POWER OF ATTORNEY

Know by all these present,
that the undersigned, Kenneth J Wrench,
having a business address of 11 Church
Street, Asheville, North Carolina 28801
and a telephone number of
828-254-7411, hereby constitutes and
appoints
Kirby A. Tyndall or Cindy E. Hamrick as
duly authoirzed representatives of
ASB Bancorp (the "Company") or
Neil E. Grayson Esq., and Harold
R. (Chad) Lott, Esq.,
as representatives of Nelson Mullins Riley
& Scarborough, LLP ("NMRS")
as the undersigned's true and lawful
attorney-in-fact for the following limited
purposes:

(1) to file for and on behalf of the
undersigned, in the undersigned's capacity
as a Director of ASB Bancorp, Inc. the SEC's
Form ID Application in order to obtain EDGAR
filing codes in addition to filing the
Forms 3, 4, and 5 from time to time
in accordance with
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 and the rules thereunder;


(2) to do and perform any and all acts for and
on behalf of the undersigned that may be
necessary or desirable to complete and execute
any such Application on Form ID,
Form 3, 4, or 5
and file such form with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission and any
stock exchange or similar authority; and

(3) to take any other action of any type
whatsoever in connection with the foregoing
which in the opinion of such attorney-in-fact
may be of benefit to in the best interest of
or legally required by the undersigned it
being understood that the documents executed
by such attorney-in-fact on behalf of the
undersigned pursuant to this Power of Attorney
shall be in such form and shall contain such
terms and conditions as such attorney in fact
may approve in such attorney in facts discretion
and limited to filings required under
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934.

The undersigned hereby grants to such attorney-
-in-fact limited power and authority to do and
perform any and every act and thing whatsoever
requisite necessary or proper to be done in the
exercise of any of the rights and powers herein
granted, as fully to all intents and purposes as
the undersigned might or could do if personally
present with full power of substitution or
revocation hereby ratifying and confirming all
that such attorney-in-fact  or such attorney-
in-facts substitute or substitutes, shall
lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue of
this power of attorney and the rights and
powers herein granted.

The undersigned acknowledges that the foregoing
attorney-in-fact, in serving in such capacity at
the request of the undersigned, is not assuming,
nor is NMRS or the Company assuming, any of the
undersigned's responsibilities to comply with
Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934.

This Power of Attorney shall remain in full
force and effect until the undersigned is no
longer required to file Forms 3, 4, and 5
with
respect to the undersigned's holdings of and
transactions in securities issued by the Company
unless earlier revoked by the undersigned in a
signed writing delivered to the foregoing
attorney-in-fact.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused
this Power of Attorney to be executed as of
this 26th day of February 2016

/s/ Kenneth J Wrench
Director