The Ninety Six Wildcat Marching Band finished a two-competition Saturday with a first-place finish at the Chesnee Eagle Classic, winning its class and taking Best Music, Best Percussion and Best Color Guard.
The band performed its 2026 show, “Hide and Seek,” twice Oct. 17, first at the Laurens Invitational at Laurens District 55 High School and later that evening at Chesnee High School.
At Chesnee, Ninety Six scored an 87.075 to finish first in Class III. Pisgah finished second with an 85.400, followed by Liberty at 83.875 and Ware Shoals at 81.525.
Ninety Six also won Best Music, Best Percussion and Best Color Guard in the class. It also posted the highest visual and overall-effect scores among the four Class III bands.
The win came hours after Ninety Six competed at Laurens, where the band performed at around 3 p.m. A power-related technical problem delayed the start of its performance by about 10 minutes.
Ninety Six finished third in Laurens’ Division 5 with a score of 89.40, narrowly behind Liberty, which scored 89.90. Greer won the division with a 91.15.
Although Ninety Six competes in Class 1A in the South Carolina Band Directors Association classification system, Laurens used its own division system for the invitational.
Ninety Six also received Best Percussion at Laurens and was awarded the David C. Mauldin Innovation Award, which was presented to the band judged to have the most innovative production of the afternoon.
Ninety Six’s next competition will be the SCBDA Class 1A State Championships on Oct. 24, which Ninety Six High School will host at the Wildcat Multiplex.
