'We wanted to make him proud': Liberty wrestling wins state title, honors memory of coach Nathan Day
COLUMBIA — When Nathan Day took over the Liberty High wrestling program in 2017, he brought with him an expectation of championships, which inherently comes when you win more than 400 duals and six state titles.
Those expectations didn't go away when he led the Red Devils to a state championship appearance in his first season, though they fell to Bamberg-Ehrhardt, 44-13. But after a poor 2019 season, the outlook for Liberty looked bleak.
Day, though, saw a light at the end of the tunnel in a group of middle schoolers that would lead this program for the next four years. However, he wasn't able to see his vision turn into reality.
Nathan Day died in the fall of 2021. He was 57.
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"He (Day) had always told me that he felt like he was going to win a state title with this group of seniors, he always believed it, even when the team was not doing great at points," said Liberty coach Dale Burrell. "I started seeing why he believed it. I started seeing the potential there."
Day was right.
Led by the class Day was so positive about in 2019 — it includes individual state champions Blake Chandler, Trent Burdette and Landon Teague — Liberty won the 2023 SCHSL wrestling duals state championship Saturday, beating North Central 66-12.
"We know he'd (Day) be proud of how far we've come. Before he passed away, he knew we were going to be really good this year," Chandler said. "We've all been working so hard for years and years for this. ... We just wanted to make him proud."
"I'm glad we were able to win it with the group he thought would one day win it all," Burrell said. "It feels good to not let him down there, and I know he's up above watching us pull it through."
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This program most certainly has made Day proud.
Under Burrell, Liberty has slowly but surely grown into one of the most stacked lineups in the state. To go along with the Red Devils' individual state champions and the other stellar seniors on the team, there is yet another talented group of underclassmen generating plenty of excitement.
That includes sophomores Bray Cain, Jonah Pierce, Isaac Reece and J.T. Spence and freshman Brian Reed, all of whom played pivotal roles in Liberty's quest for a state championship.
This article originally appeared on Anderson Independent Mail: Liberty wins wrestling state title, honors memory of former coach
