SIMPSONVILLE – It won’t be Iowa v Penn State, but when Eastside travels to Hillcrest on Thursday for a non-conference doubles wrestling game, the upstate and South Carolina presidential wrestling community will be watching.

“We can’t wait to be there,” said Eastside wrestling coach Jack Kosmicki. “I’m sure Hillcrest is too. People have been asking questions about this game for a long time and I’m glad we got together to schedule it. It will be an annual thing, every year forever.

Kosmicki, who has coached the Eagles to 16 state championships in his 27 years as a coach, said he hopes the gym will be packed to watch this duel between two of the wrestling powers of elite in South Carolina.

“(Hillcrest) will fight us every year,” Kosmicki said. “It doesn’t matter who’s up or who’s down they’ll fight us every year. The problem is, they don’t have down years. (Anthony Esposito) is a great coach. He is, if not one of the best young wrestling coaches in the state.

The two teams combined to win nine straight state championships and set the current standard that wrestling in Palmetto State is striving to achieve.

With that in mind, the growth in wrestling has been tangible as Upstate teams swept through all four State Wrestling Championships in 2020-21 (Crescent won in class AA, Belton-Honea Path won in class AAA, Eastside won in class AAAA and Hillcrest won in class AAAAA).

“All the rising tide lifts all ships,” said Hillcrest wrestling coach Anthony Esposito. “When you have all of these successful programs, all of these teams help each other. Competitiveness in the upstate has increased. Our kids love wrestling. They are just wrestling fans. They can’t get enough.

Esposito is in his second year as head coach of the Rams, but was an assistant coach for eight years before being promoted. He has played an important role in all three of the Rams’ State Championships in a row.

Most coaches will agree that the success of a high school wrestling team depends solely on the participation of its youth feeding programs and Upstate has seen many programs and clubs establish themselves over the years. Last 10 years.

“I feel like our success comes from our college feeding program,” Byrnes wrestling coach Russ Howard said. “I think the success of our program is on several levels; not just at the high school level, but by keeping children involved in the program. I think the more involved you get in college and younger, the better the chances of succeeding in high school. “

Howard has been Byrnes’ wrestling coach for 28 years and led the Rebels to an AAAAA class individual tournament championship and an Upper State Dual Championship appearance in 2019.

For Belton-Honea Path wrestling coach Chris Strickland, the Bears once had a renowned clash when they beat Crescent, 43-33, in front of a crowded gymnasium and later have matches with West- State power. Oak on their program.

“It was a great environment at Crescent,” said Strickland. “Having the defending champions in 2A and 3A go head to head. It’s special to have both reigning state champions from the same county. I don’t know if this has happened in Anderson County before; really in any sport.

Strickland is in his 12th season as coach of the Bears where he won two State Championships. Strickland has also won a state championship previously when coaching Crescent.

Unlike football, basketball, and baseball, wrestling had never been in the mainstream; However, with the advent of college conference networks, the fight can now be found daily during the winter on channels such as Big 10 or ACC Networks.

” Absoutely ! ”Said Esposito. “For example, when I walked into practice today, they were all talking about Iowa v Iowa State. They consume wrestling hours a week without being forced to watch them on TV or online. The ability of streaming wrestling to master the technique faster than anything else thanks to YouTube and the internet.

Getting parents to become wrestling fans has also proven to be detrimental to the growth of wrestling and with the expansion of varsity wrestling nationwide and in South Carolina, more and more student-athletes. have the opportunity to compete at university.

“It kind of makes sense that these smaller (colleges) are practicing wrestling,” Howard said. “Apart from travel, the expenses are not important. If you have the gym and have the space, the cost of a wrestling program isn’t that high. “

South Carolina has seen the addition of varsity wrestling at smaller colleges as Lander University and Presbyterian College have added programs in recent years. Additionally, colleges are doubling their wrestling opportunities as women’s wrestling gained popularity and also hit national media in 2021 as Iowa added a women’s team.

Ultimately, the success of the sport ultimately comes down to its marketing and Kosmicki said it is up to the coach to make his team and the sport attractive to all potential athletes.

“While the success of the high school program has a lot to do with (getting young kids into wrestling), I would say the marketing of the program itself is huge. Right now, in the winter, all that is available is basketball. Not that it’s bad, but not all kids are basketball players. Not all parents want to be basketball parents; they want to take their child to something else. This is a big contributing factor; how much you can promote and market it.

Strickland said promoting the sport is important, but just as important having a community that embraces wrestling.

“It’s also a response from the community,” Strickland said. “You go around Belton-Honea Path and every man has, at some point, tried wrestling in one way or another. They know the sport of wrestling. It’s a community thing that is really behind us and that knows the sport and knows the sport of wrestling. It puts a lot of pressure on our kids to keep the program at a high standard.

Belton-Honea Path has had a wrestling program since the school’s inception in 1966, and Strickland said the Bears have yet to experience a losing season.

Even though the local championship programs recharge every year, it doesn’t bring any more excitement to coaches than seeing stiff competition from all over the state.

“I support all of these Greenville County schools at all of these tournaments,” Kosmicki said. “I want them to do well. When they are successful, it validates any kind of success we have against each other. “

The importance of January 13 is not lost on the minds of local coaches. It might not be about wrestling in front of 10,000 fans inside an arena, but it is the next step in the growth of the sport.

“We are the most inclusive sport,” said Esposito. “We have tons of colleges in South Carolina, and it’s up to the coaches to promote it properly. It’s going to be a big duel. We hope all of these kids in the youth programs will be there, see what happens and want to do it. “