5 area wrestlers seeking additional hardware as individual qualifiers begin
Beaufort’s Tramone Jenkins begins his quest for a third consecutive state individual title this weekend at the Class 4A Lower State tournament, while Battery Creek and Hilton Head Island each have two wrestlers seeking to repeat as champions.
Omar Daniels and Cooper Kaminsky, mainstays of Battery Creek’s run to the Class 3A Lower State crown, are looking to repeat as they close out their high school careers. Hilton Head’s Alex Braden and Billy Christie, meantime, each can add a second title in their junior seasons.
Beaufort and Hilton Head travel to Chapin for the Class 4A meet, while Battery Creek joins May River and Bluffton at the 3A meet in Swansea. Whale Branch also competes at the Class 2A/1A meet in Marion.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state finals next weekend in Anderson. Battery Creek could send a full squad, with a wrestler ranked among the Class 3A Lower State’s top three in all 14 divisions.
Hilton Head Island, which bowed out in the Class 4A quarterfinals, could have as many as eight individual qualifiers. Beaufort figures to send about a half-dozen, led by Jenkins and his twin brother Tramon.
Tramone Jenkins, twice a Class 3A champion at 113 pounds, stepped up in weight this season as he seeks to round out his high school career with a 132-pound title. Tramon is ranked No.1 at 126 pounds, having finished runner-up at 120 last year.
Daniels (138 pounds) and Kaminsky (220) will be back in their comfort zones after competing at higher weights in the Dolphins’ loss to West-Oak for the Class 3A team crown. Turhon White (170) gives Battery Creek three No.1s.
Braden (138) and Christie (170) lead the Seahawks’ hopes, with Christie seeking a second straight title and Braden looking to add the 2017 crown to the one he captured two years ago as a freshman.
This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 5:35 PM with the headline "5 area wrestlers seeking additional hardware as individual qualifiers begin."