Lowcountry state titles have become almost an expected spring ritual for many high school boys’ teams. In 2025, these six squads not only made dominant runs to state titles, but also raised the championship bar into realms that even its returning achievers might find hard to match — much less surpass.
Wando Boys Lacrosse
Wando High School has long been associated with stellar soccer teams. But soccer now has company at the top, as the Warriors notched the school’s ninth lacrosse state title since 2010.
Led by 15-year head coach Lance Renes, the Warriors not only finished the season with a mark of 16-2 but downed their three 5A playoff opponents by a combined total score of 54-3, including an 18-1 walloping of Dorman, setting a 5A record for the largest margin of victory in a state lacrosse championship final.
“We have played in 13 state championships in a row,” said Renes, whose head coaching record currently stands at 209-35. “We will return 82% of our points on offense for the 2026 season and return a solid defense.”
Leading the squad was first-team All-State goalie Connor Kraemer with 95 saves, breaking Wando’s career save record with 336 total saves. Ranked No. 1 by MaxPreps, Kraemer signed to play with Mary Washington University in Division III.
After Kraemer comes almost the entire Warriors team, which includes:
- First-team All-State senior Nicolai Scherman, with 32 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers, who signed to play at Flagler University in Division II.
- First-team All-State senior Connor Carretta with 41 goals and 24 assists, who signed to play with Wingate University in Division II.
- All-Lower State senior Kai Correia, who won 123/222 face-offs, led the team with 64 ground balls and has committed to play NAIA lacrosse at Columbia College.
- All-Lower State junior Connor Bennet with 18 goals and 13 assists, who has committed to play at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.
- Second-team All-State senior Carson Mallin, with 46 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers.
- Second-team All-State sophomore Harris Beck, with 37 goals and 43 assists.
The only question now is: Will a perfect 10 follow in 2026?
“We have the right support and coaching staff to prepare our team for (next) season,” Renes said. “We are starting to make the schedule which will consist of top out-of-state teams.”
Lucy Beckham Boys Lacrosse
It’s going to be tough for the Lucy Beckham boys lacrosse team to surpass the end of the 2025 season.
In what has become known as the Rock Hill sweep, the Bengals first watched their sister Lady Bengals hold on to beat Fort Mill in the state lacrosse final, then turned around and did the same thing themselves against another Fort Mill team, Nation Ford, in their 5A state title match.
The Bengals plowed through three initial playoff teams, beating St. James 22-0, North Myrtle Beach 24-1 and Chapin 11-1, before downing a tough but overmatched Nation Ford squad 14-5 in the May 3 final at Irmo High School in Columbia.
They outscored their four opponents 71-7 to finish the season 17-3 and notch their fourth consecutive state lacrosse title.
The title win was especially satisfying for first-year head coach Jason Jeffries. Having served as the team’s offensive coordinator from 2022-24, Jeffries had the luxury of inheriting a program that didn’t need rebuilding, reshaping or even re-tweaking.
He simply kept the team practicing and playing the way it has been doing since 2022, following the adage of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
“And according to MaxPreps, we finished No. 9 nationally,” Jeffries said. “And Lucy Beckham has only been open five years.”
Team leaders included first-team All-State senior midfielder Bear Hankins with 64 goals and 23 assists, who finished with state Player of the Year honors.
All-American junior defender Brooks Leland and sophomore goalie Luke Fredericks anchored the Bengals’ defense. Fredericks posted 177 saves on the season, and Leland covered every team’s top offensive player and had 50 ground balls and 51 takeaways throughout what Jeffries called “a very tough schedule.”
Notable wins came against local squads OCA and Wando as well as Lake Norman High School and Green Level High School from North Carolina, Langley High and Potomac School in Virginia and Baylor School in Tennessee.
“And we already have another difficult schedule shaping up (next season),” he said. “But we have a really good group coming back.”
Bishop England Boys Soccer
Setting a new record was hardly on the Bishop England boys soccer radar when the season began, but now the team has the distinction of having 18 state soccer titles, more than any other school in state history.
The record came after a somewhat back-and-forth season that saw the Battling Bishops lose five games, including an early game to Upstate soccer power Daniel High, and a season-ending question mark to neighboring Ashley Ridge.
“After we lost to Ashley Ridge on May 1, in the last game before playoffs, the team just kept getting stronger,” said first-year head coach Brandon Costa. “And I told them there was a very good chance they would see Daniel again in the state final.”
The Bishops hammered their first three playoff opponents, beating Lakewood 9-0, South Aiken 5-0 and Bluffton 4-0. A 1-0 nailbiter over Gray Collegiate in the semifinal set up the long-anticipated crucible with three-time defending state champion Daniel.
“We 100% had the talent to beat them,” Costa said. “Whether or not we had the belief was the challenge.”
Daniel showed its championship form by scoring first, then hanging tightly to a 1-0 lead, as BE players turned away all other shots on goal.
The single goal not only looked like it might be enough to win, but to repeat 2024’s 1-0 finals victory, until All-State BE senior Jonah Cooker scored with only a few minutes left in regulation to tie the game and eventually force overtime.
