Blue Devil Invitational is a winner
Photos and Story
By Mike Maddock
Mike@TheColumbiaStar.com

Dreher's Larry Carter (bottom) tries to break the hold of Darlington's Leigh Manley. Manley won this match.

North Myrtle Beach High School may have run away with the 2007 Blue Devil Wrestling Invitational held Jan. 12- 13, but the Dreher High School wrestling team and the surrounding community are the real winners.

A total of 24 high schools participated in this year's event at Dreher High School, 10 to 13 of which required hotel accommodations making the Invitational a tourist attraction as well as one of the premier athletic events in the Midlands. It's also the primary fundraiser for the Blue Devil wrestling team.

Paul Watson, Dreher head wrestling coach and head man for the Invitational, said this year was the best in his eight years, thanks to corporate sponsorship from Hardees and support from local businesses like Birds on a Wire, Panera Bread, and Ruby Tuesday. The talent on the mats was phenomenal as well. Three top ranked teams and 18 other ranked teams made up the field.

Watson expects the Invitational to get even better next year when the Blue Devils open their new state- of- the- art gymnasium. He says it's a facility that could easily host state tournaments and other statewide events. His only hope to improve the Invitational further is for a local hotel to sponsor/host all the out- of- town teams.

Hammond's Will Patterson (rear) tries to gain an advantage on Irmo's Jeremy Berger. Patterson won this match.

While the health of the Invitational is good, Watson's team has not been quite so fortunate this year. Five starters are out due to injury. Watson said he has never had a team hit this bad with injuries, but still his Blue Devils were just 13 points away from really competing at the Invitational finishing 16th with 81.5 points. Larry Carter was the most successful Dreher wrestler placing third in the 189 lbs. weight class.

Dreher will host region foes Fairfield Central and Chester Jan. 17, then travel to Ridge View for the Blazer Classic Jan. 20.

TEAM RESULTS

1. N. Myrtle Beach 190.0,

Brookland- Cayce's Phillip Chavis gets Airport's Justin Goette in a hold. Chavis won this match.

2. Sumter 161, 3. Chapin 148.5,

4. Chesterfield 140, 5. Crescent 128.5 , 6. Irmo 120.5, 7. Ridge View 110,

8. Airport 108, 9. Swansea 99,

10. Camden 94, 11. Bluffton 93,

12. Myrtle Beach 92,

13. Brookland- Cayce 87.5,

14. Blythewood 82, Chester 82,

16. Dreher 81.5, 17. Hammond 66,

Darlington 66, 19. Marion 65.5,

20. Broome 65, 21. Richland Northeast 46, 22. Carolina Forest 24, 23. A.C. Flora 23, 24. Crestwood 17.5

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

103

1. Richie Schnieder (NMB)

2. Chris Cox (Airport)

3. Benjamin Willard (Swansea)

4. Barrett Owens (Chapin)

112

1. Joe Willard (Swansea)

2. Kyle Manross (Irmo)

3. Hayden Cavender (NMB)

4. Quinton Emerson (Chester)

119

1. Ian Harper (Chesterfield)

2. Darren Maple (Sumter)

3. J.B. Smith (RV)

4. A. Singleton (Camden)

125

1. T.T. Prayther (NMB)

2. Wesley Wooten (Chapin)

3. Cody McCall (Crescent)

4. Horus Madrid (Camden)

130

1. Tim Downey (NMB)

2. Chris Manross (Irmo)

3. Trey Alley (Chesterfield)

4. Kevin Parker (RV)

135

1. Dalton Harper (Chesterfield)

2. Ryan Koons (Bluffton)

3. Jesse Huggins (Swansea)

4. Josh Sullivan (Sumter)

140

1. Brian Leneau (Sumter)

2. Nick Provvedi (Crescent)

3. Ben Monroe (Chapin)

4. Chris Black (NMB)

145

1. Logan Raabe (Sumter)

2. Joel Lung (RV)

3. Tim Sanders (Marion)

4. Chase Carver (Crescent)

152

1. Grayson Hutson (Irmo)

2. Omega Richardson (Chester)

3. Nick Horne (Crescent)

4. Tyler Newton (Airport)

160

1. James Ammons III (Sumter)

2. James Wood (Chapin)

3. Justin Goette (Airport)

4. Brandon Redden (RV)

171

1. Tim Marcum (Marion)

2. Josh Fulmer (Blythewood)

3. Universal Prayther (NMB)

4. Charles Gore (MB)

189

1. Josh Strickland (Sumter)

2. Leigh Manley (Darlington)

3. Larry Carter (Dreher)

4. Todd Tabor (Crescent)

215

1. Chip Hester (NMB)

2. Ike Okoli (B. Cayce)

3. Mark Mann (Darlington)

4. Steven Earwood (Crescent)

275

1. Josh Austin (Camden)

2. Jordan Cothran (BC)

3. Pat Davis (MB)

4. Jeremy Ellisor (Chapin)

Source: Dreher High School