Emerald

Cody Pirkle and his dad pack up there stuff and is going to emerald this year. Shane took the new mat and both tournaments to emerald. Dale Gilbert just found out this morning that Shane has left him with and old mat and no tournaments to support his program. That is what you call NOT being Southern like. Guess Pirkle has been hanging around that New York guy to long and Gary Oaks.

how did i get put into that paragraph, i am still in abbeville and that is news to me bout the pirkles leaving for emerald...but i dont blame him, if his kids want to be of a different program and not one that just has a hand full of wrestlers and no admin support, happy for them.

I don't know Pirkle or Ware Shoals situation, but I have to agree with Oaks. If a sport like wrestling is important to someone and they are at a school that is not supportive nor will it provide the coaching/workout partners necessary to succeed, why not try to put your son in a better situation? Anyone that begrudges them over that, is not looking out for that kids best interest. Either elevate the game of the program or don't be surprised when people leave.

Really Emerald... That is a big jump from improvement!

I am not as familiar with the upstate teams as most on here, but I do know that Emerald has turned out some good wrestlers in the past. Their teams on the whole may not have been dominant, but they have turned out some great kids. Maybe Pirkle has a good relationship with them. Maybe the school is a good fit location-wise, academic-wise, who knows.
I don't know anything about Ware Shoals. I couldn't name anyone from there if I needed to. I wasn't aware they had a team. I always just assumed people mis-pronounced White Knoll when Ware Shoals came up.

WS Fan. Iam that New york guy. My name is Sean Mansfield, I live at 4 ware st. come on by and I will show you hospitality. For one thing you have no clue what you are talking about but if I find you you will pay for comments that are an attack about me and a situation you know nothing about. I was willing to help WS wrestling this year, But do to your absurd comments I will have to rethink that. By the way where I come from real men say things to each others face not hide behind a computer. Now you know me come find me. By the way Im more southern then you are. Hello emarald here we come.

wow....I told Pirkle two years ago there was cheap real estate in Chesterfield.

Cody Pirkle will be the most electrifying freshman to ever enter A-AA (at least in my 10 years). He would probably be the most exciting freshman in all classes if it weren't for Eastsides frosh phenom.

If you don't know Pirkle then you will...he will be worth the hype.

I look forward to seeing him. A lot of good guys graduated last year. It will be nice to see some new guys make a statement.

So ready for wreslting season....

i do believe that he will be sitting out this year, according to his dad.

Wow, big statement considering Ian was frosh in the last 10 years. Can't wait to watch this kid.

I'm calling B.S. on Pirkle transferring to Emerald strictly for wrestling purposes. Emerald is a beautiful school with amazing facilities for a small school, but it all but stops there. Sure they have had a few good individual wrestlers, but that's about it.

Haven't I recently read in the Index Journal where Greenwood County hs wrestling is lagging because the counties school administration will not support the teams (Greenwood and Emerald) having middle school wrestling programs? Why would Pirkle transfer to a school like that where he most likely will not have a great team or good workout partner? Consider Belton Honea Path, a rising power in SC 3A wrestling, is only about 15 minutes up the road in the next town from Ware Shoals. Consider Hillcrest, already a perrenial power in 4A wrestling, is less than 30 minutes up the road from Ware Shoals. Crescent is 30 minutes to the west, abbeville is less than 20 minutes to the south. This move is clearly made with wrestling being a very small part of the equation or else someone didn't do their homework. I doubt that is the case.

Yea DRANK, I have been wondering the same thing>

First let me say that I agree with some of what yall have said. Emerald has not ever had a strong team in wrestling, but has developed several great individual wrestlers. I can tell you that one of the reasons Emerald has always struggled in fielding a good team is that there has never been a stable coaching staff at Emerald. Since the sport started at Emerald there has not been a head coach there longer than 2 years until now. The coach at Emerald now is going into his 5 season. He has gotten the participation up and given the program stability. Last year Emerald had 6 9th and 3 10th graders in the starting 14, so most the the team is young. The future is bright for Emerald just wait and see they will be ale to compete as a team.

Guru we all know why your mad Pirkle came to Emerald and thats because he choose them over Greenwood. Hater!!! You could say the same thing for Greenwood as Emerald. When the last time they produced a state champion? Also, Emerald has beat them the past 2 years in duals.

