Magical Moments: Looking Back at Woodruff High Athletics, 2023-24

The Woodruff Times, in a story published June 21, 2024, looks back at the 2023-24 school year in Woodruff High School athletics, which closed with commencement on May 23. Here is our summary.

Football: A young Wolverine team with 18 new varsity starters faced a tough Class 3A schedule. Against Emerald, Woodruff trailed 35-28 with six seconds left, scored to cut it to one, and head coach Brett Sloan went for a two-point conversion rather than a kick for overtime. It worked, the Wolverines won 36-35, and the victory clinched a playoff spot.

Boys' basketball: A senior became the school's all-time career three-point leader in the Battle at the Border championship game against Landrum, passing the program's longtime scoring leader, and finished with the best career free-throw percentage in school history, just under 80 percent. He is the first Woodruff basketball player to sign a college scholarship since 2014.

Wrestling: One Wolverine won an individual state championship in his final season, and a girls' wrestler won her third state title, including the first SCHSL-sanctioned girls' state championship in 2024. Both plan to wrestle in college.

Fishing: The bass fishing team won a state title and, in 2023, became the first in South Carolina to win both the high school and middle school championships.

Spring sports: The girls' track and field team and the boys' soccer team each won region championships for a second straight year; 21 girls' track athletes qualified for the state meet. The soccer team finished 16-5 and reached the third round of the playoffs for the first time in school history. Softball, a number two seed, beat Powdersville and top seed Pendleton and then won the district title over Pendleton in two games, the program's fourth since it began in 1996, before reaching the 3A upper-state final four.

Student-athletes are not named here; read the full story at The Woodruff Times for the complete roundup.