BOILING SPRINGS, SC - The Boiling Springs wrestling team got a little bit of redemption from last year as they picked up two wins over ranked teams Clover and Rock Hill along with a win over Chapman in their first home match of the season on Wednesday night.
While the victories are some forms of redemption from last year, Boiling Springs head coach Lee Thomas said that any wins over quality teams like that early in the season are big for his team. "It's great to get a little redemption from last year but it's still early in the season," said Thomas. "Any win early is a big win though and the redemption portion is nice after our team took our lumps the last few years. It's nice to be back toward the standard that we expect from the wrestling program around here." Boiling Springs started their quad match on Wednesday night with a victory over the #16 ranked team in the preseason Rock Hill, the same team that ended the Bulldogs season last year in the first round of the 5A playoffs. Boiling Springs got an impressive 47-26 victory over the Bearcats, for the Bulldogs third only win against the Bearcats under Coach Thomas. The Bulldogs got pins in the match from Peyton Hornack, Ayden Whisler, Jason Blackwell, Jacob Hill, Harrison Bradford, Eddie Aleksik, JoJo Barrett, and Jacob Dawkins. "It's only the third time we've beaten Rock Hill since I've been the coach and any time you can get a win against those guys it's a big deal," said Thomas. "I don't care if it's the first week of the season or the playoffs, if you've beat Rock Hill, you've pulled off a pretty impressive accomplishment." In their next match, Boiling Springs defeated Clover, the #7 ranked team in the preseason, 42-39 to defeat a team that won the Region III-5A championship over the Bulldogs last year. The match was an exciting one for the Bulldogs as they trailed 39-30 with two matches left. In the first of the final two matches the Bulldogs saw Jacob Hill come away with a pin to cut the Bearcats lead to 39-36. In the final match against the Bearcats and the match on the line, Jason Blackwell worked his way to almost winning a major victory to clinch the match but instead came away with a pin to seal the victory for the Bulldogs. Coach Thomas said he was proud to see two guys like Hill and Blackwell who have worked hard since their freshman years with the Bulldogs to come away with key victories. "Both of those guys have been starting since they were freshman as Jason is now a senior and Jacob is a junior and just like our team, they have taken their lumps over the last few years," said Thomas. "We've stuck with them and allowed them to grow into the wrestlers they have become now. I felt Jacob had a chance to get a pin but with Jason we hoped for a major victory, but he just went ahead and got the pin. As a coach it's just great to sit back and see the development of those guys over the years." The Bulldogs in their final match of the night came away with an 84-0 victory over local rival Chapman. In the match against the Panthers, the Bulldogs got a pin in every match along with a forfeit victory by Cloe Osteen in the final match of the night. After the victory the team now sits at 3-0 including a win in a preseason tournament last week and Thomas says the early wins are great for his team's momentum. "Wrestling like any other sport is eighty percent mental and while it sounds cliche, it really is the truth," said Thomas. "When you can show the kids the results of working hard in practice over the first three weeks of the season, it makes the other practices easier because they know if they do what we ask of them, that they'll be successful." Boiling Springs will next take the mat this weekend (Friday and Saturday) in the Southern Slam at Eastside High School. RUTHERFORDTON, NC - With the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaching, the Boiling Springs wrestling team took part in the first annual Plowboy Brawl at Chase High School on Saturday and came away with an impressive victory over a field of nine different teams.