Hey E-Fan, I do not know how you got the impression that I was mad. The loser in all this is Cody Pirkle. He is giving up a year of elgibility. He was a potential 4 timer at ware shoals. Why did he not transfer last year in 8th grade. It appears there are other reasons why this has happened. I am not convinced that it has to do do with Emerald at all. Maybe someone who knows the "REAL STORY" will step up. With having 3 sons that wrestled at Greenwood I would not have them give up a year of eligibility to wrestle anywhere. That is a lot to ask a 14 year old boy to do. Has anyone talked to Cody? The whole point of this thread is that what we see happening at Ware shoals and Emerald is not the whole story. And by the way E=fan I like Emerald. Go Vikings!

By the way Pirkle does not need to go to Emerald or Greenwood to get the recognition or competition he has already done that. The only advantage Pirkle wouldhave at Greenwood that Emerald would be in the Post season and he would see some stiffer competition. Other than that both schools wrestle a very similar schedule.

Harper couldnt' carry pirkles jock. Cody is by far the best wrestler to ever wrestle in south carolina.

Ur pirkle kid isn't the Dan Gable u think he is. I promise u, i know a beast at 112 this year that he wants no part of. If he sticks to 2a or maybe 3a he will win a couple but 4a he will fall to Wigger...so i know thats out of the question. Drop the hype over this kid. As far as Harper goes..lol ....I wish that kid wrestled 4a when i did...no one wuld have knew his name. Beating up on lil 1a & 2a wrestlers..be serious...half his wins shouldn't count. What has he done nationaly...Nothing. Where did he go to college?...i will tell u...he went to a broke down school with a crook for a coach. He promises scholarships and then takes them away.

I Dont care how many South Carolina State Championships you got...if u don't do nothing on the national level..ur just a bust.

Bust-Willy Korn

hey wildman, your right on the money.... gotta go to the big tours..(like wigger)

I really don't know enough about Pirkle to pass any sort of ranking or judgement. I coach high school kids and therefore focus on that group. Competing in grade/middle school is different from high school a lot of the time. Some kids mature faster than others. A lot of kids don't start wrestling until they are in high school. So to annoint an incoming freshmen that has yet to wrestle a high school match against much more physically mature kids as "the best to ever wreslte in SC" is a stretch. That doesn't mean that success at the youth level won't translate. It usually does, but it is not fair to young Pirkle to automatically assume greatness when he has yet to step on the mat in high school.

Now, if as an 8th grader he entered in and placed at Fargo cadets at a truly competitive weight class...Then start the bandwagon. To my knowledge that has not happened. Now, will he likely be a studd in SC? Probably a safe bet.

Being a 4x Champ is an accomplishment in and of itself. A lot of pieces have to fall into place each year for a kid to be a state champ:
-being at the right weight class to win
-staying injury free
-good workout partners
-good, consistent coaching
-continual improvement

To call out a kid that is a 4x'er and say half of his wins shouldn't count is absurd. To degrade 1a/2a is not always accurate. Then would you put an asterisk next Wigger's state title this year? Who did he beat in the finals? Hira from South Pointe-again. Not to pick on Hira, but I don't know that he would have even made it to the 112 finals in 1a/2a. I like Jordan a lot and that point was nothing against him. He and his coaching team have done a great job bringing him along, getting him the right partners, and putting him in solid national events at the right weight classes. Jordan has accomplished a lot and will continue to. But to piss on Ian Harper as a 4xer and where he CHOSE to go to school is crap. I happen to know that Ian could have gone to a number of other schools (several Div 1). He has his reasons for going Anderson (who did have a Div II national champ last year). He should not be called out for it.

As a coach though, I am on the side that say seek out the best tournaments that you can. Get to national events and get after it. Go to camps at colleges or with coaches that you admire and may want to wrestle for. Those of you that want to wrestle in college or beyond need to go after national competition. If you are content to being a once-was in SC , then don't. Keep hiding, protecting your records. But if you aspire to be great, get out there. Go to Fargo. Go to FloNationals or NHSCA Nationals. I am dissappointed more SC kids have not taken advantage of the Super 32 this year. They added 500 spots, with spots still open. You would think more SC "studds" would sack up and test their sand in Greensboro. It is CLOSE. For the record, Ian Harper was there the last two years, so was Wigger. They both sought out competition to get better. Pirkle is signed up for the Super 32 this year...

Saw this video on Flo. Only one I saw in the search. There's a bunch of "fighting" videos on utube but didn't have time to watch yet. Pirkle really takes it to this Michigan kid. Assuming MI kid was good to be on the MS all-star team!

Won't let me post the link on here. If you go to Flo and type "pirkle sc" there's a video of him wrestling a MI kid.

Wow!!!! So many things on this thread makes me uncormforatble.

