If you’ve followed the South Carroll wrestling program the past couple of years, you’ve seen the phrase “SC Prep” printed across T-shirts worn by wrestlers, parents and fans.
It wasn’t originally meant as a compliment.
“SC Prep” started as a label from critics — a way to explain away dominance and shrink the success of a small school that was tucked away. To some, the phrase carried with it a suggestion that South Carroll had some built-in advantage.
“It’s easy to say things when you don’t know the work that’s put in this room,” South Carroll coach Bryan Hamper said. “That just means we’re doing the right things.”
But after clinching the program’s fifth straight dual state championship Saturday, defeating AACE before overpowering Rising Sun to once again claim the Class 1A crown, something became clear.
Somewhere along the way, the Cavaliers stopped trying to apologize for or explain their dominance and started owning it.
They didn’t run from the “SC Prep” nickname. They changed what it meant.
“We wear it as a badge of honor,” Hamper said. “If we weren’t winning, no one would care.”
To appreciate championship number five (the ninth in school history), you have to rewind to the start of the dynasty — when this year’s senior class were just freshmen, watching future Maryland teammates AJ Rodrigues and Michael Pizzuto, alongside Gage Owen and Rylan Moose, take center stage.
“Those guys set the standard,” Jojo Gigliotti said, “They built SC into winners and it was up to us to maintain what they started.”
That first core group drew attention to a small 1A school that was building something big. Instead of turning down several opportunities to attend private school powers, they stayed local at South Carroll.
They weren’t inheriting a powerhouse. They were constructing one. As the years went by, they made winning a normal occurrence.
“Watching day in and day out the work all of the guys put in, it makes you proud.” said Dalin Rodrigues, who has had three sons come through the program. “Weight management, grades, practices, they handle it all. Everyone only sees what they do on the mat.”
On the roster back then were four freshmen — Gigliotti, Grayson Barnhill, Landon Hamper and Anthony Rodrigues — watching, learning, waiting, even playing a large role as the championship wins piled up for the Cavaliers.
Years later, those same freshmen went from the future to the present. As seniors they were in charge of sustaining the standard.
The first core four created the blueprint, this core four perfected it.
“Every day those four were leading everything,” Hamper said. They set the perfect example of the South Carroll standard and this year, we’ve seen the young guys respond and really get on board.”
South Carroll finished 32-0 in duals this season, running from no one in typical fashion. Fellow state champions, Maryland private school powers, out-of-state juggernauts. It didn’t matter. The marching orders were the same: Show up, work hard — and dominate.
“I want to beat everyone,” Gigliotti said. “These past couple of years we haven’t ran from anyone, we just show up and dominate.”
As “SC Prep” shifted from insult to identity, it wasn’t just the wrestlers who embraced it. The community did, too.
Parents became coaches, as former state champions Tony Rodrigues and Anthony Gigliotti joined the staff, pouring their knowledge and passion into every wrestler on the roster, not just their own sons.
Teachers became diehard fans, choosing to stay after school to help clean the gym or manage large crowds on match nights.
The packed stands weren’t just full of fans and spectators, they were stakeholders. The Cavaliers weren’t just wrestling for themselves anymore, they were wrestling for their community.
“I bleed black and gold,” said Joshua McCullough, who coaches football at the school. “It’s a great thing, especially for a small town of Mount Airy, Taylorsville area, this sport keeps bringing people out and bringing people together to keep cheering them on and to keep this Cavalier tradition going.”
As the celebration began, there were tears in the North Point gym. For some, championship number five felt like the end of an era. The four talented freshmen were seniors now, job finished, legacies cemented, passing around the state championship trophy for a fourth straight February.
Hamper embraced his son Landon then made his way down the line, hugging each wrestler in turn. A sly grin crossed his face as he scanned the gym.
He knew what some had yet to realize.
The blueprint had been created by one group , perfected by the current group — and now passed on.
In the same room where Gigliotti, Barnhill, Hamper and Rodrigues developed as freshman stood several others watching, learning, waiting.
Soon, it will be their turn.
Juniors Davy Snyder and Brody Henry already boast more than 100 career wins apiece.
Sophomore Alexander Little has been a key contributor to two state championship teams, as has Jake Simmone.
Freshman duo Quinn Regnier and Jacob Endzel have already turned heads with their talent and several statement wins, proof that the pipeline isn’t slowing down.
Snyder, Henry, Regnier and Endzel all picked up wins in the state final Saturday.
“I’m just focused on winning a county championship next week,” Snyder said with a grin. “But I know, next year it’ll be my time to lead the program as a captain. I’ll be ready.”
Years from now, record books will separate the classes. Those who have seen will surely debate the different versions of the “core four” and argue over who was greater. And South Carroll wrestling will still be just as polarizing as it is now. There will still be some who will have plenty to say about the South Carroll wrestling program’s rise.
But inside the wrestling room, it won’t matter.
The term “SC Prep” no longer belongs to the critics who use it to diminish a small 1A school.
It belongs to a championship community and culture.
One they built together.
Have a news tip? Contact Timothy Dashiell at [email protected] and x.com/dashielltimothy.