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Mustang wrestlers to attend Knockout Classic in Florida
Tahrik Bailey
South Effingham freshman Tahrik Bailey gets control of Bluffton's Eli Garcia during the championship match of the 113-pound weight class at the Rebel Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Bailey won 13-1 and will take his 26-0 record to Florida this weekend for the Knockout Christmas Classic in Kissimmee. (Mark Lastinger for the Effingham Herald.)

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald
SPRINGFIELD – A year ago, South Effingham wrestler Brandon “Moose” Bringer won his first three matches at the highly regarded Knockout Christmas Classic in Kissimmee, Fla., before being knocked out with a nagging injury.

The undefeated senior, now healthy and hungry and sporting a new hairstyle of cornrows and braids, gets another chance to put his talent on the national stage this weekend.

South will be among 66 high school teams from 11 different states competing in the two-day tournament Friday and Saturday. Fourteen state champion teams will be in action.

There will be a girls' competition, and four college teams are slated for dual matches.

“I feel a lot better and a lot stronger this year,” said Bringer, who has beaten all of his 31 foes this season by either pin or technical fall. “When you see better people with better looks, you’ll see what you have to work on.”

And there will be other motivating factors.

“If he wins, I’ll go bald or put cornrows in my hair, for sure,” said SEHS coach Christopher Bringer, Moose’s father.

Brandon Moose Bringer
South Effingham's Brandon "Moose" Bringer eludes a takedown attempt by Kaden Drury of Ware County during his technical fall title win in the 157-pound weight class at the Rebel Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Bringer (31-0) and the Mustangs will test their skills among some of the nation's best wrestlers at the Knockout Christmas Classic in Kissimmee, Florida, this weekend. (Mark Lastinger for the Effingham Herald.)
The girls’ action begins Friday morning at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, just outside Orlando. The Mustangs will have three girls in the field.

Friday afternoon, the high school boys hit the mats. The college duals and high school boys end the tournament on Saturday.

“(Tournament promoters) are saying it’s their toughest field ever,” Coach Bringer said. “We’ll use it as a pre-state tournament. We know we’re going to take some losses. We just want to get the kids some tough matches.”

Last year, South, which won a dual state championship for the second straight year, finished 18th among 70 teams at the Knockout Classic. Ashton Anderson, a two-time traditional state champion in the 285-pound weight class, was sixth at Kissimmee.

This season, three Mustangs will enter the Knockout Classic undefeated – Moose Bringer (31-0 in the 157-pound weight class), Christopher Hardeman (24-0 at 106) and freshman Tahrik Bailey (26-0 at 113).

Emilio Santana (25-1 at 132), Alarik Gibson (11-1 at 138), Brayden “Bear” Bringer (18-3 at 144), Mayson Young (28-3 at 120), Kevin Steptoe (25-2 at 285), Noah Knowlton (27-4)  and Bobby Craun (25-6 at 165) will be looking for signature wins as well.

Bailey, a freshman, won a youth state title as an eighth grader. He sailed through the competition at the Rebel Invitational last Saturday and said he’ll be looking forward to the upcoming higher level of competition.

“Honestly, I’m just ready to face the competition that comes to me,” he said. “I’ll do my best when I get on that mat. I’ll be confident, but I know the competition will be way harder than these guys (at the Rebel Invitational), but I’m excited to wrestle them.”