Patriots head to state after whipping Wave

Fort Dorchester High School's wrestlers bull-rushed Summerville on Wednesday night, jumping out to a 38-point lead in the Class AAAA Lower State championship en route to a 46-24 victory.

The host Patriots won the first seven matches of the night, including four by pin and two by technical fall as Fort Dorchester advanced to Saturday's state championship.

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Fort Dorchester outwrestles Summerville

The Fort Dorchester wrestlers beat Summerville, 46-24, in AAAA lower state competition.

Summerville rallied as the match reached the lighter weight classes, but the Patriots won two of the final three matches to clinch the victory.

The match had a very different feel to it than when Fort Dorchester earned a 10-point win over the Green Wave earlier this season.

"After that match, we talked about things we needed to work on and then we got in the wrestling room and we worked on those things," Fort Dorchester senior Evan Thompson said. "This time we knew what we had to do, and we went out and did it."

The match started with the 145-weight class where the Patriots' Tyler Walker won by technical fall. Michael Young followed suit at 152, and Seiji Borja earned a major decision at 160.

At 171, Thompson delighted the home fans with the first of four straight Fort Dorchester pins. KeShon Flores, Geno Porter and Michael Sellers took the next three classes, respectively, in the same manner for the 38-0 lead entering the 103-pound class.

"We knew we had to keep that momentum going," Thompson said. "Each of us were given a job for this match and the key was for each of us to do our job. My job was to get a pin."

Bryan Harrwood got Summerville on the board with a pin at 103 and the Wave took the next three matches.

Then at 130, the Patriots' Sonny Bugarin, the No. 4-ranked wrestler in the state at 140, earned a huge 3-1 decision over Aaron Hansen, the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 125. Daquon Wilson followed with another Fort Dorchester pin to clinch the victory.

FORT DORCHESTER 46, SUMMERVILLE 24

103--Harwood (S) p. Romero. 112--Hall (S) d. Barfield, 3-2. 119--Wigger (S) p. Robinson. 125--Maniche (FD) d. Thomas 3-0. 130--Bugarin (FD) d. Hanson 3-1. 135--Wilson (FD) p. Hunter. 140--Ashby (S) by forfeit. 145--Walker (FD) tech. fall over Korn 25-10. 152--Young (FD) tech. fall over Windham 20-5. 160--Borja (S) major dec. over Pantone 15-5. 171--Thompson (FD) p. Ambrose. 189--Flores (FD) p. Weston. 215--Porter (FD) p. Reid. HWT--Sellers (FD) p. Morrison.