Several newspaper articles below capture the significance of this match:
Ashley Ridge captures 5A Lower State
Swamp Foxes claim state wrestling championship
Hillcrest dealt stunning loss in Class AAAAA wrestling state championship match
Team Of The Year Swamp Foxes win 1st state
2022 5A State Duals Final (boxscore at link) - Ashley Ridge 27, Hillcrest 26

Some interesting trivia from this match:
1. Ashley Ridge had to beat the 3x reigning 5A State Champions. Hillcrest had won 5 state titles over an 11 year span, with three head coaches, which says a lot about building a legacy and dynasty - Tommy Bell (2011 2012), Robby Bell (2019, 2020) and Anthony Esposito (2021).

2. Ashley Ridge had a challenging path through the State Duals bracket, needing wins over four #1 seeds (Region Champions) to claim the coveted State Duals title. Here is the list:
#1 seed (Region Champion) - Carolina Forest (16-3)
#1 seed (Region Champion) - Lexington (20-4)
#1 seed (Region Champion) - Summerville (15-1)
#1 seed (Region Champion) - Hillcrest (18-7)

3. As we saw in last week's article, 27 points is the lowest offensive total to win a State Title. Two teams are tied with this record in winning their Dual Titles - 2022 Ashley Ridge and 2012 Hillcrest. Ashley Ridge had just enough offense to win it in 2022, but it was the defensive effort minimizing Hillcrest's bonus points.

4. Some of my favorite State Duals Finals have been watching teams winning the Title for the first time (and only time so far). River Bluff 2017. Lexington 2013. Dorman 2016. Dutch Fork 2003. Then I thought about the really great list of teams that have currently won only 1 Title, and the coach for that team currently has won only 1 Title. That is what brought me to write this article series - the fan excitement of what happened in 2022 and 2023. Here is that list:

(sorted by classification and year)
Fort Mill (5A) - 2023 - Coach Chris Brock
Ashley Ridge (5A) - 2022 - Coach Stacey Woods
Dreher (3A-2A-1A) - 1988 - Coach Joe Soltish
James Island (3A) - 1993 - Coach Nelson Huggins
Byrnes (3A) - 1981 - Coach Tim Ramaley
Bonds-Wilson (3A) - 1979 - Coach Mike Casey
Greer (3A) - 1978 - Coach Steve Woodward
Liberty (2A-1A) - 2023 - Coach Dale Burrell
Ninety-Six (2A-1A) - 2022 - Coach Roy Lemmons
Marion (2A-1A) - 2016 - Coach Michael Steinbar
Abbeville (2A) - 2009 - Coach Anthony Martin

5. Beating a 3x State Champion, how often has that happened? In the State Duals era, it has happened 5 times, for a 3x or 4x State Champ to get knocked off in the State Finals:

2022 - Ashley Ridge 27, Hillcrest 26 (Coach Stacey Woods, Coach Anthony Esposito)
2021 - Hillcrest 36, Summerville 33, (Coach Anthony Esposito, Coach Darryl Tucker)
2020 - Hillcrest 51, White Knoll 12, (Coach Robby Bell, Coach Kyle Kimrey)
2019 - Hillcrest 41, River Bluff 30, (Coach Robby Bell, Coach Evan Moxie)

2021 - Crescent 37, Bamberg-Ehrhardt 32 (Coach Austin Powell, Coach Mark Moody)
2020 - Bamberg-Ehrhardt 42, North Central 30 (Coach Mark Moody, Coach Jason Brazell)
2019 - Bamberg-Ehrhardt 39, North Central 31 (Coach Mark Moody, Coach Jason Brazell)
2018 - Bamberg-Ehrhardt 44, Liberty 33 (Coach Jake Stewart, Coach Nathan Day)

2011 - Bamberg-Ehrhardt 35, Chesterfield 32, (Coach Cody Slaughter, Coach Will Gainey)
2010 - Chesterfield 33, Bamberg-Ehrhardt 31 (Coach Will Gainey, Coach Cody Slaughter)
2009 - Chesterfield 57, Bamberg-Ehrhardt 3 (Coach Will Gainey, Coach Cody Slaughter)
2008 - Chesterfield 61, Bamberg-Ehrhardt 6 (Coach Lance Abernathy, Coach Derek Ayers)
2007 - Chesterfield 69, Bamberg-Ehrhardt 3 (Coach Lance Abernathy, Coach Derek Ayers)

2000 - Eastside 31, Lugoff-Elgin 27 (Coach Jack Kosmicki, Coach Tim Wash)
1999 - Lugoff-Elgin 39, Eastside 25 (Coach Tim Wash, Coach Jack Kosmicki)
1998 - Lugoff-Elgin 48, Fort Mill 12 (Coach Tim Wash, Coach Ricky Blackman)
1997 - Lugoff-Elgin 59, Seneca 7 (Coach Tim Wash, Coach Andy Smyth)

1998 - Summerville 38, Rock Hill 29 (Coach Kenny Walker, Coach Jim Barnes)
1997 - Rock Hill 54, Dutch Fork 13 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach B.D. LaPrad)
1996 - Rock Hill 38, Irmo 21 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach David Maas)
1995 - Rock Hill 31, Summerville 21 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach Mike Frye)
1994 - Rock Hill 36, Summerville 24 (Coach Jim Barnes, Coach Mike Frye)

This nine-part series of the Greatest State Duals Finals has concluded.

If you notice a correction, addition or just want to comment to these historical articles, please send a reply to scmat@hotmail.com

thanks,

Mark Buford