South Florence High School

Athletic Department

3200 S. Irby St. | Florence, SC 29505 | 843.758.6499

Cody Slaughter, Athletic Director

May 3, 2023

Coach, 

As we approach the end of the 2022-2023 school year we are working to complete the field for our wrestling tournament for the 2023-2024 season.  Establishing a premier wrestling tournament can be hard, as many of you know.  We’ve identified your school as one to which we would like to extend an invitation based on your program’s success over the past few years.  

We will host a dual and individual portion to this event.  In order to comply with SCHSL Guidelines and allow you to count this as one date/event on your schedule, only those teams participating in the individual tournament are eligible to participate in the duals.  We hope that you will consider joining us for the 2023 Bridger Strong invitational.  

Want to take a moment to provide some background information about this tournament.  On December 1, 2021 South Florence High School hosted its first ever home wrestling match.  In its history, Florence 1 Schools had never participated in the sport of wrestling. Unfortunately, on that evening, one of our wrestlers suffered a debilitating spinal injury.  As an inaugural member of our wrestling program we felt it appropriate to name the tournament in honor of Livingston Bridger.

Some of the details for next year’s tournament are below:

2023 Tournament Dates and Times

Thursday December 21, 2023 - Duals (12:00 PM/1:00 PM) 5 matches per team, coaches pick opponents

Friday December 22, 2023 - Individual (11:00 AM/12:00 PM)

Saturday December 23, 2023 - Individual (8:00 AM/9:00 AM)

16-20 Teams - We are extending 29 early invitations to, what we’ve identified as, Tier 1 teams, in terms of program success and reliability.  We will also be sending invitations to some of the top teams in North Carolina in the coming weeks after you’ve been given the opportunity to attend.  We will take the first 20 that commit.

Committed for 2023 Tournament:  

South Florence , West Florence, Wilson, Aynor, White Knoll, Stratford, Aiken, Hartsville, Bluffton, Lugoff Elgin 

Individuals :

Aiken , South Florence ,West Florence , Wilson, Aynor, White Knoll, Stratford, Hartsville, Bluffton, Carolina Forest, Lugoff Elgin, Sumter, Bamberg, Marion, Saint Paul’s ( NC), East Clarendon, Richmond ( NC), Heathwood, Eastside

Hotel Partnerships:

Comfort Suites of Florence

 2120 W Lucas St Florence, SC  29501. 

(843) 662-5295

Room rate: $109 per night

  1739 Mandeville Rd. Florence, SC 29501

 (843) 317-6616

Room Rate: $105 per night

Microtel Inn and suites By Wyndham Florence

1912 Enterprise Dr, Florence, SC 29501

(843) 536-0430

Room rate: $72 per night

5-7 Mats - We have two gyms and will utilize both for the individual tournament.  We will use both gyms for the duals if we have enough teams that commit to attend that portion of the event.

Location

South Florence High School

3200 S. Irby Street

Florence, SC 29505

Entry Fees

Dual and Individual - $350

Individual (7 or more wrestlers) - $300

Individual (6 or less wrestlers) -  $40/Wrestler

Spectator Admission

$10/day

Awards

Team Trophies for Top 3

Custom Medals for 1-3 Place individuals

T-Shirt and Hoodie for 1st Place Individuals

Tournament MOW

***Head Coaches will receive a gift bundle on the first day of individual competition, Friday December 22, 2023