This year things changed when five schools met at Hammond School in the inaugural SC Independent Schools Association (SCISA) Wrestling Championship. This past Saturday, the quintet of schools gathered to compete in a five–round, round robin tournament. After the preliminaries, the top scorers in various weight categories from each school met in the finals.

Hammond amassed 128 points to 76 for Cardinal Newman who fielded their first team. St. Joseph’s of Greenville finished in third place. The other participating athletes were from Ben Lippen School and Wilson Hall.

Under the tutelage of Head Coach Luke Talbot and Assistant Coach John Hollingsworth, Hammond racked up eight gold medals on the day. Drew Baker claimed the 103–pound class. Then came Bradford MacGillvray (112), Hudson White (119), Ross Power (125), Wes Troyer (130), Thomas Ulmer (135), Austin Hood (140), and Eddie Fishman (152).

Claiming silver were Jamie Leventis (145), Brandon Knox (160), Chris Keenan (17l), and Sam Simmons (189). The Skyhawks’ bronze medal recipient was Ward Mungo (215).

The growth of high school wrestling is likely to expand as more colleges and universities incorporate the sport into their athletic programs, thereby creating even more interest for prospective athletes. Until recently, only Anderson College and The Citadel fielded teams. Now, it’s part of the programs at Spartanburg Methodist, Limestone and Newberry Colleges as well as Clemson University.