PHS senior McClendon Graves
Jeff Holt / The Easley Progress
Pictured is the Powdersville High School wrestling team after winning the Class 3A region last week and a victory over Palmetto.
Jeff Holt / The Easley Progress
POWDERSVILLE — McClendon Graves wrestled more like a battle-tested senior last week.
The end result: Graves and the Powdersville High School team defeating Palmetto 41-26 and claiming the title of Class 3A region champs.
“It’s been an amazing season,” said Graves, 17, in his fifth year of wrestling on the varsity level. “I’m just grateful that I get to share this experience with my teammates. Tonight, I just wanted to make sure that we handled business as a team. My team pulled through, and it sealed the match.”
Graves, with a 4.3 grade point average, is just focusing on his state run with the Patriots and helping his team hit new heights. “It was a big win tonight,” he said. “We’ve improved a lot. We put in a lot of hard work in the wrestling room and it’s really paid off. I’m really proud of my team and myself.”
Getting pins for the Patriots against Palmetto were Conner Kit, Sam Dykes and Kaemon Smith-Rivera.
Last year, Palmetto was the region champ.
Powdersville claimed that title in 2023 as a region champ.
“Our kids work hard,” said PHS Coach Sean Mascaro. “After the rebuild year last year when we got blown out in this dual, it meant a lot. Our kids went out there and executed the plan. We wrestled physical. I’m just grateful to be able to compete to do it.”
The Patriots team improved to 29-11 on the season.
The momentum continues to build for the Powdersville High School wrestling program.
Powdersville program notes: Die-hard fans of the Patriots wrestling program remember alumni grapplers like Liam McKinney who was a 2017 grad and a state champ at 160 pounds. McKinney went on to wrestle at Limestone University. Dylan Brooks (state champ in 2021 at 132 pounds and a state champ in 2022 at 138 pounds) wrestled at Montreat College. Lastly, Nick Wattenbarger (2021 state champ at 145 pounds and a 2022 state champ at 152 pounds) wrestled at North Carolina State University.
Listed below is the varsity lineup of PHS and several top-notch records.
106: Landon Westhoff (Fr.)
113: Dylan Bray (Jr.)
120: Kaemon Smith-Rivera (Jr.)
126: McClendon Graves (Sr.)
132: Jordan Martinez (So.) 29-5
Alex Stearman (Fr.)
138: West Fleming (Jr.) 39-9
144: Conner Kit (Jr.) 38-8
150: Jackson Holcombe (Jr.) 10-4
Richie Tucker (Jr.)
157: Sam Dykes (So.) 15-5
165: Tommy Coscarelli (Jr.) 13-9
Cohen Birdette (Sr.)
175: Liam Springett (So.) 19-12
190: Nathan McClure (Sr.) 31-7
215: Jayden Jones-Wertz (Jr.) 14-0
Brayden Leopard (Jr.)
Hwt: Dalton Morgan (Sr.)
Head Coach: Sean Mascaro