Nick Bautista did his best to remain himself — the calm, mild-mannered wrestler with an unflappable personality.
But midway into his first sentence, he was forced to take a moment to gather his thoughts along with a deep breath. He tried to wait for the adrenaline to subside, though he knew that would be no short process.
So as he paused, he took a glance back at the wrestling mat — the one that served as a stage for the highlight of his career just moments earlier — and simply smiled while words began to stumble from his mouth.
“I’ve been preparing for this match for the last year,” he said. “Ever since last year.”
A year that seemed to last a decade.
Swallowed into one of two weight classes that featured Hilton Head High’s pair of top-ranked wrestlers, Bautista’s sophomore season turned him into a practice rag doll for Jack Duane and David Beck. The scout team, of sorts. An assignment no athlete enjoys, but one Bautista took with pride.
“I guess I just knew the hard work would eventually pay off,” Bautista said.
Though even he may not have imagined the dividends would be so large. Bautista fought back from a seven-point deficit to win a decision against third-ranked Andrew Dean at 189 pounds Wednesday, giving Hilton Head High the upset victory it needed to pull away from Bluffton High School and then hold on for a 28-27 win in the Lower State championship.
In avenging their loss to Bluffton two weeks ago, the Seahawks move on to the Class 3-A state championship match for the third straight season, where they’ll face top-ranked Lugoff-Elgin at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Ridge View High School.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy for a kid as I am of Nick Bautista right now,” Seahawks coach Mike Newton said. “Jack and Beck beat him to a pulp every day, and he gets back up and comes back. He deserves this.
“He won this match for us.”
The match’s outcome was in question — even after all 14 weight classes had been completed. The two teams fought to a 27-27 tie after the last bout, but the Seahawks were awarded a tiebreaking point because of an unsportsmanlike penalty — the first tiebeaker — which also deducted a point from the Bobcats’ team total midway thought the match.
The Bobcats received the penalty when Tyler Rosenlieb left the bench area to wave his arms in an effort to fire up the crowd during the 171-pound matchup. Rosenlieb said it was a way for him to release his frustration after Hilton Head High forfeited the 160-pound match, leaving Bluffton’s lone state champion without an opponent to wrestle.
“He came back to the bench with a ton of energy, and he had no outlet for it,” Bluffton coach John Hollman said. “He asked me, ‘Coach, can I get the crowd up a little bit?’ I said, ‘Sure, go ahead, buddy. You earned it.’
“It’s my fault and my responsibility.”
The true impact of the penalty was left forever unknown. Winning by six heading into the final weight class (119 pounds), Newton elected to forfeit the final matchup and give the Bobcats six team points, knowing the result of the team score was certain.
“My plan was whenever we had the match won, we were going to sit out our wrestlers,” Newton said. “The ultimate goal is the state championship on Saturday. I’m not going to risk an injury.”
The ending stole some of the luster from a rivalry dual meet that featured several close matchups — ones the Seahawks found a way to win.
Nic Levy (130) and Seth Anthony (135) provided the first two wins for Hilton Head High. Anthony won his with a takedown against freshman Ryan Rosenlieb in overtime. Danny Garcia (140) followed with a major decision, which he earned in the last 10 seconds of his match against Josh Doamaral.
The Bobcats, on the other hand, couldn’t capitalize on their chances to add bonus-point wins. Braden Putich defeated Quinn Williams-McClure at 145 pounds, though he gave up a major decision with less than 20 seconds remaining in the third period. The Bobcats — who also received decisions from Phillip Scott, Austin Farmer, Lincoln Joly and C.J. Johnson –ended the match without a single pin.
“We made some mistakes we don’t normally make,” Hollman said. “We pride ourselves on knowing the score and the time. And we lost that tonight. There were some points that got away from us.”
Ray Harrington (170), Duane (215) and Nick Tennison (103) also won for Hilton Head High.
Though he usually wrestles at 189 pounds, Duane recorded the only pin of the night against second-ranked David Lopez at 215 pounds. His move up one weight class was one of the many Newton made to help shake up his team’s lineup and change Wednesday night’s matchups to produce a different result from Bluffton’s 46-26 win just two weeks earlier.
“This is why we didn’t show our strongest lineup two weeks ago,” Duane said. “We don’t care about region. They can have a banner in their gym that says region champs. We want a banner that says state champs. And that’s what we’re working for.”
February 11, 2010 | Island Packet (Hilton Head, SC)
Author/Byline: SAM McDOWELL smcdowell@islandpacket.com 843-706-8123