TALLAHASSEE — Prior to Saturday, no 2A-District 2 team had ever beaten Lincoln in the FHSAA district duals tournament.
After Saturday, no team yet has. The Trojans won five duals on their home mats to defend their title for the third straight season and took their fourth such win overall. Lincoln (5-0 in duals for the season) defeated Leon (78-3), Gainesville (78-5), Columbia (48-36), Mosley (54-28) and Chiles (45-32), for an average margin of victory of 41 points per dual.
Lincoln advances to the 2A-Region 1 quarterfinals on January 14 and will face the District 1 runnerup in that round. Quarterfinal winners will meet in a semifinal dual on the same night for the right to compete at state duals on the 22nd and 23rd; the Trojans have appeared for at the least the first day in the prior three seasons.
Lincoln had five unbeaten wrestlers, four of which were 5-0. Three of those four wrestlers were “max-pointers,” scoring 6 team dual points in every dual the team wrestled in the tournament. In all, nine Trojan wrestlers won at least three matches on the day.
For the second straight year, Chiles will compete at the region level after finishing second on Saturday. The Timberwolves (4-1 for the season) took dual victories over Gainesville (81-0), Mosley (42-35), Leon (75-0) and Columbia (40-38) to set up the winner-takes-the-title dual with their crosstown rivals.
Chiles had 10 wrestlers with at least three wins on Saturday; of those, four were unbeaten and three were 5-0, with one max-pointer.
Columbia (7-4 for the season) was third with a 3-2 tournament record. The Tigers defeated Mosley and Leon by identical 54-24 scores, wrapping up the day with a 48-12 win over Gainesville. Eight Columbia wrestlers won at least three duals, with five going unbeaten, four of those at 5-0, with two max-pointers.
Mosley (2-3) had wins in round 3 over Gainesville (66-6) and round 5 over Leon (66-18). The Dolphins had seven wrestlers with at least three wins, with one unbeaten.
Leon (1-4) had its lone victory of the day with a 36-18 round-5 win over Gainesville (0-15). The Lions had one wrestler go 4-1 on the day.
Complete results from the event can be found HERE.
THE NOTES
Standings: 1. Lincoln 5-0. 2. Chiles 4-1. 3. Columbia 3-2. 4. Mosley 2-3. 5. Leon 1-4. 6. Gainesville 0-5 (Lincoln & Chiles advance to 2A-Region 1 quarterfinals, January 14, Lincoln will host).
ACES OF THE DAY
Lincoln: Sophomore Zaire Fernanders-Jackson (132) was one of the Trojans’ max-pointers, with falls in the final two rounds over Mosley and Chiles. His pin in the Chiles dual clinched the victory in Lincoln’s favor. Fernanders-Jackson had forfeits in the first three rounds over Leon, Gainesville and Columbia.
Chiles: Senior Olufemi Egberongbe (138/145) wasn’t the Timberwolves’ max-pointer, but he had key bonus points in Chiles’ wins over Mosley and Columbia, plus a rd-3 decision win over a state qualifier and fellow ace in Zirgibel. Egberongbe had pins against Gainesville, Mosley and Lincoln, with a major in round 4 over Columbia.
Columbia: Junior Thomas Greene (152) was one of the Tigers’ four unbeatens and one of the max-pointers. Greene was the only wrestler in the event to pin all five of his opponents on the day, falling Mosley, Leon, Lincoln, Chiles and Gainesville in succession.
Mosley: Junior Nick Hejke (145) was one of four Dolphins with four wins and the team’s only unbeaten, with pins in round 1 over Columbia, in round 3 over Gainesville, in round 4 over Lincoln and in round 5 over Leon.
Leon: Junior Nolan Zirgibel (138/145) was the Lions’ only wrestler with four wins on the afternoon, with pins over Columbia (round 2), Mosley (round 4) and Gainesville (round 5), with a round-1 tech fall for Leon’s only points in the loss to Lincoln.
Gainesville: Sophomore Aiden Kittelson (195) was one of two wrestlers for the Hurricanes that had two victories on the day. Kittelson had pins over wrestlers from Mosley and Leon in rounds 3 and 4.
North Florida Matmen 