The road to the third round for the remaining Chronicle Country wrestling teams proved challenging on Feb. 4.

Host schools Gilbert, Chapin and River Bluff cruised through their first-round matchups.

The Indians defeated Phillip Simmons 60-14, Chapin defeated Mauldin 69-7 and River Bluff defeated Goose Creek 66-12 in the "Battle of the Gators" in The Swamp.

The second round matchups were much closer with River Bluff edging out Phillip Simmons 37-27. It will now invite top-seed Carolina Forest, which defeated Dutch Fork in round one, for the third round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Chapin defeated J.F. Byrnes 36-33 and will face T.L. Hanna at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 6. The Yellow Jackets are making their first-ever third-round appearance after defeating White Knoll 46-30 and Boiling Springs 33-25.

Gilbert found itself in more of an uphill battle in Class 3A against Loris before winning 46-36.

The Lions roared out to a 18-0 lead with three straight pinfalls. After the two teams exchanged pinfall wins to make it 24-6, the Indians won four straight matches to cut the deficit to 24-22.

Another pinfall victory put the Lions ahead 30-22. Gilbert responded back with two straight pinfalls wins to take a 34-30 lead.

A pinfall at 182 pounds put Loris ahead 36-34 with two matches left. The duo of Colton Travis and Kelvin Blackwell then clinched the win with consecutive pinfalls.

"The heart of our team was still in it," Gilbert head coach Mitch Hudson said. "We had some mismatches in the 2-4 matches. We knew it was going to be a struggle to get some point in there. We had a surprise win with (Leo), who pulled out a win and helped us out. And then, our guys that we counted on all year...for the most part, we did what we were supposed to do and pulled the points out when we needed to.

"We knew it was going to be tough. Loris has got some athletes. They've got some wrestlers that have stayed under the radar and we kind of expected it. I didn't expect it to be that close, but points wise, it's about what I thought. It's just the way it happened, it was different."

Gilbert received further good news after learning it will be the host site of round three of the Class 3A playoffs. The Indians will face Waccamaw at 6 p.m. on Feb. 6 in a rematch of last year's third-round matchup they won at home.

"Big advantage," said Hudson about wrestling at home. "Waccamaw will come to us. Hanahan is a very rowdy environment. We need a rowdy environment here with Waccamaw. They came up here last year. They're going to be athletic. They're going to have good kids. It's just a matter of being up for the match."

In other matches involving Chronicle Country teams, Pelion defeated C.A. Johnson in the first round before losing to Ninety-Six in the second round. Lexington fell to St. James 38-36 and Swansea lost to Hanahan, both in the first round.