March 17, 2005

Charleston, SC - When they were growing up in Canton, Ohio, Maurice Drayton used to drag his little brother with him to wrestling practice. "Did he want to go?" Drayton said. "He'd be fussing and fighting and kicking and pulling the whole way."

Starting today, Drayton will watch that same little brother -- Delaware State senior Myron Drayton -- compete for a national title in the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis.

Myron Drayton, like Maurice a graduate of Berkeley High School, is one of five wrestlers with Lowcountry ties who qualified for the NCAAs, which begin today and run through Saturday. Also making the trip are ex-Summerville standout Reuben Daniels, a senior at Appalachian State, and Citadel Bulldogs Ryan McClester, Levi Duyn and Travis Piccard. None had a more reluctant start to their career than Myron Drayton, who was forced to tag along with his older brother to a wrestling program for inner-city youth in Canton.

"I knew it would be better for him than sitting at home being part of the Nintendo age," said Maurice Drayton, an assistant football coach at The Citadel. "He didn't want to do anything but sit around the house. He was the baby of the family, and our mom and dad always babied him. So I felt it would be good for him."

By the time the Drayton family moved to Moncks Corner, the wrestling bug had bitten Myron just has hard as it had Maurice. Both brothers wrestled for the Stags and coaches Jake Stewart, Mark Appleby and Louis Manigault. Maurice finished third in the state as a senior, but Myron went him one better, finishing second his senior year.

Myron went to Gardner-Webb before transferring to Delaware State, and this season compiled a 25-4 record. He was the No. 1seed in the East Regional and won the regional title at 141 pounds to become the first Delaware State wrestler to make the NCAAs since 1999.

"I feel like I've reached a good plateau, but I want to go to the tournament and see what the competition is like," Myron said. "Maybe I can win a few matches and have a shot at All-American."

The other Lowcountry wrestlers have similar goals:

-- Daniels, who won a state championship at Summerville in 2000, has had a remarkable season. Recovering from a knee injury suffered last year at Edinboro College, Daniels transferred to App State and was just 5-13 this season before winning the Southern Conference title in the 285-pound class to earn his ticket to St. Louis.

-- At The Citadel, the Bulldogs failed to defend their SoCon championship of a year ago, but still are sending three wrestlers to the NCAAs. McClester, 22-8 this season, is making his third and final trip to the NCAA championships and holds the school record with 110 career victories.

Piccard, a junior ranked No. 16 at 157 pounds, qualified for the first time by winning the SoCon title, and has a 33-3 record with 22 straight victories. Duyn, a sophomore, also is making his first trip and won the SoCon title at 149 pounds.