Coach Tony McMillan came into the season with several goals for restarting the wrestling program at Marlboro County High School — including making the playoffs and qualifying for lower state championships.

Hours of practice, matches, and teamwork have led to the wrestling team competing on Saturday at Gilbert High School in the Dual Team Playoffs, where they will face the Hanahan High School Hawks.

The team’s participation in the recent Region 6 AAA Individual Wrestling Tournament led to seven wrestlers competing individually in the Lower State Championships on Feb. 18-19 at Camden High School.

Results for the seven included:

— 145-pound weight class- Shane Usher finished as regional champion

— 220-pound weight class- Trevon Drayton finished as regional champion

— 113-pound weight class- Jameson Bethea finished in second place

— 160-pound weight class- Jadarius Deese finished in second place

— 170-pound weight class- Romeon Easterling finished in second place

— 182-pound weight class- Damien Krampitz finished in third place

— 285-pound weight class- Anthony Bostic finished in third place

McMillan said they had met some of the goals set, but he would like to do better by having more students.

“It is a hard sell,” he said. “A lot of kids haven’t seen wrestling or what it looks like. Many students have only seen WWE on Monday and Friday nights.

“They use some of the moves we use, but there is a whole lot more moving, jumping, and flying that we don’t do,” he added.

The team has four middle school students and 11 high schoolers.

Only three of them — Shane Usher, Anthony Bostic, and Reggie Primus — had some experience. One plus for the team is that Primus will be the only graduate, so the rest could return next season.

McMillan said he was very grateful to Assistant Coach Graham Barksdale for helping with the team.

“He knows what he is doing,” McMillan said. “He has wrestled. He knows what it takes to get to the next level.”

He is thankful for his players for being there and sticking with it.

“Even though I would like to get some more work ethic out of them,” McMillan said. “A little bit harder work, and they could be a whole lot better. They don’t see it. We do.”

He added that if they all come back, he hoped to double the size of the team.

“I am looking forward to having about 30 kids next year,” he said. “And maybe we will fill in more of those weight classes. Exposure and experience is the key to success.”

Anthony “AJ” Bostic, a junior, wrestled previously on the team.

“I missed it,” he said. “I started my freshman year, then Covid changed everything. I was ready to come back to see what I had improved on.”

In addition to wrestling, Bostic plays football, runs track and is an honor student.

He felt he had gained a lot of knowledge during this season. It was the knowledge that helped him to improve his game and how he wrestled.

Bostic uses his knowledge to help the team when doing live wrestling during practice.

When asked about next season, Bostic did not hesitate when saying he would return. He was looking forward to Saturday because he was excited for himself, the team, and the program.

He summed the season up as “amazing.”

“It was amazing and a lot of improvement,” Bostic said. “I liked it.”

And Bostic isn’t waiting for others to show up, but is encouraging other students, such as middle schoolers, to participate in the sport.

Freshman Damien Krampitz had always wrestled with friends but never on a team. He tried out for the team because he wanted to get better at it as a sport.

He admitted to being nervous on the first day of practice.

“It has been fun,” he said. “I have gained a lot of skill, knowledge, and learned how to be successful.”

One of his goals was to make it to the lower state championships.

“I am proud of myself,” Krampitz said.

He is ready for Saturday.

“I think our team can win,” he said.

And, like Bostic, he summed the season up as amazing.

He plans to return next season and encourage others to participate in wrestling.

The members of the 2021-22 MCHS wrestling team are Bryck Driggers, eighth grader at McColl Elementary Middle School; Zyair Bellamy, Zack Ivey, and Josiah Benton-Lowe, eighth-graders at Blenheim Middle School of Discovery; Jameson Bethea, Shane Usher, Romeon Easterling, Jadarius Deese, Damien Krampitz, Kayson Knight, Trevon Drayton, Jamil Stubbs, Anthony Bostic, Kaleb Dew, and Reggie Primus, all students at Marlboro County High School.