This is Part 2 of our series, which will continue with the 1999 2A-1A Wrestling State Tournament.

As mentioned in Part 1, 1999 was the first time all classifications had been together in the same gym for the State Tournament(s) since 1977.

From 1969-1977 when SC high school wrestling had progressed through the first 9 years, all classifications (4A, 3A, 2A, 1A) were in one State Tournament. In 1978 the classes broke off into three State Tournaments (4A, 3A, 2A-1A) and all three State Tournaments were held in different gyms for the next 21 years. Eight years in that stretch (1984-1991) the 3A-2A-1A State Tournament was held as a combined Tournament with three classes.

So, there had been a gap of 22 years since we could all see the best wrestlers in SC in the same gym. 1999 was the turning point bringing us to the modern day tradition of all classes together at the Anderson Civic Center.

The 1999 2A-1A team races would start to take shape at the Lower and Upper State held one week before going to Furman University for the State Tournament. Here were the results, and take note that neither Loris or Bishop England won Lower State ... it was Cheraw!

Lower State - at Hanahan H.S. - February 19-20, 1999
Team Placement at Lower State:
1. Cheraw
2. Bishop England
3. Loris

Upper State - at Chapin H.S. - February 19-20, 1999
Team Placement at Upper State:
1. West-Oak
2. Chapin
3. Crescent

The 1999 2A-1A State Tournament held at Furman University was a team battle throughout the two days on February 26-27, 1999 ... 2A-1A had one of the closest team races in SC history, with 5 teams having a chance to win it all going into the Consolation Finals and Championship Finals.

This 5 way team race boiled down to which team would have the best finish in the last two rounds ... as you can see the Loris wrestlers finished strong!

Team and wrestler stats from the Consolation Finals and Championship Finals:

Walhalla had 5 wrestlers that went 1-4
Swansea had 5 wrestlers that went 3-2
West-Oak had 4 wrestlers that went 3-1
Bishop England had 6 wrestlers that went 3-3
Loris had 6 wrestlers that went 5-1

The final Team Scores to decide the 2A-1A State Champions were:

1. Loris - 91.5 points (Coach Michael Morris)
2. Bishop England - 89 points (Coach Paul Spence)
3. West-Oak - 88 points (Coach Mark Holliday)
4. Swansea - 83.5 points (Coach Quincy Riley)
5. Walhalla - 77 points (Coach Trey Gardner)
6. Crescent - 64.5 points (Coach Russell Blackston)
7. Cheraw - 61 points (Coach Brad Porter)
8. Christ Church - 39 points (Coach Bryan Stevens)
9. Chapin - 37.5 points (Coach Bob Taylor)
10. Ninety-Six - 32 points (Coach Brian Neal)
10. Bamberg-Ehrhardt - 32 points (Coach Randall Balch)

To see the results from the Consolation and Championship Finals, see the link below:

1999 2A-1A State Championship

In 1999 SCMAT had been growing quickly in only its 2nd year, after launching in late 1997. Part of the coverage included taking photos and submitting them to Wrestling USA Magazine as well as sharing them with coaches and teams. I had been taking photos for SC wrestling for a decade, but most of my photos were in 4A and 3A since I was volunteering as a coach at Irmo and Dutch Fork.

When the final matches were occurring in the Furman gym, I was at the 4A podium for the 189 lbs. awards and noticed the excitement of the 2A-1A 275 lbs. Finals match. I had been keeping up with the 2A-1A team race. I knew that after the Loris wrestler won the 215 lbs. Finals to give Loris the lead in team points, that now the 275 lbs. Finals could decide the team race. Ryan Sherrer (Bishop England) was going up against Brad Pitman (Cheraw). And Bishop England needed a pin to move into first place. As interesting trivia, Brad Pitman had defeated Ryan Sherrer in the Lower State Finals.

In 1999 my camera was a film camera, not a digital, so the cost of each photo was about $1 when you accounted for the roll of film and development. You can imagine I was conservative about how many photos I would take. I would take between 4-8 rolls of photos at the State Tournaments and All-Star Classic, which was about 100-200 photos ... so $100-$200. Compared to today when I take several thousand digital photos ... at a cost of $0. If you wonder why I only took four photos below, now you know.

