SCVarsity Individual Wrestling Rankings
SCVARSITY INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS WRESTLING Here is how we at SCVARSITY see the individuals in the state. And much like the rankings in the big states, we are ranking wrestlers based on their individual ability and not the size of their school. Please also note that not all of the wrestlers have been seen by SCVARSITY, so we have to go on the results that we know about. If someone has beaten one of the ranked wrestlers, let us know so that we can have someone get to that wrestlers' matches and decide if that person deserves to be moved up into the rankings. Please let us know any information about wrestlers who are at different weight classes by posting it on the message board, or by emailing us at SCVARSITY We have waited the first month to allow wrestlers to settle into their weight classes. Individual rankings will be updated on Tuesday, January 8th, and every Tuesday following that. Here is how it looks heading into the Christmas break: 103- This will be an interesting weight class all year. Since the majority of wrestlers at 103 are young men who are first year starters, it makes this an exciting weight class. Look out for Anthony Young of Summerville. He has already caught the eye of many coaches as a future State Champ. And the future may be as close as February. He and Firtko have wrestled three times, with Young taking two of three. 1. Anthony Young- Summerville 2. Zach Johnson- Battery Creek 3. Matt Firtko- Dutchfork 4. Cong Capp- Eastside 5. Chris Jackson- Rock Hill 6. Kyle Nygren- Lexington 7. Matt Pyler- Northwestern 8. David Cotoe- Lugoff-Elgin 9. Ian Barker- North Myrtle Beach 10. Rocky Phillips- Loris 112- This may be the most athletic weight class in the state. When these men step on the mats you are looking at some solid weightlifters! Pollock has dominated early, but making weight may be trouble for him all season. Dority and Pollock should have a chance to meet in the Bearcat tournament. LaPrad has been a very impressive freshman early on. 1. Clyde Pollock- Dutchfork 2. Robbie Dority- Greer 3. Darice Livingston- Goose Creek 4. Adrain Davis- Chester 5. Donte Isaac- Cheraw 6. Jake Fordham- Fort Mill 7. A.J. Ruiz- Fort Dorchester 8. Tyler LaPrad- Summerville 9. Roderick Wright- Rock Hill 10. T.J. Cofield- Lexington 119- Cloonan has made the cut down to 119 and he immediately looks like the man in this group. Defending champ Kyle Kimrey will have something to say before the season ends, as will Turner (who owns a win against Kimrey from the PSC). Brandon Rayfield has been impressive leading one of the states hottest teams in any division in 2-A Chesterfield. 1. Ryan Cloonan- Byrnes- 2. Gerald Turner- Summerville- 3. Kyle Kimrey- Dutchfork- 4. Adam Takach- Hilton Head- 5. Brandon Rayfield- Chesterfield- 6. Anthony Manross- Irmo- 7. Antonio Knox- Northwestern- 8. Dee Templeton- Fort Mill- 9. Adam Ewoldsen- Eastside- 10. Mike Price- North Myrtle Beach- 125- Well at 125 we have the man in South Carolina who is pound for pound the best wrestler in the state in Mike Ellis. Ellis has looked like a man on a mission this season after last year struggling to stay consistent. And doesn?t the college football BCS wish they had a system like high school wrestling. This weight class will be decided on Jan. 4-5 at the Bearcat when 8 of the 10 ranked wrestlers are at one tournament! WOW! Anderson and Ellis should be a great match is they can survive the other rounds. 