LAKELAND — Columbia and St Augustine made the trek cross the state to the western side, placing seventh and 13th, respectively, in Saturday’s Braves Invitational, hosted by Lake Gibson.
The Tigers finished with 80 points in taking seventh, with four placers. Columbia had two wrestlers that reached the finals, with one additional fourth and one additional fifth-place effort.
St Augustine had a pair of fourths, one fifth and one sixth in compiling 50 points to place 13th in the 21-team tournament.
Palmetto Ridge took down the hosts, 235-218.5, to win the team title in a potential preview of the 2A state traditional tournament next month, while Cardinal Gibbons was third with 144.
Brackets from Saturday’s tournament can be found HERE.
THE NOTES
Team scores: 1. Palmetto Ridge 235. 2. Lake Gibson 218.5. 3. Cardinal Gibbons 144. 4. Springstead 110. 5. Venice 94. 6. Doral Academy 82. 7. Columbia 80. 8. Tenoroc 77. 9. Carrollwood Day 75. 10. (tie) Freedom (Tampa) & McKeel Academy 54. 12. Zephyrhills Christian 50.5. 13. St Augustine 50. 14. Weeki Wachee 48. 15. Bayshore 42. 16. Kathleen 30. 17. Lake Gibson B 22. 18. Winter Haven 20. 19. Sunlake 19. 20. Lakeland 17. 21. First Academy 3.
Championship matches —
106: Washburn (Palmetto Ridge) p. Vargas (Cardinal Gibbons), 4:42.
113: Yancey (Cardinal Gibbons) p. Dominguez (Springstead), 5:15.
120: Taranto (Venice) p. Palermo (Cardinal Gibbons), 1:30.
126: Whidden (Lake Gibson) md. Zertopoulis (Palmetto Ridge), 8-0.
132: Walker (Lake Gibson) p. Sanchez (Doral Academy), 3:49.
138: Van Hoecke (Palmetto Ridge) p. Cabral (Cardinal Gibbons), 2:00.
145: Miller (Palmetto Ridge) d. Bennett (Tampa Freedom), 5-2.
152: Abdon (Lake Gibson) tf. Williams (McKeel), 22-6, 5:26.
160: Solorzano (Lake Gibson) p. Arocha (Doral Academy), 5:02.
170: Soto (Lake Gibson) d. Joseph Rice (Columbia), 9-4.
182: Herrera (Palmetto Ridge) p. Cooper (Cardinal Gibbons), 3:55.
195: Kovalskiy (Weeki Wachee) p. Petraglia (Palmetto Ridge), 1:10.
220: Arnold (Carrollwood Day) p. Middlebrook (Lake Gibson), :53.
285: Jackson (Kathleen) p. Jaycob Jones (Columbia), 4:27.
THE ACES OF THE DAY
Columbia: Joseph Rice (170) was 3-1 as the tournament’s third seed, with pins over Cardinal Gibbons (rd of 16) and Bayshore (quarters) before a 4-3 semifinal win over St Augustine in the semi. That brought Lake Gibson and the finals round, where Rice lost by decision.
St Augustine: Clint Griffin (160) was 1-2 and the fourth seed; after a bye into the quarters, Griffin won by fall over Palmetto Ridge in the quarters before taking successive losses to the eventual runnerup (by tech fall, 17-2 in 3:43) and in the third-place match (by fall to McKeel Academy, in 3:43).
North Florida Matmen 