The South Effingham wrestling team, which annually competes for state titles, is different this season, coach Christopher Bringer said.
But the Mustangs are no less dangerous.
They are hosting the Area 1-5A duals championship meet on Saturday in Guyton, and how they got to the top seed is “very, very unique,” said Bringer, in his seventh season coaching the squad.
“We only have two seniors on the team, so it’s a very sophomore-, junior-heavy team, which is great,” Bringer said on Thursday. “We’ve lost three dual matches this year, which is the first time we’ve lost that many in a (single) year, but we’ve won 25. We have not had our complete lineup one single time this year, based on some pretty significant injuries, weight management, whatever the case – a lot of things.”
Bringer is encouraged that the Mustangs (25-3 in dual matches) defeated host May River 42-24 in their most recent match on Jan. 3, avenging a 35-30 loss, in Bluffton, S.C., on Dec. 10.
“Despite us not having the lineup complete all year, I think we’re peaking at the right time,” Bringer said. “We wrestled so well on Saturday missing two seniors, that I really think we’re the team to beat for the (GHSA Class 5A) state title if we can get everybody in the lineup. It’s been a crazy year. We’ve had injuries, we’ve had skin infections and we’ve had illness like (the team) has never had before. We never really had any injuries for the first six years.”
Another difference has been in weight management, with Bringer noting that he’s had only one wrestler fail to make weight in the coach’s first six seasons. He has had three this season as he has asked more wrestlers to shed pounds to make room for others for a more competitive lineup, “which is pretty common for wrestling teams,” Bringer said of the strategic purpose.
The Mustangs earned the school’s first team state title in any sport with the GHSA Class 6A duals crown in 2023 and placed second in the traditional state championship that year.
South Effingham repeated as Class 6A duals champion in 2024 and also captured the traditional title.
Last school year, the Mustangs placed third in both duals and traditional team competitions after moving to Class 5A. The program reached another milestone, however, as for the first time, it had three individual champions at one state meet.
Brandon “Moose” Bringer, one of the coach’s sons, capped a fantastic high school career by winning the 157-pound weight class at the traditional meet to finish at 67-2 for the season and 229-15 for his career, breaking the program record for wins.
Fellow senior Emilio Santana captured the 126-pound state title in 2025 to finish 52-4 for the season and 174-26 for his career. Santana is on the wrestling team at Life University in Marietta, and Moose Bringer is studying mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin while on an Army ROTC scholarship, his father said.
The third state champion from last season was Tahrik Bailey, who as a freshman won the 113-pound state title while going 61-3.
Reigning state champ’s comeback
Bailey is back, but indicative of the kind of “unique” year the team has endured, the sophomore missed about two months of the season after a knee injury at the national tournament in October, the coach said.
Moving up from 113 to 120 pounds, Bailey is 9-1 (losing his first match to start the season) and returned to the lineup a couple of weeks ago.
“He looks really, really good. He’s super excited,” Bringer said. “I think him sitting out made him really love it a lot more. He came back to two tournaments and dominated both tournaments so far. He looks really good at 120.”
Andreo Manlove, who was backing up all-state wrestler Adam Hardeman for two seasons at 106 pounds, took over the 113-pound spot. The junior is leading the team with 38 wins (against seven losses, most at 120 and 126 pounds, the coach said).
“He’s a kid that wasn’t even in the starting lineup a year ago,” Bringer said. “We’re very fortunate to have him.
“We needed to fill that spot. It’s actually perfect for Andreo. He’s this tall, lanky young man who’s super quiet and super, super tricky. The last two weeks, he’s just been on fire, doing great.”
Hardeman remains at 106 pounds, where he placed second in the state as a sophomore and third as a junior. He’s 35-1 and one of two seniors, along with Caysen Fisher (25-14), who wrestles at 190 pounds.
“Both kids have been with me since their freshman year,” Bringer said. “Both kids were on the first state title wins. They’ve done a good job leading the team so far.”
South Effingham has four team captains, called “black shirts” because they wear all-black warmups, and they’re all juniors. Bringer calls them “kind of the dads on the team” because of their leadership.
Noah Knowlton (132 pounds) has 30 wins, Mayson Young (126) has 37, and Zach Utnehmer (175) has 15 in a season limited following elbow surgery in the summer, the coach said.
The fourth captain is the coach’s son Brayden “Bear” Bringer, a standout who wrestled at 152 pounds as a sophomore but has targeted 138 for his junior year to help the team open slots for others.
Bear Bringer was sidelined for a couple of weeks because of a concussion, which impacted his training and weight management. He’s 27-2 and definitely one to watch at the Area 1-5 meet, as is junior heavyweight Kevin Steptoe (37 wins).
“The whole lineup is just really balanced,” Christopher Bringer said. “We don’t have the firepower that we might have had a year or two ago with Emilio (Santana) and Moose (Bringer). Those two guys were dominant.
“This year we’re just a very balanced and very young and very smart team,” the coach continued. “The best team I’ve probably ever coached when it comes down to character. Just absolutely no behavior problems whatsoever, no academic problems whatsoever. Just great, great local kids who just practice an awful lot. That’s really why we end up being as good as we are. We just practice a lot.”
Area 1-5A duals bracket
South Effingham is the top seed and has a bye to the semifinals at the Area 1-5A duals championship, which starts at 11 a.m. and likely will last into the evening.
Evans High School dropped out of the meet, Bringer said, leaving seven of the eight Area 1-5A teams.
In the first round, No. 2 seed Glynn Academy faces No. 7 Lakeside Evans, No. 3 Brunswick faces No. 6 Statesboro, and No. 4 Effingham County faces No. 5 Greenbrier.
South Effingham faces the winner of Effingham County vs. Greenbrier in one semifinal.
Though South Effingham is unbeaten against ECHS this season, Bringer said the Rebels have been limited by injuries but are not a team to overlook.
“If Effingham’s healthy, they’re as good as anybody in the (area) for sure,” Bringer said. “(ECHS coach) Isiah Royal has done a great job with those guys.”
The coach sees Glynn Academy and Brunswick as close in talent and likely to meet in the other semifinal. Bringer wants his Mustangs to win in the semifinals and finals, of course, and he would like to see Effingham County play in the true second-place duals match after the finals.
The top two teams advance to the GHSA Class 5A state championship meet on Jan. 16-17 in Douglasville.
Note: GHSA girls wrestling duals are scheduled for Jan. 15–17, followed by the girls championships on Jan. 22–24.
What you need to know this weekend
In high school wrestling, there are two types of team championships: duals and traditional tournaments. In a dual, two teams wrestle head-to-head, and every weight class match adds points to one team's score, making lineup depth and strategy critical. In a traditional tournament, wrestlers compete individually, and teams earn points based on how each athlete places.
This weekend, Jan. 10, the spotlight is on GHSA state team dual qualifying, where teams must win together to move on. South Effingham is hosting the Class 5A Region 1 Duals in Guyton, and here are the region dual sites for local teams competing. The top two teams from each site advance to the GHSA state team dual championships on Jan. 16–17.
Below are the sites and starting times as posted on Gofan.co.
- Class 6A Region 1 Duals: Colquitt County, 9 a.m.
- Class 5A Region 1 Duals: South Effingham, 11 p.m.
- Class 4A Region 1 Duals: Ware County, 10 a.m.
- Class 3A Region 3 Duals: Long County, 9 a.m.
- Class 1A Area 3 Duals: McIntosh Academy, 10 a.m.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Birk Herrath Photography
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