Summerville 125-pounder Aaron Hansen read in a newspaper where a competitor said that Hansen wouldn't win a fourth straight state title. That motivation helped Hansen become the 14th wrestler in state history to win four state titles on Saturday as he toppled that same competitor 9-2.
"Saying he guaranteed I wouldn't be a four-timer made me mad, and I had to prove him wrong," Hansen told the Charleston Post and Courier.
Hansen rolled through the season and won his fourth title by his easiest margin. His other three state championship matches were won by one point each.
"I knew no one in my weight class (125 pounds) could touch me," Hansen told the paper.
Two wrestlers last weekend earned their third individual titles, as Weston Beck of
Rock Hill and Stuart Hope of
Chapin each won crowns again.
BASKETBALL FINALS ARE THIS WEEKENDOf the eight games scheduled for this weekend to determine South Carolina's basketball state champions, one is a repeat of last year's title game.
Spring Valley (Columbia), ranked fourth in
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 girls basketball rankings presented by the Army National Guard, and
Goose Creek will play at 7 p.m. on Friday for the 4A girls title.
Goose Creek won the title last season 64-63, even after trailing by 21 points during the game.
"That was a great game. It was probably more fun for (Gators coach Tim) Baldwin than it was for us," Vikings coach Anne Long told The State. "Although we haven't played each other this season, there won't be many surprises. There's no secret to what they have. We know each other very well and have a lot of respect for them."
MaxPreps South Carolina boys basketball playoff bracketsMaxPreps South Carolina girls basketball playoff bracketsThe 4A boys game between
Irmo (Columbia) and
Ridge View (Columbia) will be played at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
Other title games that will be played at the Colonial Life Center in Columbia on Saturday are:
1A Girls - St. Joseph's Catholic (Greenville) vs.
Ridgeland, 11:30 a.m.
1A Boys - Great Falls vs.
Burke (Charleston), 1:30 p.m.
2A Girls - Keenan (Columbia) vs.
Timberland (St. Stephen), 3 p.m.
2A Boys - Keenan (Columbia) vs.
Mullins, 5 p.m.
3A Girls - Greenville vs.
Myrtle Beach, 6:30 p.m.
3A Boys - Wade Hampton (Greenville) vs.
Darlington, 8:30 p.m.
SOFTBALL POLLS COME OUTMann (Greenville) has moved up a classification, but that doesn't mean less is expected of the Patriots' softball team.
The South Carolina Softball Coaches Association recently named J.L. Mann as the preseason's No. 1 4A team.
Mann has played in three straight state finals and won the last two. The Patriots are led by senior pitcher Leslie Jury, who will pitch in college for Alabama.
Last year's top two 4A teams -
Mauldin and
Summerville - were picked third and seventh, respectively.
Brookland-Cayce, which lost in the lower state finals last season, was picked as the No. 1 team in 3A.
Crescent (Iva), a program that has won 18 state titles but lost in last year's 2A finals, was the top 2A pick. Last year's champ,
Waccamaw (Pawley's Island), was ranked second.
Chesterfield, which knocked off Lake View for the title last season, was picked first in the 1A poll, while
Lake View was picked second.
AIKEN HAS BI-COASTAL OFFERSBamberg-Ehrhardt defensive lineman Martin Aiken now has offers from both coasts, according to PalmettoSports.com.
Aiken picked up an offer from Southern California and now has more than 20 offers on the table.
"He wants to see who comes in thru the spring," his coach, Butch Crosby told the site. "If he does not decide in the summer, he will wait until after the season. He wants to see where he fits in, where he'll have a chance to compete for playing time, and the academics."