Over the past six years, the Eastside High wrestling team has entered the state playoffs as the team every other is chasing, and proved worthy of that by winning the AAA state title each time.

This year, however, the Eagles have gone from the hunted to the hunter. Eastside is ranked 12th in the state, and opens the playoffs today by hosting fifth-ranked West-Oak. The winner of that match will more than likely face top-ranked Lugoff-Elgin on Monday.

“The whole tournament field is pretty even,” coach Jack Kosmicki said. “There are a lot of strong teams in the Upper State bracket.”

Although it would be difficult for a six-time defending champion to sneak up on anyone, Kosmicki believes that Eastside is capable of surprising some people.

“The great thing about wrestling is that anything can happen,” Kosmicki said. “The unfortunate thing is that upsets are few and far between.

“For a team upset to happen, there has to be a lot of individual upsets.”

February 4, 2010 | Greer Citizen, The (SC)
Author/Byline: Joel FitzPatrick | Section: Sports