The Sims’ wrestling team placed 1st among eight teams Friday night in Woodruff at the conference championships. This is the first athletic trophy for the school since moving into the new building.
Dashaun Boyd won the conference championship Friday after placing first in the 95-pound weight class. Nine wrestlers from Sims competed in the championship match placing first or second place. The team beat Boiling Springs by 9.5 points.
“I have to admit that my expectations before friday were that we may get third but the kids really came out there to wrestle hard and win,” coach George McDaniel said. “They were fired up to put the first Trophy and Banner in the New SIMS Middle School.”
There were eight teams that competed for the conference: Sims, Fairforest, Gable, Dawkins, Boiling Springs, Florence Chapel, DR Hill and Woodruff.
AJ Workman, Dylan Beheler and Devontay Simmons all finished in the Top 3 during the championships.
“We have a very good group coming up next year,” McDaniel said. “If they will devote a little time in the off season, then we should have a very good team again next year. I am hoping to build the program to compete with The Eastsides, Hillcrest and Riverside type teams that have a tradition in wrestling.”
On Saturday, the team competed in a state qualifier. Although no Sims wrestlers qualified for state, 10 kids finished in the Top 5.
“In any of the 17 weight classes there was up to 30 kids within the weight class, so finishing within Top 5 was a big accomplishment for a lot of our guys,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said he is hopeful about the future of the wrestling program at Sims.
“If the administration, parent, and high school coaches will support the kids at the middle school level then we will see great improvement at the high school level,” he said. “We are facing teams that have kids that have wrestled since third or fourth grade, so we have got to push our kids to get involved early and work hard.
Wrestling is an old sport but it is still new in South Carolina compared to other states. It is growing and we have to grow with the sport.”
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