esparza (E) dec. Benjamin Gooch (H) 3-1

HWT- Jacoryen Byrd (H) fft.

106- Chris Thompson (E) pinned Tyler Grindstaff (H)

Final score 

Eastside - 38

Hillcrest - 31

Who wouldn’t want to see in-state duals between the likes of:

• Buford and Camden (GA)

• Foard and Laney (NC)

• Jesuit and South Dade (FL)

to name just a few - much less interstate possibilities which would be more of a challenge to pull off. I know Woodward Academy dualed Eastside before the Southern Slam this year. But having a dual is just one step … showcasing the teams and promoting to everyone across the Southeast (or at the very least across the state) is crucial to increasing exposure. Should we increase exposure? My personal opinion is yes … we don’t do it for the exposure, but why not take the time to showcase the incredible talent we have in the SE?

Hats off to Hillcrest, Eastside, and Wrestlers in Business for making this happen. I hope we get to see many more events like this in the future.