Beaufort, Hilton Head Island to host Monday playoff matches

The wrestling teams from Beaufort and Hilton Head Island high schools inched closer to an all-Beaufort County showdown for the Class 3-A Lower State Championship on Wednesday.

Both teams won twice on Saturday to setup home matches at 6 p.m. Monday.

The third-ranked Eagles (41-7) will host Airport, while the fourth-ranked Seahawks (20-4) will host Swansea.

Should both teams win, they would face off Wednesday at Beaufort with a trip to the state championship on the line.

But first things first.

Swansea has two ranked wrestlers, but Hilton Head Island head coach Mike Newton admits he doesn't know much about the Tigers.

"We don't know much," Newton said. "We have not seen them all year. They were not at any of the tournaments we were.

"We're going in blind."

The Seahawks are finally at full strength for the first time this year.

Christian Ordonez, who wrestles at 152 pounds, has returned from injury. He has been out since Jan. 1.

"He will help us a lot," Newton said.

Beaufort head coach Travis Wynn said he was able to use some JV guys and rest a lot of his starters on Saturday, allowing them to be more fresh this week.

Like Newton, Wynn doesn't know much about his opponent. Like Swansea, Airport is unranked.

"They won their region," Wynn said. "However, I'm not too concerned. They don't have a lot of power.

"This is just another pit stop before our rematch with Hilton Head on Wednesday."

3-A Wrestling Lower State Playoffs

6 p.m. Monday

Airport at Beaufort

Swansea at Hilton Head Island

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 1:41 AM with the headline "Beaufort, Hilton Head Island to host Monday playoff matches."