Let me first say....I know Cody and his dad. I coached Cody for several years. Even as youth you would be hard pressed to find a harder working kid. We have traveled to many national tournament.....and let me tell you this.... no matter who he was wrestling....CODY BROUGHT IT. As a travel team coach on a national level....you never counted a win. But one thing you could count on with Cody was it was gonna be a dog fight. No matter if the kid walked on the mat with Iowa, PA, Ohio, Illinois.....on his chest....CODY would leave everything on the mat. HE IS A GREAT KID!!!! LOVE THIS KID!!!!!

Now as far as transferring????? Let me just say this. Why is it ok......if your son or daughter is a Master Trumbone player to send him/her to a school with the best bad. Why is it ok to send you debate club kid to a school that has a debate club that travels and competes all over the state. Why is it ok to send a kid to another school that offers Horticultural....when your kid is interested in that???????????? But it is wrong for a kid to go to another for a sport he is interested? It's ok for so many other things.......Horticultural, academics, Band, etc..... Why not sports?? I just feel this must be a case where a parent is putting a kid in position to succeed???? If a parent of a kid was that Faboulous trumbone player was going to a school that had a band of 8 kids and did no travel......It is not a problem for that parent to send a kid 20 minutes away to be in a band that travels to Macy Day parade, competes in many competitions, and shows this kid's talent off to many colleges offering this kid money to go their school to play the trumbone??????

Plus if the Pirkles made a move to the Emerald district?????????......he shouldn't have sit out a year.

Now is Emerald that "better position" to succeed???? I don't know? Thats his parents decision.

Wigger is the REAL DEAL!!!! No matter what division he sets himself apart from anybody in the whole state!!!!!!!


Hira in finals of 1A/2A??? Did he wrestle UC Ton, Bertolini? I know the kid from Fort Mill is pretty dang good! Dallas....did Matbey wrestle any of 4A State Qualifiers? That might be a good comparison???

Now Cody as a 4Xer????? hmmmmm not sure. I would have to see his competition? I will tell you this though. I knew....and called it when Leach, Oddo, Coles, DHARP, IHARP, Wigger, were coming into HS as 8th graders. Wasn't any hesitation on those kids. I also called the Ollis kids from Crescent(although they moved out of state), Ashby(missed on that one, but wow a great HS career). People made the same old comments....it actually became a running joke. "He may have been a good youth wrestler but he can't beat a HS kid" ...."physically he can't compete" etc.... It was so fun to see those guys win their 4th title. And none of them were Fargo All Americans as 8th graders. But they did compete at national tournaments that make our State Championships look like a joke.


Good Luck to Cody I wish him and his family the best!!!! He is fun wrestler to watch!

lex...i'm 205.624lbs can I enter the 135lb just like the good ol' days?

Go ahead. You'll beast everyone. Having legs is overrated.

Lex L. wrote:

Go ahead. You'll beast everyone. Having legs is overrated.

i can do it!

Harper beat 4A champs every year except his senior year where he didn't run into any. He is graduated and in the past...time to move on.

Maltby had wins over a bunch of 3A and 4A 112's. He beat just about ever 4A SQ last season with the exception of Wigger (who is on a level of his on). Maltby had wins over Hira (4A runner-up), King, Nguyn, Jeffries (all 4A SQ's), Gore (3A runner-up), Farmer (3A placer). He also knocked off several state placers in NC including the NC State-runner up.

Wildman wrote:
Where did he go to college?...i will tell u...he went to a broke down school with a crook for a coach. He promises scholarships and then takes them away.[u]

the only way you lose a scholarship there is by failing out!
Wildman, how's that GPA?
you gotta go to class, D's and F's arent gonna cut it.

and for the record, Dock Kelly is fine coach and an even better person!

AU is one of the top schools in the state! It has one of the best Education programs out there. I have known districts to hire graduates from AU before Clemson and Furman. Look at the teachers who have come out of AU! They are district teachers of the year. So it being a broke down school is crazy! Dock Kelly is a wonderful man. He encourages his athletes to do well on the mat but to do even better in life. Kelly is a person that you don't want to bash. There are a lot of former wrestlers out there who would not be very happy with you. I'd be careful what I say.

sound like to me that you (college) just started reading this site...ignorance runs amuck!!
you speak as though you are an educator, many postings on this site are from those who do not nor will ever think of higher education (higher being smoke free) I find it easier to ignore the occasional opinion of a current , former or want to be wrestler..
most of us value true statements such as yours and don't even waste keystrokes on rediculous statements that are not even backed by facts..
can't speak for all but will speak now,,,, maybe you can help stop all the crap postings and help to make this a virifiable site.. 2A wrestling, not springer