The teams then battled furiously for almost another full period before senior Rowan Pennell scored again for BE with only a minute left in overtime to secure the state championship and the team record.
“They started playing their best soccer near the end of the year,” Costa said. “And while we’re losing a lot of talent, we’re returning eight starters — so we could definitely compete for the state title again next year.”
Oceanside Boys Golf
While golf doesn’t usually draw the kind of crowds that come to see other spring sports, the Oceanside Collegiate Academy boys golf team got its share of notice with three decisive victories in the 2025 state AAA playoffs to win their third state title in four years.
“We had a region tournament and Lower State to reach the state tournament and won all three,” said third-year head coach Rocky Catalano. “We were undefeated this year in five matches and also won six tournaments.”
In the region, OCA beat Hanahan by a whopping 15 shots, 157-172. Senior J.R. Passmore was the team medalist with a 1-over-par 38.
The Lower State contest was closer, with OCA beating Hanahan again — this time by 11 shots, 305-316. Sophomore Chase Whittle was named the Lower State individual champion by shooting a 1-under-par round of 71.
At the state final May 19 in Newberry the OCA golfers were almost untouchable, routing Christ Church by 21 shots, 589-610. Whittle again won the individual title in a playoff with an even par 144.
“We had great leadership from our seniors Tyler Taber (committed to USC Upstate), A.J. Dietrich (Keiser University), Parker Harcum and Passmore (both to Erskine College), Harris Wilson (Greensboro College) and Branks Knight,” Catalano said. “We are going to really miss the six graduates from this year’s team, but the future is bright for our program as we return three of the top-ranked players in the state — Reed Cook, Blake Bocelli and Whittle. So we should be really good again.”
Oceanside Boys Lacrosse
Nine words best describe the Oceanside Collegiate Academy boys lacrosse team in the 2025 AAAA state playoffs: It wasn’t even close enough to be far away.
Led by ninth-year head coach Tom Harris, the Landsharks shredded the competition such that the games were over long before halftime, beating three opponents by a combined total score of 62-9.
Put another way, OCA scored more points in their ‘worst’ lacrosse playoff outing than all three opponents put together, and chances are it would have been even more lopsided if the Landsharks hadn’t earned a first-round bye.
“It isn’t often you can see a team play to its full potential, but that is exactly what the 2025 Oceanside team did,” said Harris, whose team finished 16-3 overall. “It was a pleasure to watch them execute and really complement the sport in their style of play.”
In the first game, OCA dominated Aiken from the opening minute, winning 22-5. Lower State neighbor and semifinalist Bishop England was expected to be tougher, but OCA again had too many guns, firing their way to an 18-2 shellacking.
In the May 5 championship at Irmo High School, facing a May River Sharks team that had never been to a state final before, the Landsharks made it look almost too easy with a definitive 22-2 win.
Standouts and leaders, which included practically the whole team were:
- Senior defender Alex Seaton, committed to play at VMI next year.
- Senior attacker Carter Gregory, who has been offered a scholarship to St. John’s University.
- Senior goalie Gavan Harrison, playing like a wall with hands in the playoffs.
- Senior midfielder A.J. Zarzaca, balancing the attack and defense.
- Freshmen attackers Ian Long and Cole Bradford, who are looking to be integral to future OCA teams.
“The senior class came to Oceanside with championship expectations, watching the 2018 and 2019 championships, but it was a harder road than all of us might have anticipated,” Harris said. “So I’m really happy they got to close out their stellar careers with a trophy — and helped create and cultivate Oceanside lacrosse culture. They will be missed.”
Oceanside Boys Tennis
Not to be outdone by any of its other school championship teams, the Oceanside Collegiate Academy boys tennis team bageled all three of its AAA playoff opponents such that even the shutouts seemed far more lopsided than the final score.
They started with a 6-0 match win against Academic Magnet, followed by another 6-0 win over Green Sea Floyds, and then in the May 10 final in Columbia against Clinton, the Landsharks again prevailed 6-0.
“On the season, we finished 18-0 and were 16th-ranked nationally by Universal Tennis Ratings Power 6 ratings,” said fifth-year head coach Shawn Harris, who splits coaching duties with assistant Carlos Lozano. “The team had great team chemistry both on and off the tennis court.”
The team played well from the beginning, winning the 16-team preseason High School Team Tennis Tournament, in which the Landsharks went undefeated and never lost an individual match.
Standouts included:
- Four-time team state champion and senior captain Alex Lozano, undefeated during the regular season and team playoffs, and now a Citadel scholarship commit.
- All-state freshman William Claus, also undefeated during the regular season, playoffs and in the Individual State Championships.
- Three-time state champion and junior co-captain Luke Skillman, also undefeated during the regular season and during playoffs.
- All-State freshman Oliver Pfarr, who was also undefeated during the regular season and playoffs.
“Each of these student athletes not only did well on the tennis court, but also in the classroom,” Harris said.
The 2025 state final win was the Landsharks fifth in a row, and even at this early stage, next year’s trophy is already looking like a shoo-in.
“The outlook for next season is to pursue our sixth straight team championship,” Harris said. “And since we only lose our Citadel commit, Alex Lozano, we feel pretty good about next season.”
By L. C. Leach III
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