Palmetto Championship Wrestling, or PCW, has been South Carolina’s top-tier independent wrestling league since November 2015.
“Palmetto Championship Wrestling started with a passion,” says Founder and CEO Shane Dorr. “We were out in the backyard, training ourselves.” Now the backyard brawlers have a monthly bout at North Springs Park in Columbia.
Some of Dorr’s wrestlers are formally trained at the Palmetto Wrestling Academy in Irmo by professional wrestlers Ethan Case and Billy Brash. The pair push their trainees to the limit during exercises.
“We don’t want them to be okay with mediocrity; we are a very strict program,” says Case. For these local athletes, the end could very well justify the means. The prospect of being picked up by a major wrestling company isn’t unobtainable.