Blythewood’s Julien Lara (top) works on a pin against his Westwood opponent during last week’s match.
The Blythewood High School wrestling team competed in their first ever match against their cross-town rivals, Westwood High School, on Jan 17.
The Bengals dropped the inaugural matchup, 52-30. Mario Celso, Ben Ruiz, Julien Lara, Ronald Parker and Randy Davis all earned wins for Blythewood via pin.
The Bengals shook off the loss quickly as they competed at the Heathwood Hall duals Saturday. Blythewood wrestled in five total matches and picked up three team wins. The Bengals placed 13th out of 18 teams. Blythewood dropped their first two contests to Hammond, 48-27, and to Mauldin 54-21.
But the Bengals finished strong with three straight wins over Orangeburg Prep, 66-12, Charlotte Christian, 39-24 and against Orangeburg Wilkerson, 60-18.
On the weekend, sophomore Randy Davis led the way with four pins. Junior Derek Lane and sophomore Mario Celso each earned two pins apiece. Blythewood head coach Paul Watson was excited by his team’s progress.
“It was a great day for our young wrestling program,” Watson said. “We wrestled some quality opponents and it will prepare us for the Region Duals.”
Region IV-4A duals will be held at Lugoff-Elgin on Saturday, Jan. 26. Blythewood’s appearance in the state playoffs will be determined by their performance at the Region duals. Watson is looking forward to the big day.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Watson said. “But the progress we have made is outstanding.”