Hassan Williams helped Summerville reach the state wrestling finals and claimed an individual state championship in the 150-pound weight class this year.
By Roger Lee
HSSR Contributing Writer
Summerville – Summerville had another outstanding season on the wrestling mat and that trend isn’t likely to change anytime soon.
“I thought we got a lot out of this year’s team,” Green Wave coach Darryl Tucker said. “The goal at Summerville is to win championships and we’ve been to the finals three of the last four years. We had some key guys get injured during the playoffs, Caleb Herring especially.
He was State Runner-Up last year and was a captain and leader. It’s impossible to replace someone like that but we have some other guys that got some opportunities that will spring board them for next season.”
Fort Mill handed Summerville a 32-27 loss during the Class 5A Wrestling State Championship. The Yellow Jackets were ranked third in the class entering the playoffs while the Green Wave was ranked first, as it had been for much of the season.
Summerville built considerable momentum earlier that week by defeating Carolina Forest 54-15 and Goose Creek 37-34 to capture the Lower State Championship. However, early in the state-title match Fort Mill shifted the momentum.
The Green Wave finishes the season with a 27-3 record and as a region champion and Lower State Champion for the third time in the past four seasons. Summerville’s other duals losses came to Eastside, which captured the 4A State Championship, and a team from Virginia.
During the 5A Wrestling (individual) Championships, Hassan Williams won the 150-pound weight class. He claimed a 15-6 major decision over Carolina Forest’s Brody Bailey in the championship. Summerville’s Xavier Anderson lost to now four-time State Champion JJ Peace of Cane Bay in the 126 title match and Kayleb Pinckney lost to Nation Ford’s Danny Gilstorf in the 132 semi-finals.
Anderson finished his career with 105 career wins even though his freshman season was cut short due to Covid.
“Williams and Xavier are both seniors that will be impossible to replace,” Tucker said. “However, we had a lot of freshmen and sophomores wrestle a lot of matches this year so we go into next season expecting to get back to another State Championship.”
Anderson, Pinckney, Herring, Williams, Preston Smith and Isaiah Frazier all received all-region honors. Williams and Anderson also participated in the North-South All-Stars matches March 1-2.
Other grapplers who finished the season as a starter for Summerville were Brayden Burns, Ethan Woods, Jacob Cotterill, Angel Lopez, Devin Garza, Landon Deaton, Jacob Bullard, Reese Hollingsworth and Jonas Haynes.

Boys Basketball
Summerville also had an outstanding season on the hardwood.
The Green Wave (25-3) fell 56-48 to Lexington (29-2), the eventual 5A Boys State Champion, in the state semifinals.
“We came in with a bit of a different defensive game plan and it held up well,” Summerville coach David Long said. “Lexington is so long and talented, we felt like we couldn’t trap in the half court as effectively as we do against other teams. We felt better about our offensive game plan, but that did not pan out. They took away a lot of how we wanted to attack their 2-3 zone and we simply did not shoot the ball well. That can be attributed to Lexington’s defense and the awful depth perception in the Florence Center.”
It was the Summerville’s deepest playoff run since the 2007-08 season and because the Wave lost to Lexington twice this season, it only lost to two teams during its 2023-24 campaign.
“Although disappointed with how things ended, it was an outstanding season,” Long said. “We won 25 games this season and in the past two seasons had a total of 49 wins against only 8 losses. Back-to-back undefeated region champions is a fine accomplishment as well. I feel like we played as hard as anyone.”
Leading the charge was senior Yannick Smith, a three-time All-State guard. He averaged 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game. Two time All-State guard Melvin Teal averaged 16 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Guard KJ Brown averaged 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Center Yasir Smith averaged 8 points and 7 rebounds. Guards Josiah Taylor and ZJ Jenkins both averaged 2 steals per game.
“We will sorely miss seniors Yannick Smith, KJ Brown, Jonas Nelson and Kaedon Baskerville, but we do return three starters in Melvin Teal, Yasir Smith and Josiah Taylor,” Long said. “ZJ Jenkins and Warren Nelson are also key performers who will return. Our assistant coaching staff also contributed greatly to our success.”
Guards Jeadon Baskerville, Jacob Bunao and Tanner Smith, forward Jakai Chapman and center Clayton Smith are also expected back so the Wave has a sound foundation to build upon.
Lady Green Wave
The Summerville Girls (22-8) also made it to the state semifinals this season.
The team stuck right with top-ranked Sumter but didn’t muster the finish it needed to advance to the state finals. Its Lower State Championship game against the eventual State Champion was tighter than some anticipated as the Wave fell 35-27.
“To be as young as we are I think we handled Sumter well,” Summerville coach Calvin Davis said. “I’m very proud of our girls. We’ll return (most) of our players so I just told them they have to work in the offseason.”
Summerville only has two seniors on the roster, Kadence Brown and Elliot Harley.
All-state guard Molly Daugherty and her sister, Emma Daugherty, as well as fellow juniors Madison Thomas and Jayden Bennett, led the way for the team. Others expected to return next year are Avery Barney, Nevaeh Mathews, Delaney Hayes, Ahniya Bellinger, Madison Marssa, Krissa Lavassar, Destinee Grant and Jordan Espinal.
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