BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood High School’s boys’ wrestling program made history again last week – sending the most qualifiers to the State Championships in school history.
“Couldn’t be more proud of these men,” Head Coach Paul Watson said. “All the hard work, the months of grinding, the weight control…and look at em now, competing for Individual State Championships.”
From the 14 wrestlers that entered the Upper State Championship tournament on Feb. 14, seven finished in the top 8 to advance and compete for an Individual State Championship title.
Seniors Rolland Boisvert and Desmond Macklin, juniors Dillan Boyer, Patrick O’Donnell, Elijah Johnson and Jeremy Galloway, and freshman Edyan Figueroa will battle for a title Feb. 21-22 at the Florence Civic Center.
Boisvert, now 47-12 on the year, finished second at the Upper State He competes in the 113lbs class.
Macklin also placed second at Upper State. Wrestling at 157lbs, Macklin’s record now sits at 49-9.
Johnson, now 54-8 on the season, finished fourth at qualifiers. He wrestles at 150lbs.
With a fifth place finish at Upper State, Galloway, in HWY class, is now 48-18 on the year.
Boyer, who wrestles at 106lbs, placed 6th in the Upper State and is now 42-18 on the year
O’Donnell, in the 120lbs weight class, is 24-6 on the season. He finished seventh at Upper State.
Figueroa, who placed eighth at Upper State, is the first freshman in program history to qualify for the state tournament. He wrestles at 138lbs.
According to Watson and his staff, the future of Bengal wrestling is looking bright.
“We have 5 of the 7 coming back next year, so that is huge for momentum,” said Associate Head Coach Evan Carrigan. “To have five returning State Qualifiers sets the tone for the off-season and should motivate the younger wrestlers in the room.”
Watson said a few of the Bengals were just one win short of qualifying for state.
Blythewood’s quest for a team title ended earlier this month with a two-point loss in the third round of the SCHSL 5A playoffs to Boiling Springs High School.
The Bengal squad took down Dorman 52-25 and Clover 36-27 before falling to Boiling Springs.
The team’s playoff run was the best in program history. They ended the season with a 31-6 record.
“So proud of this group, which will go down as the greatest wrestling team so far in the history of this school,” Watson said. “Most wins, went the furthest of any [Blythewood] team in the playoffs – they worked so hard.”
