The South Carolina High School League wrestling playoffs began last week, with teams from Lexington County looking to claim a championship at Dreher on Feb. 10. 

Nine Lexington County teams qualified for their classification’s duals tournament, but just one remains heading into the championship matches. 

Gilbert defeated Dreher 40-30 Wendesday night in the lower state championship, advancing the title bout against West-Oak. The teams will dual Saturday at noon at Dreher High School. 

The first and second rounds took place Saturday, Feb. 3. Chapin, River Bluff, Lexington, White Knoll and Dutch Fork all took part in the first day of the competition tournament, but not all moved on.

Out of the five 5A teams, only Chapin and River Bluff remained alive entering this week. 

Region champion River Bluff earned the right to host its matches against Wando and Ashley Ridge. 

The Gators dominated Wando early, allowing the team to concede the remainder of their matches and rest before round two. Against Ashley Ridge, River Bluff again came out strong and clinched the contest with matches to spare. 

Chapin traveled to Hillcrest for Saturday’s slate. The team was matched with Gaffney in the first round before advancing to defeat the host team in the second round. 

Gilbert was the only other team from the county to survive the first day after traveling to Phillip Simmons and winning two matches. The two-seed Indians were paired against No. 3 seed Darlington in the first round. 

Host team Phillips Simmons was upset by Waccamaw in round one, allowing Gilbert to swoop in and dominate Waccamaw and punch a ticket to the next round of competition. 

Gilbert was the lone county team to win round three and advance to the state semis. The Indians won at Aynor 48-33.  

River Bluff lost on its home mat to Goose Creek 40-30 Monday, Feb. 5, and Chapin lost on the road to Fort Mill. 

Brookland-Cayce also made the 3A tournament and moved past the first round after upsetting two-seed Lakewood. The Bearcats eventually fell to Aynor, who lost to Gilbert in round three on Monday. 

Irmo and Pelion also qualified for their state tournament and advanced past the first round before eventually losing in the second. 

The Yellow Jackets started with a win over Myrtle Beach before running into top seed May River, who had a first-round bye. 

Pelion was the No. 12 seed in the 2A Upper State bracket and upset No. 5 Mid-Carolina before losing to Dixie. 

Rankings update

Before the state duals began the state’s wrestling coaches association updated their team rankings. 

There was movement amongst the Lexington County schools in the rankings, with some programs moving up the list and others falling down. 

River Bluff jumped Chapin as the highest-ranked team in the county, coming in second place in all of 5A. The Gators earned that spot after clinching the region championship.

The Eagles dropped from second to fourth, but are still seen as one of the dominant teams in all of 5A. 

White Knoll entered the coaches poll for the first time this season, coming in at No. 17 right behind Lexington who dropped from 15 to 16. Dutch Fork who was ranked 20th for most of the season dropped out completely in the latest poll. 

Gilbert fell 10 spots from No. 8 to No. 18, showing signs of struggles before the playoffs. That did not affect their opening-round performances however. 

The athlete rankings from Jan. 12 are the same with the next update coming on Feb. 14 for wrestlers who qualified for the individual state tournaments. 

Full team and area athlete rankings

5A teams

1. Summerville
2. River Bluff
3. Fort Mill
4. Chapin
5. Hillcrest
6. Boiling Springs
7. Goose Creek
8. Stratford
9. TL Hanna
10. Carolina Forest
11. Byrnes
12. Gaffney
13. Dorman
14. Rock Hill
15. Clover
16. Lexington
17. White Knoll
18. Blythewood
19. Cane Bay
20. Ashley Ridge

Ranked 5A wrestlers

106 lbs.

3. Dane Dillon - White Knoll

113 lbs.

1. Jackson Stocker - Dutch Fork 

120 lbs.

2. Preston White - Chapin

126 lbs.

8. Josh Atkins - Chapin

138 Ibs.

7. Cael Edwards - River Bluff

144 lbs.

3. Breydon Jennings - Lexington

157 lbs.

4. Kaleb McNeil - Dutch Fork
5. Nathan Toll - Lexington 

165 lbs.

3. Logan Taylor - White Knoll
4. Carlson Kilcrease - Lexington 
5. Harrison Jones - Chapin 
6. Jackson Stengel - Dutch Fork

175 lbs.

1. Edward Pitts - River Bluff 
2. Carlos Ponce - White Knoll 

190 lbs.

2. Toler Hornick - Chapin 
3. Reese Lawrence - River Bluff 

215 lbs.

1. Joshua Neblo - River Bluff
2. Benji Delpriore - Chapin

4A teams

1. Eastside
2. Northwestern
3. May River
4. James Island
5. Lugoff-Elgin
6. Indian Land
7. Greenwood
8. Westside
9. Catawba Ridge
10. South Pointe
11. North Augusta
12. South Aiken
13. Myrtle Beach
14. Hartsville 
15. North Myrtle Beach

16. Greenville
17. Laurens
18. Wade Hampton
19. Aiken
20. Bluffton

Ranked 4A wrestlers

157 lbs.

7. Logan Crandall - Airport

165 lbs.

3. Trey Neil - Airport 

190 lbs.

2. Shane Hanna - Airport 

215 lbs.

3. Ethan Gamble - Irmo 

3A teams

1. West-Oak
2. Chester
3. Crescent
4. Powdersville
5. Travelers Rest
6. Belton-Honea Path
7. Palmetto
8. Fountain Inn
9. Clinton
10. Woodruff
11. Aynor
12. Waccamaw
13. Union County
14. Philip Simmons
15. Battery Creek
16. Daniel
17. Dreher
18. Gilbert
19. Beaufort
20. Loris

Ranked 3A wrestlers

126 Ibs.

8. Devin Lirgg - Gilbert 

132 lbs.

2. Hayden Schroeder - Gilbert
3. Mekhi Hampton - Swansea

144 Ibs.

1. Jonathan Brentlinger - Gilbert
2. Chase Alley - Swansea

190 lbs.

1. Colton Travis - Gilbert

2A/1A teams

1. Chesnee
2. Ninety-Six
3. Liberty
4. Dixie
5. North Central
6. Edisto
7. Buford
8. Timberland
9. Mid-Carolina
10. Academic Magnet
11. Landrum
12. High Point Academy
13. Cheraw
14. Bishop England
15. Lewisville
16. Pelion
17. Abbeville
18. Marion
19. Bridges Prep
20. Fairfield Central

Ranked 2A/1A wrestlers

106 Ibs.

2. Landon Byrd - Pelion

126 Ibs.

1. Charlie Spires - Pelion

157 Ibs.

3. Colin Williams - Pelion 

Girls teams

1. Blythewood Girls
2. Rock Hill Girls
3. Woodruff Girls
4. Ashley Ridge Girls
5. Greenwood Girls
6. Chester Girls
7. Lancaster Girls
8. Boiling Springs Girls
9. Clover Girls
10. Abbeville Girls
11. Gaffney Girls
12. South Florence Girls
13. Gilbert Girls
14. Hartsville Girls
15. Dixie Girls
16. Cane Bay Girls
17. Greer Girls
18. Dorman Girls
19. Northwestern Girls
20. Byrnes Girls