Raiders advance to Class 4A Upper State finals
Jonathan Pagoada, right, during his match-deciding victory Monday night over Travelers Rest.
It all came down Wednesday night to senior Jonathan Pagoada, whose victory at 157 pounds lifted the Laurens wrestling team over Travelers Rest and into the Class 4A Upper State finals.
With Pagoada’s 9-6 win over Jordan Williams, the Raiders edged the Devil Dogs 34-33 and will host Fountain Inn at 7 p.m. Wednesday in an all-Region 1-4A Upper State final.
The winner of Wednesday’s match will face the May River-Hartsville winner at 2 p.m. Saturday at Dreher High School for the Class 4A state title.
“No pressure,” Pagoada joked after the match. “My mindset was for my team, for my team, for my team. Without my team, I’d be nowhere, but with my team, I’m something.”
Pagoada was the final part of what LDHS head coach Jordan Lawson called his “death row” of wrestlers that delivered four straight victories to end the dual, starting with Dakota McCall and 138 pounds, Mikey Aiken at 144 pounds, Leyden Gentry at 150 pounds and Pagoada.
Despite trailing 33-21 when McCall took the mat, Lawson said he was confident.
McCall is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A at 138 pounds and the rest of the quartet is ranked in their weight classes as well – Aiken at No. 3, Gentry at No. 2 and Pagoada at No. 7.
“We knew we had to make a run,” said Lawson, who is in his second season as head coach at LDHS. “They did a great job of not letting the moment get bigger than them. They rose to the occasion. When we got the draw at 165 pounds (to start the match), we knew it was going to end with our four top guys, and they rose to the challenge. They all knew for us to win, they had to win.”
Aiken scored a needed point in sudden-death overtime for an 8-7 win over Riley Broderick. Gentry, who committed this past week to wrestle next year at Coker University, defeated Florian Blohm 10-3, and McCall edged No. 2-ranked John-Matt Stevens.
As the Raiders were punching their ticket to the Upper State finals, Fountain Inn was doing the same in Rock Hill with a 37-36 win at South Pointe. That single-point victory also came down to the final match of the night that junior Ryan Ferrell won by major decision at 126 pounds.
Laurens’ Mikey Aiken executes a takedown against Riley Broderick of Travelers Rest Monday night.
Laurens 34, Travelers Rest 33
106 – Stiles Stevens (TR) pinned Cristley Martin
113 – Abel Miles (LDHS) def. Kanah McCall 10-3 (technical fall)
120 – Kai McCall (LDHS) pinned Brett Allen
126 – Jackson McLees (TR) pinned Jordan Miles
132 – Ayden Hicks (TR) pinned Ke’shun Robinson
138 – Dakota McCall (LDHS) def. John-Matt Stevens
144 – Mikey Aiken (LDHS) def. Riley Broderick 8-7 OT
150 – Leyden Gentry (LDHS) def. Florian Blohm 10-3
157 – Jonathan Pagoada (LDHS) def. Jordan Williams 9-6
165 – Aiden Garrett (TR) def. Gage Kemph 7-6
175 – Zaine Kellett (LDHS) pinned Yohann Barraza
190 – Mitchell Knepp (TR) def. Zy Priestley 10-0
215 – Michael Brown (LDHS) pinned David Hernandez
Hvy – Noah Robertson (TR) pinned Austin Summers
