SCMAT Exclusive Wrestling Article 2-3-25
Top 10 SC Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
Decade 6 - 2020-2024
Hillcrest wrestling
SCMAT continues our Exclusive series covering the Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time.
Unique aspects of this Decade - 2020-2024
The COVID-19 public health threat impacted this decade, especially the 2021 season.
Coach Chris Brock (Fort Mill) retired as head wrestling coach after winning 5A State Duals in 2023.
Coach Ken Wilson (Chapin) retired as head wrestling coach after winning 5A Traditional State in 2024.
In this decade, Coach Derek Strobel would reach a milestone by coaching team state champions at a second school (see below).
Deek Strobel - Lexington (4A) - 2013, West-Oak (3A) - 2022, 2023, 2024
In this decade, three more SC wrestling coaches would be inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association Hall Of Fame:
2020 Inductee - Brad Porter - (Cheraw)
2021 Inductee - James "Nate" Thompson - (Myrtle Beach, Conway, Carvers Bay)
2024 Inductee - Tim Wash - (James Island, Lugoff-Elgin, Rock Hill, Berkeley, Cane Bay)
Only one school managed to have Undefeated Seasons in this decade (see below). As of February 2, 2025 - Eastside holds the SC record with a 108 Consecutive Dual Meet Win Streak.
2024 - Eastside (4A) - 37-0
2023 - Eastside (4A) - 19-0
Let's take a look at this decade of SC high school wrestling
Decade 6 - 2020-2024 - State Champions
If you are reading this article from your cell phone (mobile), you may find the team comparison grid below will be better to read turning your phone sideways to wide format.
Trad Trad Year Class State Champion Coach Record Place Pts. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Placers ---- ----- -------------- --------------- ------ ----- ----- --- --- --- --- ----
2024 5A Fort Mill Adam Marullo 27-2 6th 50.0 0 1 1 2 4 recap
2024 4A Eastside Jack Kosmicki 37-0 1st 171.5 5 2 2 0 9 recap
2024 3A West-Oak Derek Strobel 26-4 1st 132.0 3 2 2 1 8 recap
2024 2A-1A Chesnee Jon Rentz 26-3 3rd 118.0 2 3 1 2 8 recap
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2023 5A Fort Mill Chris Brock 27-1 3rd 73.0 1 1 1 2 5 recap
2023 4A Eastside Jack Kosmicki 19-0 1st 186.5 7 2 0 0 9 recap
2023 3A West-Oak Derek Strobel 39-1 1st 150.0 4 3 1 0 8 recap
2023 2A-1A Liberty Dale Burrell 37-5 1st 157.5 2 3 3 1 9 recap
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2022 5A Ashley Ridge Stacey Woods 16-1 1st 126.0 3 3 1 1 8 recap
2022 4A Eastside Jack Kosmicki 19-1 1st 148.0 4 3 0 1 8 recap
2022 3A West-Oak Derek Strobel 25-2 1st 119.0 3 2 2 0 7 recap
2022 2A-1A Ninety-Six Roy Lemmons 26-3 3rd 101.0 1 2 2 3 8 recap
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2021 5A Hillcrest Anthony Esposito 33-6 1st 91.5 2 2 1 1 6 recap
2021 4A Eastside Jack Kosmicki 21-3 1st 181.0 7 1 1 2 11 recap
2021 3A Belton-Honea Path Chris Strickland 21-3 1st 111.0 3 3 0 0 6 recap
2021 2A-1A Crescent Austin Powell 17-1 1st 125.0 3 1 4 0 8 recap
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2020 5A Hillcrest Robby Bell 32-5 1st 95.5 3 0 2 1 6 recap
2020 4A Eastside Jack Kosmicki 41-2 1st 205.5 4 4 2 2 12 recap
2020 3A Indian Land Leon Boulware 30-2 1st 165.0 5 1 2 1 9 recap
2020 2A-1A Bamberg-Ehrhardt Mark Moody 25-9 1st 120.0 3 1 2 1 7 recap
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Analysis of the Decade - 2020-2024
In this decade, five (5) different schools have won 2A-1A State Championships:
Chesnee, Liberty, Ninety-Six, Crescent, Bamberg-Ehrhardt
West-Oak would become the third school to have four coaches win State Championships (list in alphabetical order):
4 coaches - Lugoff-Elgin - Evan Moxie, Kevin Knoerr, Joe Connell, Tim Wash
4 coaches - Swansea - Chad Meredith, Quincy Riley, Jeff Slagle, Phil Williams
4 coaches - West-Oak - Derek Strobel, Greg Brewer, Jeffery Jordan, Glenn Muncy
3 coaches - Bamberg-Ehrhardt - Mark Moody, Jake Stewart, Cody Slaughter
3 coaches - Crescent - Austin Powell, Chris Strickland, Russell Blackston
3 coaches - Hillcrest - Anthony Esposito, Robby Bell, Tommy Bell
3 coaches - Lower Richland - Jim Fitzpatrick, Rudolph Cooper, William Tourek
3 coaches - Rock Hill - Cain Beard, Jim Barnes, Tom Ellenberger
In this decade, one wrestler (so far) from SC would win NCAA D2 National Titles:
2024 - David Hunsberger - Lander University (NCAA D2) - 1st, 165 lbs. - (wrestled at Byrnes)
June Welch (Woodruff) made history as the first female wrestler in S.C. to win an SCHSL Individual Wrestling State Championship
June Welch (Woodruff) - Individual State Champion
One of the Greatest State Duals Finals in South Carolina wrestling history occurred in this decade (2020-2024):
Ashley Ridge 2022 5A State Champions
Senior All-Americans from South Carolina would reach 100+ in this decade (2020-2024):
Wrestling USA Magazine Senior All-Americans from South Carolina
Decade considerations for Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
SCMAT considers a number of teams in this decade as Top 10 considerations.
National Wrestling Hall of Fame (NWHOF) Inductees from the SC Chapter noted below (for NWHOF members on the teams being considered).
Coaches and fans will need to weight in on the peak year for each of these teams:
Eastside - 5 state titles - upcoming 2025 NWHOF Inductee Coach Jack Kosmicki
West-Oak - 3 state titles
Hillcrest - 2 state titles
Fort Mill - 2 state titles - NWHOF Inductee Coach Chris Brock
Ashley Ridge - 1 state title
Belton-Honea Path - 1 state title
Indian Land - 1 state title
The longest 6 minutes of your life ... and your team is in tiebreaker criteria
SCMAT has reached tiebreaker criteria in the Exclusive series covering the Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time.
How do we determine the final Top 10? ... should this be a wrestle-off and we put six-decades of teams together with an all-time dual brackets to decide this?
Since SCMAT will cover this Top 10 series over two years we will reach a Top 10 conclusion in the final Exclusives of this series, Fall of 2025.
Which teams and seasons are in your Top 10? ... let SCMAT know your picks
If you notice any updates related to the State Champions above, please send an email to scmat@hotmail.com
thanks,
Mark Buford
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