Nine Berkeley County School District wrestlers were the best in their weight classes, and five others placed runner-up during the 2026 Knights Open Saturday, Jan. 3, at Stratford High School.

The host team led county squads with four champions and captured the team title with 268 points. Travis Grey (126 pounds), Drayton Howard (157), Tanner Merta (165) and Fred Brown (215) finished first for the Knights. Dae’vion Mitchell (144) was a runner-up, and 13 Stratford wrestlers placed inside the top four as Stratford cruised to a first-place finish out of 12 scoring teams.

Hanahan High School placed third as a team with 142.5 points, 14 points behind second-place Hartsville. The Hawks produced three individual winners: Owen Miller (138), Jackson Stuckey (150) and Landon Ritchie (175). Andy Avery (106) and Eddy Yambao (113) finished second, and seven Hawks placed inside the top four.

Timberland High School tallied 103 points to finish sixth in the team standings, recording first-place finishes with Wyatt Thames (120) and Joshua Goodman (285). Sean Brown (150) and Owen Berrios (157) placed second. One more Wolves wrestler finished in the top four.

Additional champions included Hartsville’s Izayah Hubbard (Hartsville, 106), Myrtle Beach’s Liam Maguire (113), Hartsville’s Noah Lynch (132), Myrtle Beach’s Umar Kalmatov (144) and Bishop England’s Brody Tonon (190).

Bearcat Invitational

Goose Creek High School’s boys finished seventh out of 37 scoring teams in the annual Bearcat Invitational Saturday, Jan. 3, at Rock Hill High School.

Montero Royal won the 126-pound weight class for the Gators, and teammate Henry Schultz placed runner-up at 144 pounds. Jesse Ruiz was sixth at 120 pounds. Goose Creek tallied 121.5 points as a team to finish behind Greenwood (176, James Island (156), Ashley Ridge (153.5), Rock Hill (151), Lugoff-Elgin (145.5) and Catawba Ridge (145).

From the Charleston area, Lucy Beckham finished 10th and Wando 16th. Gianni Bottone (138) and Matthew Spignardo (144) won weight classes for the Bengals.

Lael Morton-Wheeler finished sixth at 120 pounds for Goose Creek’s girls team.

Caption:

Stratford’s Travis Grey finished first at 126 pounds during the 2026 Knights Open Saturday, Jan. 3, at Stratford High School. Grey was one of four Knights to win his weight class.

Rob Gantt/Independent

January 14, 2026 | Berkeley Independent, The (SC)
Author/Byline: Rob Gantt rgantt@berkeleyind.com | Page: 012 | Section: A