SCMAT Exclusive Wrestling Article 12-23-24
Top 10 SC Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
Decade 2 - 1980-1989
Summerville wrestling
SCMAT continues our Exclusive series covering the Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time.
Unique aspects of this Decade - 1980-1989
A number of historic coaching hires in the prior decade influenced S.C.'s wrestling landscape. These coaches made a profound impact that shaped the success of the 1980's.
Here are a few highlights ...
Coach Jim Barnes wrestled in PA growing up and after playing football at Appalachian State University, he started his high school coaching career at Union County before going to Airport and then Rock Hill.
In SCMAT's article to kick this series off a few weeks ago, we highlighted B.D. LaPrad, Steve LaPrad and Mark Agner coming to S.C. via Virginia.
These three high school wrestling teammates from Roanoke, VA would achieve a one-time feat in South Carolina - Coach B.D. LaPrad (Irmo) would win the 1979 4A State Title, Coach Mark Agner (Fort Johnson) would win the 1980 3A State Title, Coach Steve LaPrad (Summerville) would win the 1981 4A State Title. This would be the only time in South Carolina that three high school wrestling teammates would each coach State Championships in three consecutive years in SC.
The three wrestling teammates had been coached by the late Coach Ken Shelton, who first built Northside High School (Roanoke, VA) into a state power and then was an outstanding wrestling coach and educator at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.
Another coach made his way to SC ... Ed Coles (NJ, MD) moved to Virginia after wrestling at The Citadel and was looking for a teaching/coaching job. Coach Mark Agner called Ed Coles because he had two job offers (St. Andrews and Fort Johnson) but could only accept one. Mark Agner accepted the Fort Johnson coaching position and Ed Coles later accepted the St. Andrews coaching position. Coach Ed Coles was at St. Andrews High School from 1978-1984, winning 2 state titles at St. Andrews (1982, 1984).
Coach Ed Coles later moved to Eastside H.S. and would build the tradition of another wrestling powerhouse, and we all know the legacy that continues at Eastside.
Coach Mark Agner would move back to Virginia later in the 1980's and continue a successful coaching career in VA. Coach Agner traveled down to SC for the 2023 NWHOF Induction and Banquet recognizing his former high school wrestling teammate B.D. LaPrad and one of his outstanding wrestlers at Fort Johnson, Tim Wash. Coach Mark Agner's legacy of contributions in S.C. is greatly appreciated!
Over a 14 year consecutive stretch (1976-1989) during the first two decades of SC wrestling, these five coaches would win 16 State Titles.
Let's take a look at this decade of SC high school wrestling
Decade 2 - 1980-1989 - State Champions
All Team Titles in this decade were decided by team points from Traditional State. State Duals did not start until we get to decade 3 in this series.
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 Year Class State Champion Coach Record Pts. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Placers ---- ---- -------------- --------------- ------ ----- --- --- --- --- -------
1989 4A Rock Hill Jim Barnes 9-0 169.0 3 4 2 2 11 recap
1989 3A-2A-1A Swansea Jeff Slagle 119.5 4 2 0 0 6 recap
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1988 4A Summerville Steve LaPrad 16-0 204.0 4 3 2 1 10 recap
1988 3A-2A-1A Dreher Joe Soltish 11-4-1 111.5 4 0 2 1 7 recap
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1987 4A Summerville Steve LaPrad 15-0 181.5 6 2 0 1 9 recap
1987 3A-2A-1A Belton-Honea Path John Abercrombie 15-0 80.0 1 1 2 1 5 recap
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1986 4A Rock Hill Jim Barnes 8-1 157.5 4 3 1 1 9 recap
1986 3A-2A-1A Swansea Jeff Slagle 12-4 93.0 3 0 2 0 5 recap
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1985 4A Rock Hill Jim Barnes 12-2 178.0 5 3 2 0 10 recap
1985 3A-2A-1A Swansea Jeff Slagle 91.5 2 2 1 0 5 recap
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1984 4A Rock Hill Jim Barnes 10-0 161.5 4 1 4 1 10 recap
1984 3A-2A-1A St. Andrews Ed Coles 10-1 139.5 3 1 1 1 6 recap
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1983 4A Rock Hill Jim Barnes 12-2 151.0 4 1 2 2 9 recap
1983 3A Belton-Honea Path John Abercrombie 19-0 91.0 2 0 3 0 5 recap
1983 2A-1A Woodruff Danny Holland 12-1 158.0 4 3 2 0 9 recap
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1982 4A Rock Hill Jim Barnes 12-0 164.0 4 4 0 2 10 recap
1982 3A St. Andrews Ed Coles 10-2 157.5 3 2 3 0 8 recap
1982 2A-1A Woodruff Danny Holland 135.5 3 2 0 1 6 recap
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1981 4A Summerville Steve LaPrad 15-0 170.0 4 2 1 0 7 recap
1981 3A Byrnes Tim Remaley 15-0 188.0 4 3 2 0 9 recap
1981 2A-1A Swansea Phil Williams 11-1 188.0 5 3 0 1 9 recap
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1980 4A Rock Hill Tom Ellenberger 13-0 148.0 4 0 3 1 8 recap
1980 3A Fort Johnson Mark Agner 14-0 110.0 3 1 2 1 7 recap
1980 2A-1A Swansea Phil Williams 15-1 202.5 7 3 0 0 10 recap
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Analysis of the Decade - 1980-1989
3A-2A-1A would combine for the state tournament in 1984.