Boiling Springs won the team event with a score of 219.5 which was 56.5 points better than second place East Henderson. The field included Erwin, Chase, East Gaston, Brevard, East Rutherford, Patton, and the only other South Carolina team Broome. The Bulldogs got a victory from Jayden Foster at 106 who won with a pinfall over Garrett McGinnis from Chase. Peyton Hornack gave the Bulldogs pinfall win at 113 while Eddie Alesik added a pinfall victory at 120. Trent Coppola added a 14-4 decision victory for the Bulldogs at 138 while Jason Blackwell added a victory at 285 with a 5-2 decision over Brock Anderson from Erwin. Xavier Goodman added a runner-up finish at 170 as he fell in the championship match to Jaxon Turner of Brevard. The Boiling Springs girls had an impressive performance for the Bulldogs as well starting off with Chloe Osteen who defeated Addison Huntley from East Rutherford by pinfall in the 107-114 bracket. Anastasia Kunitsa (145) won her event with a pinfall over Kaya Brown while the battle at 152 saw a battle between two Bulldogs for the championship with Rebecca Blackwell defeating Logan Wall for the victory. In other matches the Bulldogs also got victories from Luke Hillers, Ayden Whisler, Christian Good, Carlos Rice, Tyrell Nesbitt, Boiling Springs will return to action on November 29th at 6:00 PM when they host a match against Rock Hill and Chase. Boiling Springs Boys BasketballThe Boiling Springs boys' basketball program will be kicking off a new era this season as they welcome a new head coach and with that comes some high expectations for the Bulldogs. Boiling Springs will be welcoming new head coach Craig Martin, who comes to the Bulldogs after a successful run with Myrtle Beach High School, and he said that he's hoping his style of basketball brings not just an excitement to the team but to the community as well. "We are hoping to be compete in the region with the intentions of making a playoff run," said Martin. "We are looking to play a different style of play that brings excitement not only for our kids but for our community as well." Martin inherits a team that lost a lot of seniors from last year off a team that finished in fourth place before a first-round playoff loss to Blythewood in the 5A playoffs. While the team lost a lot of seniors from last year, they bring back some players that played key minutes last season. That group will be led by All-Region player Tre Locklear, who will return to lead the Bulldogs new fast paced approach. "We will pride ourselves on playing with a good pace, playing aggressive on offense and defense while playing together as a team," said Martin. "Our success will be based on getting the most out of all our players that we possibly can and maximizing the teams and players potential." Locklear will be joined by fellow returnees London Hogan, WJ Fowler, Dominique Johnson and Landon Sprouse to help lead this year's team. They will also look to get key contributions from freshman point guard Jyssiah Foster and freshman forward Isaiah Atkins. Martin says he's happy with the response of the players from the expectations that he and his staff have placed on the team. "The kids have really responded well to the expectations that we have placed on them as a team and as individual players," said Martin. "Their commitment to working on their individual skills along with developing as a team has been impressive in a short period of time. We are excited to continue the progress that we have seen thus far." Boiling Springs will also return to a familiar region this year with a lot of competitive basketball as they rejoin Region II-5A with Byrnes, Dorman, Gaffney, and Spartanburg. The Bulldogs will kick off their regular season in a road matchup at Clover on November 29th before returning home to face district foe Chesnee on December 2nd. Boiling Springs Girls BasketballThe Boiling Springs girls' basketball team will see some change this season as they welcome a new head coach, will be returning to a new region, and will also see the return of numbers not seen before 2020. The first change will be the leadership of the Bulldogs program as long-time coach Dwayne Lytle resigned earlier this year and was replaced on an interim basis by his former assistant Leslie Mills. Mills is a graduate of Chapman High School where she played high school basketball and for the last six years has been an assistant on the Bulldogs coaching staff. Prior to her time at Boiling Springs, Mills started her coaching career at the AAU South Carolina Heat program. She says that her plan is to keep the program on the path it was started on when she first got to Boiling Springs. "I plan to continue on the path we were on," said Mills. "I will continue to push the girls' program into greatness. My goal is to develop great female athletes and when they leave Boiling Springs High School, that they will have the same intense love of the game that I do." Mills inherits a team that just missed the playoffs last season but returns a lot of key players to this year's team. The Bulldogs will be led by All-Region center Sarah Ezell as well as fellow returnees Amiah Ellis and Kylie McMillan. They will also look to get key contributions from newcomers Dakota Smith and Brynn Tipton this year. "I'm very excited about the team we have," said Mills. "We have set personal and team goals which we're working hard to obtain. We have eight returning players that include very strong leaders. They have accepted my challenge to step up and be key players for this team." Mills said that after struggling to get girls to play basketball after Covid, the team is finally seeing a return to their pre-Covid levels. "After Covid-19, were in an uphill battle to get girls to come out and participate in the program," said Mills. "We were on a mission to rebuild the program and increase numbers, so I was beyond excited to see 35 girls for both days of tryouts. This season we kept the max number for both teams and our program is once again full." The Bulldogs will be returning to Region II-5A where they'll compete against fellow area schools Byrnes, Dorman, Gaffney, and Spartanburg. Mills said she's excited about the upcoming season for her team. "I feel like this is the team that can make some noise," said Mills. "This being my first season as head coach I am totally committed to this team and coaching staff, to do everything in my power to push them to success. The girls told me that they are rocking with me, so I'm rocking with them." Boiling Springs will kick off their season at the Thanksgiving Invitational at Greenville High School from November 18-20 before hosting Chesnee for their first home game of the season on December 2nd. Boiling Springs WrestlingBoiling Springs is returning to a familiar region this season and is looking to return to some familiar results this year, as the Bulldogs have some high expectations heading into the 2022-23 season.
