Talon Seitz, Martin Duane stay perfect in winning Lower State wrestling titles
Talon Seitz and Martin Duane, cornerstones of Hilton Head Island wrestling’s Class 3-A runners-up, moved within three matches of completing unbeaten senior seasons as five Seahawks in all captured 3-A Lower State championships in Murrells Inlet.
Beaufort added four Lower State titles, with defending state champion Tramone Jenkins running his season record to 53-1, as the Lowcountry rivals combined to claim nine of 14 weight classes in the tournament at St. James.
Beaufort will send eight wrestlers in all to next weekend’s individual finals in Anderson, while Hilton Head qualified six.
Battery Creek, meantime, put forth 11 qualifiers from the Class 2-A/1-A meet in Marion, including back- to-back Lower State titles for Omar Daniels and Cooper Kaminsky. Whale Branch also produced one champion as Stephon Eugene prevailed at 182 pounds.
The Anderson Civic Center will host all three classifications starting Friday, as Seitz (170 pounds) and Jenkins (113) seek a second consecutive state title.
Seitz, last year’s Class 4-A state champion while at Bluffton, ran his record to 50-0 while blitzing through his division at the Class 3-A meet. He needed just 33 seconds combined to record pins in his first two matches, then shut out Swansea’s Quaevon Cannon 5-0 in the final.
Duane was nearly as efficient in the 182-pound class, sandwiching two pins around a 16-0 technical fall over Brookland-Cayce’s Dannie Williams in the semifinals. A pin of Myrtle Beach’s Stephen Desjardins in the final also took his record to 50-0.
Jenkins won an all-Lowcountry showdown in the 113-pound final, outlasting Hilton Head’s Logan Johnston 5-0 for the title. Twin brother Tramon Jenkins followed with his first Lower State title at 120 pounds, pinning Kenton Kelley (R.B. Stall) midway through the first period.
Alex Braden (132) joined Hilton Head teammates Seitz and Duane with their second Lower State title, along with Beaufort’s Tramone Jenkins and Connor Gruel.
Jeff Shain: 843-706-8123, @jeffshain
Lower State Wrestling Championships
State Qualifiers
(Season records in parentheses)
Class 3-A
106: 2nd, Luis Pantoja, Beaufort (48-4).
113: 1st, Tramone Jenkins, Beaufort (53-1); 2nd, Logan Johnston, Hilton Head (43-10).
120: 1st, Tramon Jenkins, Beaufort (47-6).
126: 1st, Will Spann, Beaufort (54-3).
132: 1st, James Roberts, Hilton Head (40-16); 3rd, Justin Campbell, Beaufort (26-7).
138: 1st, Alex Braden, Hilton Head (52-5); 2nd, Diontre’ Delaney, Beaufort (47-15).
145: 2nd, Jeffrey Smyth, Beaufort (46-10).
152: 1st, Connor Gruel, Beaufort (50-5).
160: 1st, Billy Christie, Hilton Head (52-4).
170: 1st, Talon Seitz, Hilton Head (50-0).
182: 1st, Martin Duane, Hilton Head (50-0).
Class 2-A/1-A
106: 4th, Tommy Bearden, Battery Creek (32-20).
113: 4th, Nate Torres, Battery Creek (29-18).
120: 2nd, Tyrus Singleton, Battery Creek (35-8).
126: 1st, Omar Daniels, Battery Creek (49-4).
132: 2nd, Trevon Grier, Battery Creek (25-10).
152: 3rd, Porter Mahan, Battery Creek (38-8).
160: 2nd, Turhon White, Battery Creek (29-8).
170: 2nd, Khalil Chisolm, Battery Creek (38-13).
182: 1st, Stephon Eugene, Whale Branch (23-6); 4th Ahman Smalls, Battery Creek (36-4).
195: 1st, Cooper Kaminsky, Battery Creek (51-2).
285: 3rd, Michael Selby, Battery Creek (32-16).
State Individual Finals
When: Friday-Saturday
Where: Anderson Civic Center (all divisions)
This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Talon Seitz, Martin Duane stay perfect in winning Lower State wrestling titles."