Abbeville wrestling competes well this season



David Shelton

Senior Writer

Abbeville – Due to a lack of numbers and overall mat experience, winning dual matches cab be a challenge for the Abbeville High wrestling team.

However, ninth-year coach Bill Glace, himself a former Panther, says the focus of every season is individual improvement. Glace preaches positivity and perseverance with his teams and that helps them compete with most teams in Class AA/A.

“We work hard to stay positive by focusing on the good stuff and letting go of the bad like water on a duck's back,” Glace reports. “It has been a really good season.”

Glace is happy with the performance of his team this season. The Panthers were 9-18 in dual contests and qualitied for the state tournament in AA-A. The season ended with a first-round loss to Clinton. 

Abbeville has a co-ed program with several girls competing on the mat. The girls have their own state individual tournament and Abbeville will have a few state title contenders.

There also will be state contenders from the boys team with hopes that several Panthers can earn spots in the state finals.

“Our top guys would be Brice Williams, Parker Henderson, Carter Eby and Collins Brown,” the coach said. “Brice and Parker have really stepped up to contribute to varsity. Carter Eby is our sole state qualifier returning from last year and has put up 24 wins this season.

“Collins Brown will probably qualify for state this season. He has 22 wins with 17 pins on the season. We also had two young ladies already punch their ticket to state in Brittany Gordon and Kylee Jo Price.”

Eby is ranked at No/4 in AA/A at 157 pounds. Brown is ranked seventh at 190 pounds. Price is ranked fourth at 115 pounds and Gordon is ranked fourth at 135 pounds.

Glace remains optimistic that the program can continue to grow. Getting the athletes started at a younger age is crucial to building a solid foundation.

“Our program is graduating a lot of experience on the girls team and some on the boys team but we also have a lot of underclassmen that have come out this season,” he said. “We are looking for our feeder program to also send up some middle schoolers for next season that will pay dividends in a few years.”

Basketball teams rolling this season

The boys and girls basketball teams are having outstanding seasons this winter as both are contending for region titles.

The boys team sits at 14-2 overall and 11-0 in region play. Jaden Baylor leads the team in scoring at 15.9 points per game, adding 6.9 rebounds.

Junior Harris Riley is averaging 12.7 points and junior Justin Rollerson adds 9.6 points and 4.4 assists per outing. Corde Hadden is scoring 8.4 points per contest.

The girls team is 10-4 overall and leading the region with a 10-1 record. Eighth-grader Amaya McManus paces the offense at 10.3 points per game. Sophomore Lauren Murray adds 7.4 points and 7.3 boards per game and sophomore Ar’daisyah Gray is averaging 6.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.