Eight of the 19 Beaufort County wrestlers competing in the state individual tournament in Anderson won their first-round matches Friday night to keep their championship hopes alive.

Four of Beaufort High School's seven qualifiers won their initial bouts in the Class 4-A event, including 2011 state champ Maliek Maldonado, who won by decision over Rock Hill's Cameron Bell in the 220-pound weight class.

Both of Battery Creek's representatives advanced with pins in the Class 3-A tournament, as DeAndre Johnson pinned Wade Hampton's Daniel Shaw at 160 and defending state champion David Ratliff registered a first-period fall of Blue Ridge's Alfredo Hernandez in the heavyweight bracket.

Bluffton's Levi Joly (113) and Hilton Head High's Nick Bautista (195) also picked up first-round victories.

The tournament continues at 9 a.m. today, starting with consolation matches for the first-round losers.

Friday's first-round results:

Class 4-A

Beaufort High

Forrest Kimbrell (145) -- Lost: pinned by Erik Williams (TL Hanna), 1:31

Trey Arant (160) -- Won: pinned Seth Swoope (Rock Hill), 5:16

JaClay Mixon (170) -- Lost: pinned by Brandon Corley (Irmo), 1:00

Thyrik Legree (182) -- Won: decision over Chandler Fleck (Laurens), 11-5

Clint Wright (195) -- Won: decision over Ruben Walker (Northwestern), 6-4

Maliek Maldonado (220) -- Won: decision over Cameron Bell (Rock Hill), 5-2

Tyler Wilson (285) -- Lost: pinned by John Michael Pritchett (Wren), 1:00

Class 3-A

Battery Creek

DeAndre Johnson (160) -- Won: pinned Daniel Shaw (Wade Hampton), 3:00

David Ratliff (285) -- Won: pinned Alfredo Hernandez (Blue Ridge), 1:00

Bluffton

Lloyd Williams (106) -- Lost: major decision to Eddie Byrams (Fort Mill), 11-3

Levi Joly (113) -- Won: major decision over Tim Rogers (West Oak), 10-2

Austin Farmer (132) -- Lost: pinned by Jacob Simmons (Eastside), 5:24

Michael Meyerink (138) -- Lost: decision to Cameron Pike (South Pointe), 12-6

Hilton Head High

David Waddell (106) -- Lost: pinned by Aero Thao (York), 4:30

Label Lewis (120) -- Lost: pinned by Terrence Gore (Chester), 3:47

Chris Ordonez (126) -- Lost: pinned by Dylan Gary (Belton-Honea Path), 5:00

Nick Bautista (195) -- Won: decision over Cory Morgan (South Pointe), 8-2

Class 1-A/2-A

Whale Branch

Mark Rivers (152) -- Lost: pinned by Dustin Martin (Chesnee), 2:25

Max Ford (285) -- Lost: decision to Gage Cervenka (Emerald), 4-0