The Gazette
The Stratford wrestling team has another region championship banner to hang in the castle.
The Knights defeated Goose Creek 33-32 on Jan. 26 to complete a sweep of region foes and will enter the playoffs as the top seed out of Region 7-AAAA.
The crowning moment was the culmination of months of hard work and progress, Stratford’s veteran coach Willie Nearhood said.
“It took a lot of work,” Nearhood said. “We weren’t very good at the beginning of the season. If we had wrestled (Goose Creek) in December, they probably would have beaten us by a good bit.
“We worked hard in the practice room and it paid off. It was getting a couple of guys eligible and just getting in shape and believing they could win.”
The final score against their crosstown rival was much closer than the match really was. The Knights forfeited the final three matches after Austin Koile recorded a major decision at 160 pounds to give SHS a clinching 33-14 lead.
Heavyweight Tyler Limehouse, 112-pounder Nick Young, 119-pounder, 125-pounder Chad Johnson, 135-pounder Shawn Steen, 140-pounder Antonio Nelson and 145-pounder Nathan Grinsteiner all recorded wins for the Knights against Goose Creek.
The Knights other starters are Ross Johnson (103), Kolton Cumbie (130), Sean Kinard (152), Dylan Legette (171), Noah Shuler (189) and Justin Sonntag
“We didn’t get our points where we thought we’d get them all night but we wrestled good as a team, and that’s what it boils down to,” Nearhood said. “I’ve been stressing team, team, team with these guys from the very beginning.”
For Stratford, it was the seventh region championship since 2002. The Knights also clinched crowns in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009.
The Knights will enter the playoffs on Saturday as the host squad for a four-team postseason event. They will first wrestle Irmo, then face the winner of Lexington and Beaufort.
“There will be two mats,” Nearhood said. “The two losers are done for the year and the two winners will wrestle to move on to the third round.”
A third-round matchup would mostly likely be against either Sumter or Summerville on Feb. 7.
“We’re just going to try to be as good as we can be,” Nearhood said. “We’ve got a real young team and we’re trying to build on something here. We’ve got a few seniors but we’ve got a lot of good young kids.”
STRATFORD 33, GOOSE CREEK 32
285: Tyler Limehouse (S) d. Smalls;
103: Christian Moultrie (GC) md. Ross Johnson;
112: Nick Young (S) p. Smith;
119: Joseph Vasquez (S) md. Denzelle Grant;
125: Chad Johnson (S) d. Duane Baptiste;
130: Shabazz (GC) md. Kolton Cumbie;
135: Shawn Steen (S) md. T.J. Lewis;
140: Antonio Nelson (S) p. Collins;
145: Nathan Grinsteiner (S) d. Simmons;
152: Ortega (GC) injd. Sean Kinard;
160: Austin Koile (S) md. Mucha;
171: Albert Mallard (GC) wbf; Dylan Legette
189: Trevon Bennett (GC) wbf; Noah Shuler
215: Simms (GC) wbf. Justin Sonntag
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