1. Mike Ellis- Dutchfork- 2. Jeff Anderson- BHP- 3. Shane Morris- Seneca- 4. Cole Wilson- Byrnes- 5. Jayvon Jackson- Greer- 6. Riley Galloway- Northwestern- 7. Jamey Smith- Irmo- 8. Kyle Marchin- Fort Mill- 9. Matt McLane- West Oak- 10. Maurice Eazel- Swansea- 130- This may be the most impressive weight class where you have three defending state champs in one weight. Through in Al Jones of Irmo and the very tough Joe Wickenhofer of Summerville and you have a great race to see who stays #1. Canipe has jumped up from 103 and hasn?t missed a beat so far. He proved that by handling the competition at the Taco Bell Invitational. Richardson from York is a tough kid who is very tough to score on. 1. Keith Richardson- York- 2. Al Jones- Irmo- 3. Marcus Canipe- Chesterfield- 4. Joe Wickenhofer- Summerville- 5. Adam Bessenger- Battery Creek- 6. Anthony Corwin- Fort Dorchester- 7. Salon Staley- Swansea- 8. Michael Phelps- Lexington- 9. Terry Christmas- Eastside- 10. Brian McFadden- Lake City- 135- The Bearcat will again produce a much-anticipated match-up when Brockington and Selke hook up. Hopefully they can face each other so we will know who is the better of the two. Both compete with completely different styles as Selke is as smooth as silk and Brockington uses raw power to beat his opponents. Ballenger from Byrnes makes the jump from 125 and may try to move down to 130 later in the season to solidify the Rebel line-up. 1. Watch Brockington- Lake City- 2. T.J. Selke- Dutchfork- 3. Kyle White- T.L. Hanna- 4. Julious Frederick- Lugoff-Elgin 5. Brad Dawson- Lexington- 6. Theo Meryanos- Carolina Forest- 7. Mario Bria- Hilton Head- 8. Curtis Graham- Battery Creek- 9. Paul Ballenger- Byrnes- 10. Evan Ward- Crescent- 140- King has dominated the competition for the past two years in South Carolina. He defeated Riley in the finals of the SilverFox 10-5, but that was 5 takedowns and five let-up escapes. He looked very dominant. Carlos Hinton looks to be the man in 3-A, as does Scott Canipe in 2-A. Those Chesterfield boys just keep popping up in these rankings. 1. Andy King- Fort Mill- 2. Abdel Nassar- Byrnes- 3. Alex Piper- Hilton Head- 4. Terrell Riley- Summerville- 5. Ryan Reedy- Lexington- 6. Carlos Hinton- Chester- 7. Jason Mathews- Carolina Forest- 8. Brian Yates- Fort Dorchester- 9. Scott Canipe- Chesterfield 10. Neil Merrit- Eastside- 145- Powell from Byrnes is the top pick here up until this point. He has won every match this season and looked good doing it. He and Apponte have wrestled about ten times over the past two years with Powell coming out on top in close matches. Brown from Swansea is a tough wrestler, but he fell apart in the finals of the SilverFox Invitational. His conditioning may cost him a shot at the state title. A sleeper in the weight class could be Darren Smith of Berkley. The Berkley team has had a rough season, but Smith has lots of potential. 1. Robbie Powell- Byrnes- 2. Jonathon Brown- Swansea- 3. Jonathon Baker- Lugoff-Elgin 4. Christian Apponte- Hillcrest- 5. Chris Newton- Hilton Head- 6. Caleb Wilkes- Lexington- 7. Darren Smith- Berkley- 8. Alex Houston- Chester- 9. Jason Starnes- Rock Hill- 10. Will Gainey- Chesterfield- 152- Sunkins may be the best athlete in the state on the wrestling mats. He combines raw power with excellent technique and looks to dominate this weight class. Junior Randy Nazionale could have something to say because his style of wrestling could tie up Sunkins and frustrate the big man from HH. Rory Garnett looks impressive for Brookland-Cayce and will get better as the season wears on. 1. Mike Sunkins- Hilton Head- 2. Randy Nazionale- Ridgeview- 3. Jonathon Bragg- Summerville- 4. Derek Neitz- Spring Valley- 5. Matt Jovanelly- Dutchfork- 6. Treven Fordham- Hanahan- 7. Rory Garnett- Brookland-Cayce- 8. Chris Stryker- Seneca- 9. Sammy Robinson- Cheraw- 10. Desmond Burgess- Lake City- 160- Brent Poynter is next in line behind Ellis for the best wrestler in the state award. Poynter continues to go out on the mats and dominate opponents. And when you look at him standing around, he doesn?t look that good. But then again, this isn?t a beauty contest so looks don?t much matter. Herrington and Lewis from the 2-A ranks are getting better and should battle each other for the top spot in their division. 