Wrestling team sends eight wrestlers to individual championships

The North Myrtle Beach High School wrestling team competed in the Lower State Individual Championship in Bluffton last Friday and Saturday and sent eight wrestlers to the state championships next weekend in Anderson.

The individual championship is just that, wrestlers in each weight class that wrestle team members from other 4A schools, all of whom are seeded according to their regular season records. In order to qualify for the state championship, wrestlers must win every match in order to finish number one, or if they lose, must win enough to finish second through fourth and qualify.

The Chiefs had an easy first round of competition. (Weight classes are in parenthesis). Jackson Smith(106) pinned Ryan Bastanci of Bluffton in 0:32. Ben Young(120) pinned Joseph Jordan of North Augusta in 3:14. Naszeir Bellamy(126) had a bye. Jaylan Moses(132) pinned Amare Johnson of Orangeburg-Wilkinson in 1:30. Blake Jenkins(145) pinned Joe Bruno of South Aiken in 2:56.

The remaining Chiefs wrestlers in the first round also had a bye. They were: Javante Stephens(138), Jackie Gore(152), Andre Giddens(160), Rashad Dawud(170), Chase Simmons(182) and Malachi Black(285).

All North Myrtle Beach round one competitors then moved into the Lower State Quarterfinals. NMB’s Jackson Smith(106) was pinned by Dreher’s Bryson Harper. Terrence Calloway(120) of Colleton County pinned Ben Young in the first period. Naszeir Bellamy(126) pinned JD Allen of Hartsville in 0:43. Alfonso Chevero(132) from Airport pinned Jaylan Moses in the third two-minute period. Terry Hildebrand of Brookland-Cayce won a decision over Javante Stephens(138).

The remaining Chiefs won their quarterfinal match. Blake Jenkins(145) pinned Aiken’s W. Brinkley in 3:33. Jackie Gore(152) pinned Liam Miller of South Aiken in 0:18. Andre Giddens(160) pinned Jonah Del Priore from Brookland-Cayce in 1:14. Rashad Dawud(170) pinned Hartsville’s Jude Yates in the first period. Chase Simmons(182) won an 8-2 decision over Dreher’s Jace Walling and Malachi Black(285) pinned Airport’s Corey Rivers in the first period.

The Chiefs four losers in the quarterfinals went to the Consolation competition. In the second round of those matches Jackson Smith(106) pinned T. Whren of Orangeburg-Wilkinson in 0:18. Ben Young(120) pinned D. Richardson of Dreher in 0:51. Jaylan Moses(132) had a bye and Javante Stephens(138) pinned Colleton County’s T. Scites in 2:47.

Those four consolation winners advanced to the Consolation Quarterfinals. Jackson Smith(106) won a 5-2 decision over Josh Adkins of Hartsville. Ben Young(120) won by forfeit. Jaylan Moses(132) pinned X. Randall of AC Flora in 0:41 and Javante Stephens(138) defeated T. Sawyers of North Augusta due to an injury.

In the Championship Semifinals Naszeir Bellamy(126) won a 4-3 decision over J. Jackson of Midland Valley. Blake Jenkins(145) pinned Alex Hunt of Hartsville in 2:57. Jackie Gore(152) pinned C. Richardson of Midland Valley in 3:59. Jeremiah Simmons of Beaufort pinned Andre Giddens(160) in 3:42. South Aiken’s H. Goodwin won a 10-4 decision over Rashad Dawud. Chase Simmons(182) won a 10-5 decision over K. Hall of Brookland-Cayce and Malachi Black(285) pinned Aiken’s T. Williams in 0:35.

In the Consolation Semifinals Jackson Smith(106) won by forfeit. Niles McRavin of Darlington pinned Ben Young(120) in 1:58. S. Rueda of Hilton Head pinned Jaylan Moses(132) in 3:43. C. Ward of Myrtle Beach won a 15-6 major decision over Javante Stephens(138). Andre Giddens(160) pinned Hartsville’s R. Williamson in 1:34 and Rashad Dawud(170) won a 5-4 decision over J. Currie of AC Flora.

In the Championship Finals on Saturday five Chiefs had a chance for first place, and three made it. L. Wang(126) of Dreher won a 12-5 decision over Naszeir Bellamy. Blake Jenkins(145) pinned Dreher’s Landon Hucks in 2:22. Beaufort’s James Dagin(152) won a 6-2 decision over Jackie Gore. Chase Simmons(182) got some revenge over a loss to Myrtle Beach’s Navruz Ibragimov in the regular season by pinning Ibragimov in 3:11 and Malachi Black won by injury over South Aiken’s E. New.

In the Consolation Finals Jackson Smith(106) pinned Zachary Parks of Lower Richland in 5:16. Andre Giddens(160) pinned Del Priore of Brookland Cayce in the first period and Josh Smith(170) of Dreher won an 8-3 decision over Rashad Dawud.

Finishing first were Blake Jenkins, Chase Simmons, and Malachi Black. Second place finishers were Naszeir Bellamy and Jackie Gore. Jackson Smith and Andre Giddens were third place finishers and Rashad Dawud was a fourth place finisher.

All place winners qualified for the SCHSL 4A state championships February 28 and 29th

The Chiefs team score was 187 points, best of all 19 teams that competed.

Chiefs coach Chris Mazyck was quite pleased with his team. “They did well. They wanted to rebound from their performance at the lower state. I told them not to hang their heads over that result and they worked hard and wanted to qualify as many as they could for the state next week. We certified eight, so they are certainly on the right track. Wrestling is a sport where you are on your own for six minutes and I think they are enjoying the fact that they are out there and can focus and let all their frustrations and anger out. Chase Simmons is an example. He lost in the Myrtle Beach match and he got to work and prepared himself so that he could get back at his opponent. He did that when he pinned him and finished first,” Mazyck said Monday.