Liberty freshman Cullen Spence gets another victory last week in a meet with Daniel, Pickens and Easley.
Jeff Holt | The Easley Progress
LIBERTY — At press time, the Liberty High School wrestling team had an impressive 20-2 overall record.
Red Devils coach Derek Harris talked about where his program is at and reflected on the season so far.
“We lost 43-33 last week to West Oak that has won four-straight state championships in 3A,” he said. “We had nothing to hang our head about. Those tough matches in season are going to prepare us for the postseason. We’re just trying to get everyone healthy, and get all of our guys back into the lineup. For us in 2A, it is great to win county. But at the end of the day, county is not our goal. Our goal is to try and compete for state titles year in and year out.”
Beyond the record and the solid coaching of Harris, you can’t overlook the impact on the program of brothers JT and Cullen Spence.
JT is in his first year of college and is red shirting at Lander University. He was there in support last Friday night when Liberty rolled past Daniel, Pickens and Easley.
“It’s going pretty good,” JT said, about his first year of college. “I love the team, the atmosphere and love the coaching staff. Everything is great. I’m just trying to work on my skills and fine-tune my skills for next year when I’m the guy. I’m wrestling at 184 (pounds) and I’d like to stay there for the rest of my career.”
Added JT, about his younger brother, “He (Cullen) is going to be better than me – 100 percent. I think his skills will surpass mine. You get a little bit of a benefit having an older brother who is a college wrestler for sure. It’s nice to come back and see the team. I miss the coaches.”
The interesting part of this year’s Liberty wrestling team is that there are seven seniors who start and then seven freshman/sophomores who also start.
Cullen is one of those underclassmen for the Red Devils. The 15-year-old Spence is currently 30-1 on the season with hopes of winning state. “I’m ranked No. 1 right now, but it just makes a bigger target on my back,” he said. “I love my teammates so much. They push me at practice. Every day we are working hard together – it’s great.”
Cullen is grateful, too, for learning from his older brother JT.
“It really helped me a lot because we’d always wrestle together,” he said. “It really helps me with stronger guys to have really good technique. He’s the one who got me into it when I was 7 (years old) and I loved it ever since.”
Lastly, Coach Harris took some time to reflect on brothers JT and Cullen.
“JT went from not even being a state qualifer his freshman year to finishing his high school career as a 3-time state champion and Mr. Wrestling in South Carolina in the 2A division,” he said. “Now, he’s wrestling at the collegiate level. He’s just a great example of – if a kid really wants to commit to something – then anything is possible. I’m super proud of JT.”
And about Cullen, Coach Harris said, “Cullen is really beyond his years. He’s a freshman and I think he’s been wrestling since fourth grade. He really puts in a lot of extra work beyond what is required for the regular season. We’re just seeing the results from all the work that he’s put in.”