The high school wrestling season is nearing its conclusion with the postseason set to begin at the end of January and last through February. 

Before the action gets started, the state’s wrestling coaches association released another round of individual and team rankings. 

Like last time, Lexington County is well represented. After some slight movement, 49 wrestlers and 10 teams were ranked in their classification’s poll. 

Chapin is the highest-ranking boys team in the area, coming in at fifth in the 5A division II poll. The Eagles have four athletes ranked in the top of their weight class for 5A, including top-ranked 126-pound wrestler Preston White.

 White Knoll joins Chapin in the 5A division II rankings, sitting 15th. The Timberwolves have five ranked 5A boy athletes, the most out of all six Lexington County 5A schools. 

Chapin and White Knoll are set to go against each other next week in both teams’ final match before the postseason. 

All three Lexington County 5A division I teams are ranked in their poll. Lexington ranks the highest at nine, followed by River Bluff at 12 and Dutch Fork at 19. 

Each school has multiple athletes ranked and some are placed highly in their weight class. 

Lexington’s Breydon Jennings is second in the 144-pound weight class. Dutch Fork’s Kaleb McNeil is second in the 175-pound weight class. And River Bluff’s Cael Edwards is third in the 165-pound class. 

Gilbert is the lone ranked Lexington County team in the 4A poll after Airport dropped out from last time. The Indians are sixth in the ranking, with three individuals receiving a nod. 

Airport has two athletes ranked and Brookland-Cayce has one. The Bearcats’ Benson Gladden and Gilbert’s Devin Lirgg are the highest-ranking athletes, sitting third in 113 and 138 pounds respectively. 

Swansea is 14th in the 3A poll but has the most athletes ranked in Lexington County with seven. Six of those athletes are in the top five for their weight class. 

Pelion is 11th in the joint 2A-1A rankings and has three athletes ranked. American Leadership Academy is unranked in the same poll but has two athletes in the individual rankings for the first time in school history. 

On the girls side, River Bluff and White Knoll are ranked at No. 2 and No. 8.

The Gators are having a great season in their first year of competition. River Bluff is behind only Rock Hill, despite being a team of mostly first-year wrestlers. Five Gators are in the individual poll, including two No. 3 ranked athletes in Mayln Gentry and Sophia Voudouris. 

White Knoll has two athletes ranked, Gilbert has two and Brookland-Cayce, Airport, American Leadership, Chapin and Pelion have one. 

The next round of wrestling rankings will be released on Jan. 30 and feature just teams. The next individual ranking will be released Feb. 13. The state qualifier rankings will be released six days later on Feb. 19. 

Lexington athletes in the rankings

5A Rankings

106 lbs - (5) Bryson Hipps - Dutch Fork, (7) Matthew Boland - Chapin

120 lbs - (4) Josh Atkins - Chapin, (12) Dane Dillon - White Knoll, (12) Peter Vaporis - River Bluff

126 lbs - (1) Preston White - Chapin, (11)  D’Ondre Pough - White Knoll

144 lbs - (2) Breydon Jennings - Lexington

150 lbs - (12) Braden Reynolds - White Knoll

165 lbs - (3) Cael Edwards - River Bluff, (8) John Marcum - Lexington, (12) Jackson Stengel - Dutch Fork

175 lbs - (2) Kaleb McNeil - Dutch Fork, (4) Lake Newman - Chapin, (5) Reco Rembert - White Knoll

190 lbs - (6) Carlson Kilcrease - Lexington

215 lbs - (3) Ethan Gamble - Irmo

285 lbs - (8) Timothy Priester - White Knoll 

4A Rankings

113 lbs - (3) Benson Gladden - Brookland-Cayce

138 lbs - (3) Devin Lirgg - Gilbert 

157 lbs - (5) Shane Wise - Gilbert

190 lbs - (6) Johnathon Brown - Airport, (8) Jake Stroud - Gilbert 

215 lbs - (5) Bryant Cherry - Airport, 

3A Rankings

126 lbs - (8) Austin Crocker - Swansea

138 lbs - (3) Mekhi Hampton - Swansea

144 lbs - (4) Daniel Aguilar - Swansea

150 lbs - (2) Chase Alley - Swansea

165 lbs - (4) Trace Selfridge - Swansea

190 lbs - (5) Jerel Wine - Swansea

285 lbs - (5) Kasiah Harkless-Adams - Swansea

2A-1A Rankings

106 lbs - (7) - Blake Hino - American Leadership

113 lbs - (3) Landon Byrd - Pelion

126 lbs - (8) Dayton Daniel - American Leadership 

138 lbs - (7) Shiloh Tindal - Pelion

165 lbs - (5) Colin Williams - Pelion

Girls Rankings 

100 lbs - (3) Mayln Gentry - River Bluff, (5) Ashley Kelly - Gilbert

115 lbs - (5) Olivia Harlin - American Leadership

125 lbs - (4) Hayden Moore - Brookland-Cayce, (7) Adalin Causey - Pelion

135 lbs - (3) Sophia Voudouris - River Bluff, (7) Grace Jumper - Chapin 

145 lbs - (4) Amy Robinson - River Bluff

155 lbs - (4) Rory Travis - Gilbert, (6) Givyn Dyer - Airport, (7) Kyrra Shipman-Lutz - River Bluff 

170 lbs - (6) Irie Edwards - White Knoll 

190 lbs - (4) Shayanna Shell - White Knoll

235 lbs - (5) Savanah Parrett - River Bluff

Lexington County team rankings

5A Division I - Team Rankings

9. Lexington
10. River Bluff
11. Dutch Fork

5A Division II - Team Rankings

5. Chapin
6. White Knoll

4A - Team Rankings

6. Gilbert

3A - Team Rankings

14. Swansea

2A-1A - Team Rankings

11. Pelion
    
    

Girls - Team Rankings

2. River Bluff Girls

8. White Knoll Girls