Three area boys and three girls won state titles on Saturday at the South Carolina High School League wrestling state championships at the Florence Center.

It was the first year the championships were moved from Anderson to Florence. The championships also included girls on the same weekend as the boys for the second straight year.

Area boys champions were Chapin’s Preston White, Dutch Fork’s Kaleb McNeil and Pelion’s Landon Byrd. The girls title winners were Blythewood’s Tiyanna Mack, Lexington’s Grace Beeson and Swansea’s Aniya Ruiz.

For White, it was his third straight championship, defeating Myrtle Beach’s Gunner Musilunas, 16-1, at the 2:39 mark for a win in the Class 5A 120-pound weight class. His previous two championships came at the 113-pound weight class.

White is still a junior and can go for his fourth next season.

McNeil, who finished runner-up last season at 157 pounds, won the 175-pound championship by defeating River Bluff’s Cael Edwards, 10-1, in a matchup of area wrestlers. The senior was a North-South wrestling All-Star selection.

Byrd, a runner-up last year, won his first state championship by defeating Mid-Carolina’s Carson Strugess, 11-3, for the Class 2A 120-pound championship.

Other Midlands runner-up finishers included Lexington’s John Marcum (165) in Class 5A, AC Flora’s Brendan Brazier (120), John Grove (165) and Gilbert’s Devin Lirgg (138) in Class 4A.

Mid-Carolina’s Ryker Woolstenhulme (144) was second place in Class 2A.

Third-place finishers were Lugoff-Elgin’s Logan Hinton (190), Gilbert’s Jack Turner (113), Swansea’s Mekhi Hampton (138), American Leadership’s Dayton Daniel (126) and Pelion’s Colin Williams (165).

On the girls’ side, Mack also won her third straight championship with a pin of Waccamaw’s Lanna Coleman at the 1:29 in the 130-pound class. She was named Most Outstanding Wrestler for the girls championship.

Mack finished the season with a 25-1 record and is ranked nationally for girls wrestling.

Beeson, a freshman, won a state championship in her first season. She pinned South Florence’s Arielle Daniels at the 4:31 mark to win the 120-pound championship.

Ruiz, a sophomore, pinned Greenwood’s Aislynn Castillo at the 5:19 mark to win the 235-pound championship in her first season.

Girls runner-up finishers were River Bluff’s Sophia Voudouris (135) and White Knoll’s Shayanna Shell (190). Third-place finishers were River Bluff’s Amy Robinson (145) and White Knoll’s Irie Edwards (170).

Complete results from this weekend’s championships can be found at FloWrestling

February 26, 2025 | State, The (Columbia, SC)
Author/Byline: Staff Reports | Page: 3B | Section: Sports