The expectations for the Bulldogs this year are high, especially after last season saw the Bulldogs finish their year with an 18-8 record and make a return to the playoffs. "We expect to be quite competitive this year back in our traditional region," said Bulldogs head coach Lee Thomas. "Anything less than a region championship will be a letdown for this year's team." Boiling Springs will be led by senior and returning All-Region wrestler Ayden Whisler, who was the only Bulldog to make the state tournament last season. He will be joined by fellow starters Harrison Bradford, Tyrell Nesbitt, and heavyweight Jason Blackwell. They'll also look to get big contributions from returners Eddie Aleksik, Trent Coppola, Jacob Hill, Peyton Hornack, and Rylee Douglas. The Bulldogs also expect to see a lot of strong work from newcomers Luke Hillers, Xavier Goodman, and Easton Tipton. Boiling Springs will also be rejoining a familiar region this season as they return to Region II-5A where they'll compete about local schools Byrnes, Dorman, Gaffney, and Spartanburg. In a strong wrestling region, the Bulldogs will also see a lot of strong competition outside of region play as they'll compete in the Southern Slam at Eastside from December 2nd to the 3rd and also compete at the Bearcat Invitational in Rock Hill from January 6th to the 7th. The Bulldogs held their annual alumni match on November 12th that saw Kadin Sherbarth, Luke Hillers, Anderson Motte, Andrew Cooler, Matthew Emory, Eddie Alesik. Johnathan Bailey, Rylee Douglas, Trent Coppola, Anastasia Kunitsa. Harrison Bradford, Eric Ellis, Easton Tipton, Stephen Corbitt, Demetrius Clark, Jacob Dawkins, Tyrell Nesbitt, Kain Barnwell, Ayden Piper, Chloe Osteen, Jayden Foster, Noah Hitch, Peyton Hornack, Aiden Surratt, Sophia LeBrun, Ayden Whisler, Matthew Canon, Aiden Duncan, Christian Good, Nate Roberts, Jacob Schaffer, Rebecca Blackwell, Triston Ellison, Xavier Goodman, JoJo Barrett, Radames Martinez, Dalton Seacord, and Josaih Rosa all compete in action to get ready for the regular season. The Bulldogs will kick off their regular season in a home quad match against Rock Hill, Clover, and Chapman at 6:00 PM. BOILING SPRINGS, SC - Last year the Boiling Springs team started an annual alumni day to show off the new facilities for the program and for the former players to get an opportunity to see the new team compete.
