Brother and Sister wrestlers, Luke and Gracie Sevilla, both competed in Gatlinburg, Tennessee recently; Luke individually and for the South Carolina State/National Team – Team Palmetto, and Gracie, for Team So. Cal.
Luke, a 12-year-old Irmo Middle Schooler in the 7th grade, has been wrestling for the better part of 3 years, as he got his start just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
A new resident to South Carolina from California, Luke has captured 9 national individual and team wrestling titles in those 3 years – most in his Rookie season – also placing second and fifth at California Kid’s State while wrestling for Coach, Steve Glassey – coach of Olympic Gold medalists,
Luke has been ranked 1, 2, and 3 in the nation by RMN in several weight classes and categories. This is his second NUWAY All-American designation.
Luke has since been coached by his father, Irmo Middle School Wrestling Coach, Tommy Sevilla, who coaches at the middle school.
Irmo Middle School has nearly a full lineup of wrestlers competing this year; four of which are 7th graders, and have started off on a winning streak, going undefeated in head-to-head team competition against the likes of Hammond, Blythewood, Lexington, American Leadership Academy and Mid-Carolina.
Gracie Sevilla, is a 10-year-old 5th grader at Nursery Road Elementary and has a national event title to her credit, along with a second and fourth place finish in the California State tournaments.
Gracie finished second at the NUWAY “Bear” Wrestling Tournament, a national event with more than 500 wrestlers from all over the United States.
Both Luke and Gracie are also Type 1 Diabetic athletes.
On December 5 IMS Wrestlers competed at Lexington High School against three of the top middle school programs in the greater Columbia: Lexington, Blythewood and Hammond, who were recently State Champions.
IMS Wrestlers were the best team of the night, going 7-6 in 13 total matches and with a point total of 34-30 against all teams.
IMS ended the night 2-2 against host school Lexington Middle, 3-3 against Blythewood Middle School and edging out Hammond 2-1 in 3 matches.
On December 9, IMS Wrestlers headed to Lugoff-Elgin to compete in the Leopard Duals against middle school wrestling teams from all over South Carolina; including Lugoff-Elgin, Saluda Trail, Chapin, Lexington, Dutch Fork and Camden, among others.
Irmo Middle School Wrestlers started the tournament off in a disadvantaged position by having to forfeit 4 weight classes, which immediately gave their opposition 24 team points. However, IMS Wrestlers made up their deficits and start the tournament off with a win against rival Dutch Fork with a 48-30 win.
IMS wrestlers would feel the weight of the forfeits after first-year 7th-grade wrestler, Jakhari Latimer, would suffer a broken arm in his match against a Saluda Trail opponent, which created another forfeit in the 133 weight class moving forward. They would lose to Saluda Trail, 54-30.
Irmo Middle School would then wrestle Camden, giving up 30 points in forfeits and would lose 48-28.
Next up for IMS would be Rawlinson Road who would also benefit from 5 forfeits; Rawlinson Road would defeat Irmo Middle School by a score of 48-30.