The rivalry between Summerville and Rock Hill propelled South Carolina wrestling into the national spotlight with Top 20 rankings for both teams in Amatuer Wrestling News (AWN).
Rock Hill wrestled out of state competition often - at the Ohio Quad of Champions, Hampton Duals in VA as well as versus NC Champions. Summerville was at the Sunshine Open (Tampa) and Southeastern Duals (Atlanta) and had the MVP at SE Duals (Chris Burns).
Rock Hill and Summerville met up, for possibly their first in-season dual ever, on 1-26-85 with Summerville winning 33-26. Rock Hill would win the State Title four weeks later in 1985 with the most team points at Traditional State.
There was a high school wrestling tournament at Clemson University that was going strong in the early 1980's including Rock Hill competing, but not much information has been discovered on this tournament. If anyone has details to send in on Clemson's tournament for H.S. teams, please let us know at scmat@hotmail.com
State Tournament Brackets from this Decade - 1980-1989
If anyone has missing/updated bracket information from this decade please send an email to scmat@hotmail.com
1989 4A State Individuals
1989 3A-2A-1A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1988 4A State Individuals
1988 3A-2A-1A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1987 4A State Individuals
1987 3A-2A-1A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1986 4A State Individuals
1986 3A-2A-1A State Individuals
1985 4A State Individuals
1985 3A-2A-1A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1984 4A State Individuals
1984 3A-2A-1A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1983 4A State Individuals
1983 3A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1983 2A-1A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1982 4A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1982 3A State Individuals
1982 2A-1A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1981 4A State Individuals
1981 3A State Individuals
1981 2A-1A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1980 4A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
1980 3A State Individuals
1980 2A-1A State Individuals - SCMAT seeking brackets
Decade considerations for Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
SCMAT considers several of the Rock Hill and Summerville 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:
Rock Hill - 7 state titles - NWHOF Inductee Coach Tom Ellenberger and NWHOF Inductee Coach Jim Barnes had built a dynasty, early 80's teams led by NWHOF Inductee Chris Brock, team established a new state record of a 89 consecutive win streak.
Summerville - 3 state titles - NWHOF Inductee Coach Steve LaPrad, Summerville would have undefeated seasons in 8 years of this decade.
Swansea - 5 state titles - Coach Phil Williams and Coach Jeff Slagle had built the wrestling powerhouse across 3A, 2A-1A.
St. Andrews - 2 state titles - NWHOF Inductee Coach Ed Coles.
Fort Johnson - 1 state title - Coach Mark Agner would also have several State Runner-up teams in the decade, 1980 wrestling team led by NWHOF Inductee Tim Wash.
Projected schedule for each decade in this Exclusive series:
December 2 - Decade 1 - 1969-1979 - Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
December 23 - Decade 2 - 1980-1989 - Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
December 30 - Decade 3 - 1990-1999 - Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
January 6 - Decade 4 - 2000-2009 - Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
January 20 - Decade 5 - 2010-2019 - Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
February 3 - Decade 6 - 2020-2024 - Top 10 S.C. Wrestling Seasons & Teams of All Time
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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