The first year was such a success that Boiling Springs wrestling coach Lee Thomas decided to make it an annual event and the second annual event was held on Saturday. "It's really neat having it again as last year we didn't know what to expect but had a great turnout," said Thomas. "We had a couple of hundred people here today and hopefully we'll see it continue to grow each year." The Bulldogs team also added a new feature this year as they debuted the century board that stands high above the wrestling surface to recognize the former Bulldogs wrestlers who had reached 100 wins in their career. The names on the board include Michael Clevenger Jr (118), Ian Clevenger (125), Spencer Thomas (146), Asa Brown (103), Baxter Murray (119), Caleb Delozier (116), Cole Mangum (148), Tristan Nelson (105), Artur Hofer (156), Ernest Grigorchuk (143), Jordan Florez (137), and Drew Thomas (119). Coach Thomas said the reason they created the century board was to recognize the history of the program and to give current players a goal to reach for each time they hit the mat. He said that some of the guys on that list help coach now and he wanted the current players to see that the coaches aren't just talk but have accomplished what the current players are striving for themselves. "It was something our AD, Coach Moxie, helped us out with, and it's something I've had as an idea to do for a couple of years that we were finally able to get done," said Thomas. "It's really neat to be able recognize those guys and some are coaches with us now, so it lets the current team see some of the milestones their coaches met. A mantra I've used for years is that tradition doesn't graduate and hopefully the alumni that came back to see it truly appreciates it." In the actual match the black team was able to defeat the red team and Thomas said it was great for all the participants to get a match under their belt in front of a crowd before the season starts. He also said that the winners and losers from each team are able to take something from the match, as the winners got the feeling of victory and will get the chance to keep striving for that feeling while the losers got the opposite feeling and will get the chance to work harder in practice to never feel that feeling again. "It's important to get those first match jitters out early and some of our guys it was their first match in front of a crowd today," said Thomas. "I know the winning team it gives them some self-pride about winning and the losing team now knows how bad it feels to lose and will work harder in the practice room to not have that feeling anymore this season." The wrestlers that competed in the alumni day match for the Bulldogs were Kadin Sherbarth, Luke Hillers, Anderson Motte, Andrew Cooler, Matthew Emory, Eddie Alesik. Johnathan Bailey, Rylee Douglas, Trent Coppola, Anastasia Kunitsa. Harrison Bradford, Eric Ellis, Easton Tipton, Stephen Corbitt, Demetrius Clark, Jacob Dawkins, Tyrell Nesbitt, Kain Barnwell, Ayden Piper, Chloe Osteen, Jayden Foster, Noah Hitch, Peyton Hornack, Aiden Surratt, Sophia LeBrun, Ayden Whisler, Matthew Canon, Aiden Duncan, Christian Good, Nate Roberts, Jacob Schaffer, Rebecca Blackwell, Triston Ellison, Xavier Goodman, JoJo Barrett, Radames Martinez, Dalton Seacord, and Josaih Rosa. Boiling Springs will kick off their regular season in a home match on November 30th against Rock Hill, Clover, and Chapman starting at 6:00 PM. BOILING SPRINGS, SC - The Boiling Springs athletic program saw four of their athletes sign to compete at the college level next season in front of a large group of family, friends, and coaches on Thursday morning.
The Boiling Springs track team had the most players commit at the ceremony as they saw both De'Marco Thomas and Carmelo Martin commit to continue their track careers with two schools in the Carolinas. Carmelo Martin, the school record holder in the 100m event, committed to continue his career at East Carolina University, where he plans on majoring in business management. Martin has won four region championships, two county championships, two upper state titles while being named to the All-Region and All-State teams twice. He said that the reason for his choice to go to East Carolina was the camaraderie amongst the team and a strong connection with the coach. "When I went there I could see the energy and compassion amongst the team," said Martin. "I saw that they all cared about each other and wanted to see each other grow as athletes. I also built a strong relationship with the coach as he just reminded me of an older version of myself. After my junior year and thinking about it I just realized ECU was the place for me." De'Marco Thomas, a two-time AAU state champion, two-time letterman, and a captain of the Bulldogs program, chose to continue his track career at Converse University next season. He said that the feeling of family was the reason he chose to attend Converse, where he plans on majoring in business management. "It felt like family when I first got there and the energy there was excellent," said Thomas. "It felt like home and the coach teaches such great life lessons on the track. The first two members of the team I met on my visit reminded me of my friendship