Hawks wrestlers top BE to reach AA quarterfinals

Hanahan 40, Bishop England 30

HANAHAN — The Hanahan Hawks didn't want to see history reverse itself.

Though the result was somewhat closer than a week ago, the Hanahan Hawks defeated Bishop England, 40-30, at home Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Class AA state wrestling playoffs.

Last year, the Hawks lost the region title to Bishop England before knocking the Bishops out of the AA playoffs. After the Hawks had beaten the Bishops for this year's Region 6-AA title last week by a score of 41-24, Hanahan understood the motivation of a team with something to prove.

"We knew they were coming in trying to beat us, so it was important to keep our guard up," Hanahan senior Nick Goodman said. "At one point, we were kind of worried, but we stuck to our guns and came out on top."

The key for Bishop England was to find a way to turn a few matches around, and the Bishops accomplished part of that goal almost immediately. Sam Engel, who was pinned by Willie Hill at 285 in the first meeting, instead pinned Hill in the first period. Hanahan's margin for error was gone and the Bishops had solidified hope of victory.

"That was a reality check," Goodman said. "They were here to beat us. They wanted to win this as much as we did."

Derek Geiges at 103 and John Dufour at 130 added first-period pins to give the Bishops an 18-15 lead. However, Hanahan regained when Ahmad Ali and Jenon Foster scored pins at 135 and 140, respectively, to take control of the match, 27-18.

"I think our biggest match was at 140," Hawks coach Ray Adkins said. "Foster's a first-year guy coming off of an injury. He was just cleared to wrestle this week."

The Bishops narrowed the gap to 27-24 when Brian VanMetre pinned Kore Dwira at 145, but they essentially gave the points back with a forfeit at 152. The Hawks clinched a victory at 160 on D.J. Coblentz's 15-5 major decision against Charlie Boykin.

Next up for Hanahan is a trip to top-seeded Loris, where the Hawks will see what they can accomplish as the underdog. It's the same opponent and same round that ended Hanahan's playoff run last season.

"We're hoping to score some more points than we did last year and give as good a match as we can," Adkins said. "The key is not to give up pins."

103: Geiges (BE) p. Lipsey; 112: Hancock (H) d. Suggs; 119: Wolf (H) maj. d. Condon; 125: Goodman (H) tech. fall F. Boykin; 130: Dufour (BE) p. Austin; 135: Ali (H) p. Soffera; 140: Foster (H) p. Algard; 145: VanMetre (BE) p. Dwira; 152: Gentry (H) wbf; 160: D.J. Coblentz (H) maj. d. C.Boykin; 171: J.Boykin (BE) wbf; 189: De.Coblentz (H) d. McCusker; 215: Sa (H) d. D.Engel; 285: S.Engel (BE) p. Hill.

Reach Bill Henley at 937-5595 or bhenley@postandcourier.com.