1. Brent Poynter- Eastside- 2. Eric Lambert- Dutchfork- 3. Craig Albers- Fort Mill 4. Jermaine Herrington- Cheraw- 5. Rico Lewis- Loris- 6. Vinson Good- Seneca- 7. Daniel Caldwell- Byrnes- 8. Todd Cottrell- Lexington- 9. Kevin Brown- Battery Creek- 10. Mark Wojoski- Irmo- 171- Careef Robertson is so good, that he is almost not impressive. Many people say that about this young man because he just goes about his business. Only problem is that no one seems to be able to score points against him, and he is happy winning matches 4-1, 3-0, and so on. He may not impress you, but this guy may be the one guy who doesn?t get beat this season. Jeff Mixon from Edisto is very tough, but I don?t think he and Robertson will meet up at any tournaments. Would have been a good match if they did. 1. Careef Robertson- Dutchfork- 2. Jeff Mixon- Edisto 3. Darius Caldwell- Swansea- 4. Sharon Gathers- Summerville 5. Tyler Harris- Riverside- 6. Jack Bean- Stratford- 7. Frank Brockington- Lake City- 8. Whit Sowards- Irmo- 9. Will Kuhn- Spring Valley- 10. Josh Sabath- Fort Mill- 189- Valek is head and shoulders above the other wrestlers at this weight. There is not another weight class where there is as much a difference between #1 and the rest, but it is evident here. Justin Pittman already owns a big victory over Vaughn from BHP. Vaughn was the state runner-up at this weight last season. Both of those guys should watch out for Chisholm from Chester who is improved greatly over his efforts last season. 1. Parker Valek- Irmo- 2. Jada Ross- Summerville- 3. Anthony Miller- Byrnes 4. Aaron Lambert- Dutchfork- 5. Zach Brussert- Spring Valley- 6. T.C. Wilson- Airport- 7. Michael Grase- Rock Hill- 8. Justin Pittman- Eastside- 9. Darren Vaughn- BHP- 10. Michael Chisholm- Chester- 215- Leone has yet to see what it feels like to wrestle in the 2nd period. Yes, that is correct, 2nd period. Now obviously we don?t think he can make it the entire season with that kind of record, but then again he is pretty darn good. Robinson will get a shot at Leone at the Bearcat, but I don?t think he will do any better than the rest. Leone is just dominant at 215. 1. Nick Leone- Dutchfork- 2. Quinton Robinson- Lake City- 3. Jess Bowers- Walhalla- 4. Keith Medlin- Lugoff-Elgin- 5. Matt Hill- Irmo- 6. Dodd Smith- Socastee- 7. Mike Powell- Airport- 8. Shannon McKnight- Berkley- 9. Will Singleton- Swansea- 10. Vince Santolla- Fort Mill- 275- What an interesting weight class we have here. Solid wrestlers up and down the top ten. The most talented is Briggman from Swansea, but his poor conditioning will catch up with him later in the season. Ruff from Ninety-Six is a great athlete who will push Briggman for the top spot this year. In 4-A, the top three are very good and will beat on each other all year. Right not Fry and Woods are just getting out from football, so we will have to see how long it takes before they are dominant again. Hudson should have no problems winning a second title in 3-A. 1. Dustin Fry- Summerville- 2. Chris Reyes- Berkley 3. Chris Woods- Irmo- 4. Matt Briggman- Swansea- 5. Blake Hudson- Brookland-Cayce- 6. Fred Mills- Lancaster- 7. Brett Porterfield- Spring Valley- 8. Marquis Ruff- Ninety-Six 9. Chad Land- Chester- 10. David Schupp- Myrtle Beach- |