with Carmelo and when I saw that it just showed me, they were like family." The Boiling Springs girls golf team was represented on Thursday as possibly the most successful girl's golfer in the school's history committed as Madison Dixon signed to play at USC-Upstate next year. Dixon, who has won numerous medalist honors in her six years as a Bulldog, finished her career with six All-Region selections (a feat that could only ever be tied), three All-State selections, was a member of four region championship teams from the seventh through tenth grades, and won the individual region championship a junior. She also was recently named to the North-South team as a senior where she helped the North team come away with an impressive victory over the South team in Greenwood, SC. Dixon, who plans on majoring in biology on a pre-med track, said the connection with the coach at USC-Upstate was a determining factor on her choice of college destination. "The way that the coaches made me feel welcome is the main reason I chose USC-Upstate," said Dixon. "Coach Lawton is a really great person that I got along with when I met him and as a member of the team I get to go to a lot of great places, which I'm excited to get to do. Coach Lawton is big also in making sure he helps you accomplish your academic goals and realizes golf isn't everything but that getting a degree is a high priority." Morgan Greenlee, a member of the Boiling Springs swim team, also committed on Thursday as she chose to continue her athletic career at Frostburg State University in Maryland next year. Greenlee has been All-Region and a state qualifier since ninth grade while also being a school record holder in the 200y freestyle as well as a member of the record holding 200y freestyle relay team. Just this past season she capped off her senior season with second place finishes in both the 200y freestyle and the 100y butterfly. Greenlee, who also was a captain on this year's team, said she just fell in love with the campus when she first went up there and gets to swim one of her favorite events for the team. "I went there in October and just decided after that it was the place for me," said Greenlee. "I love the coaches and swimmers as they are a great group of people. I will be primarily swimming the butterfly for them which is my favorite event." BLYTHEWOOD, SC - Friday night was one that Blythewood head coach Jason Seidel was waiting for since he was hired to rebuild the program in 2018.
The Bengals shut out Boiling Springs 40-0 to not only win their first playoff game since 2016, they also recorded their first playoff shutout in school history. Kicker Ryan Hart even managed to kick a school-record four field goals in a single game, which helped the Bengals as they struggled against Boiling Spring’s main strength, a defensive line that hardened once Blythewood reached the 20-yard line. “I give Ryan a lot of credit, he had a great night,” Seidel said. “But we made some mistakes there and if we want to beat a team like Byrnes or Dorman, to have a chance, we can’t kick field goals. That’s the biggest thing we’re going to harp on this week.” Harrison Collins was 11-for-12 in passing for 91 yards and two touchdowns, and David Herden was 3-for-4, but Blythewood passed for just 132 yards total. Deondre Williams led all rushers with 89 yards on 18 carries, but every time the Bengals got close to the goal line, something went wrong. Blythewood fumbled the opening kickoff, but the defense held off the Bulldogs (2-9) for the first of five first-half possessions. Harrison Collins finished the first quarter throwing touchdown passes of 7 and 13 yards to Chris Thomas and Josh Gary. Up 14-0, the Bengals got a third score when Thomas returned a punt 62 yards for a score midway in the second quarter. Hart kicked the first of his field goals on the night, a 28-yarder, with 19 seconds left in the first half to put Blythewood up 24-0 at the half. Hart made good on kicks of 30,32, and 26 yards in the second half. Gary capped an 11-play, 51-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The Bulldogs defense struggled because the offense couldn’t stay on the field, which ultimately hurt an otherwise strong defensive effort. “Our heel has been not been getting the ball in the end zone,” Boiling Springs head coach Matt Reel said. “Our defense has played really hard all year and they’ve gotten worlds better from Week Zero to where they are right now. They’re just trying to buy in to what we’re doing, trying to learn our defense.” While Blythewood moves on to play Byrnes Friday, Boiling Springs will have to wait another year to turn the corner. “The kids have fought hard all year,” Reel said. “They’ve been resilient, but we just didn’t make enough big plays tonight and they made some big plays tonight.” The Bulldogs will now start preparing for the 2023 season with s lot of their team returning as they only graduated 13 seniors this year. No.1 seed Blythewood (9-2) now plays host to No.4 Byrnes (8-3) Friday in the second round. The Rebels, led by former Bengals head coach Reggie Shaw, edged No.2 Hillcrest 31-28 Friday night. (Story via Worthy Evans from The Voice of Blythewood) |
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