Back to the 275 lbs. Finals with Ryan Sherrer of Bishop England. I knew if Ryan pinned he would not only win the Individual State Championship but he would secure the Team Title for Bishop England by half a point, since the scoring mistake from the 152 lbs. Consolation Finals had not been identified and corrected yet.

I started by snapping the one picture of Ryan's pin and you can see from the scoreboard how close the match was, 5-5. Immediately after the pin, my camera was on the coaches and I snapped the photo of Bishop England Assistant Mike Mishoe jumping about as high as I had ever seen a coach jump ... and Head Coach Paul Spence right there beginning his celebration. Then I took another photo of Ryan in the midst of shock that he had won the HWT State Title and what seemed like a Team State Championship for Bishop England. Finally, I took a photo of the Bishop England team receiving the State Trophy.

Four photos that I thought at the time would forever symbolize "the thrill of victory". However, I would later discover that the way Coach Spence and Bishop England had to handle the reversal was a true lesson in being victorious as a team.

By the time the news came out on Monday and Tuesday that Loris had been declared the Team State Champion due to the scoring error, my film had not been developed yet and no one had seen the photos I took. Later in the week when my film was developed, I recall staring at the photo of Mike Mishoe jumping and thinking about the shock the Bishop England team was feeling 2 days after State. It made sense that Loris deserved the Title, but now I was stuck with 4 photos of Bishop England winning and I had zero photos of Loris celebrating. Loris would celebrate a few days after State.

I stuck the 4 photos of Bishop England in my archive box and never did anything with them until this year. I decided to share the photos, tell the story that may have been forgotten and call Coach Paul Spence to see what he remembered 21 years after the Tournament.

Talking with Coach Paul Spence provided many more great insights to the 1999 season:

- both Paul and his assistant coach Mike Mishoe were Marines
- Mike wanted to be an Officer in the Marines and he later became one
- Mike was a wrestler at The Citadel as well
- The Bishop England wrestlers first heard about the Title reversal on the Monday night News
- Coach Spence had to collect the team gold medals to return them to the SCHSL
- He still remembers sharing with his wrestlers, "We don't want something we did not earn."
- one of his wrestlers was so emotional he could not open his hand with the medal in it
- his wrestler said "Coach I cannot open my hand, you are going to have to open it and take the medal"
- Coach Spence shared how his 1999 team was so driven to succeed and put the work effort in
- the wrestlers begged their coach for 2 practices a day over the holidays
- Coach Spence listened to the captains and had double practices M-W-F over the holidays
- He credits Coach Mike Morris of Loris and his wrestlers for their valiant State tournament and being winners

Talking with Coach Spence reminded me of the positive impact coaches have on teaching wrestlers how to handle wins and losses ... especially tough losses. I have always admired Coach Spence and followed his wrestling program since 1999, hoping the "thrill of victory" was part of every season.

1999 was a year that the 2A-1A coaches and the SC High School League (SCHSL) had to contemplate potential changes. Would 2A-1A make a change after this season and go to a State Duals format to decide the Team Title? Or, would 2A-1A wait until the 2000 season and turn the shock of the 1999 season around?

In our third article coming soon, we will see how the 2000 season would truly change 2A-1A forever.

Special thanks to Coach Paul Spence for sharing his stories from Bishop England wrestling!

Being an eye witness to SC wrestling since the late 1970's, and having a chance to talk with coaches and contributors to SC wrestling over the decades, I feel fortunate that I have the time to write and share SC's wrestling history. Can you imagine 100+ years from now, when SC wrestling will be going strong, and these eye witness accounts will still be circulating?!! I believe the compiled wrestling history at SCMAT will still be around for centuries to come, so thanks to everyone that is a part of the historical records and stories!

I hope you reflect on one other eye witness story occurring today ... the reason it is Christmas day.

These historical articles at SCMAT will hopefully provide accurate facts though we may always have missed some data at some point. If you notice a correction, addition or just want to comment please send a reply to scmat@hotmail.com

thanks,

Mark Buford