Hilton Head High wrestling swept its home opener Tuesday, picking up convincing wins over a pair of opponents from Savannah.
The Seahawks used a string of three pins in four matches to break open a close match against Islands High School and pull away for a 52-30 win, then rolled to a 67-12 win over Windsor Forest.
“We had some guys really step up tonight after not having three of our starting wrestlers,” Seahawks coach Patrick Boulware said. “Man, these young guys are champing at the bit. I tell the team before we enter the gym or get off the bus it’s time to clock into work, and we don’t punch out until the job’s done.”
The match against Islands was tied at 24 when 113-pounder James Levy scored a pin in the final seconds of his match against Brayden Adams, the top-ranked 106-pounder in Georgia Class 3A. The Sharks answered with a pin at 120 to tie it again, but Darnell Brawner (126) and Sebastian Agnew (132) delivered pins for the Seahawks to begin a dominant stretch that clinched the win.
Windsor Forest was without five starters and couldn’t maintain a quick start after jumping out to a 12-6 lead. Hilton Head 285-pounder Alfred Young shifted the momentum with monster headlock and pin, beginning a string of 11 straight wins for the Seahawks.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better night,” Boulware said. “I am so proud of my team. They keep doing the right things, they are working hard and it’s really showing. That feeling tonight In the gym brought back so many memories of my time wrestling in high school and having a packed gym. It absolutely builds up the adrenaline before going on the mat.”
The matches were wrestled in the school’s auxiliary team because of a conflict with home basketball games, but the more confined space — combined with youth matches on a second mat featuring wrestlers from the Little Seahawks Wrestling Club and Lowcountry Wrestling Club — made for an exciting atmosphere.
“When setting up the mats for the event earlier in the day, I was a little worried that not being in the main gym was going to take away from the atmosphere of a high school match,” Boulware said. “Man, was I wrong. When we entered that gym for our first match, the feeling was electric. People were packed in, and the there was an outstanding amount of youth wrestlers throwing down on the other mat.”
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Hilton Head High travels to the Hillcrest Tournament on Saturday
