PALM COAST — Friday’s annual #BattleForFlagler had several anxious moments between defending county champ Flagler Palm Coast and host Matanzas.
In a dual that at times was closer than the final score would later indicate and at others not as close as 14 points, the visiting Bulldogs were able to defend with a 45-31 victory over the Pirates.
Early on, the Pirates (9-3) built double-digit leads of 10-0 and 22-12, behind three forfeit wins (106/132/138) and a 13-5 major from Braden Hawley (113). The twin-pack of bonus-point wins for Matanzas sandwiched a pair of pins from FPC’s Kole Hannant (120) and John Hald (126).
The momentum began to teeter, though, in the middle part of the lineup; as it turned out, it teetered both ways. The Bulldogs (17-8) cut the Pirate lead to four on Brendan Buckles’ fall at 145, but Matanzas bounced back, opening the door to a potential dual victory at 152 with Tyson Mills’ 5-4 win.
At 160, in just his second appearance of the season to date, Blane DeFord willed himself to a 10-8 decision, and from there through 220, it was all Flagler Palm Coast, as Grant Schwartz (170) and Garrick Schwartz (220) both won by fall, with forfeit victories at 182 and 195.
Robert Elder then closed out the night with a fall for Matanzas at 285.
Earlier, Matanzas’ girls took pins in two of three matches against a contingent from Mainland, which made the trip north from Daytona Beach. Isabella Tietje (152) and Morgan Morrison (182) both had victories by fall for the Lady Pirates, while the Lady Buccaneers’ Cheyenne Wigley won by pin at 220.
All three teams — Flagler Palm Coast, Matanzas and Mainland — took part in Saturday’s inaugural Bi-County tournament at Mainland in Daytona Beach. That event will be recapped separately.
Lincoln 60, Florida High 17: At Florida High in an in-school matchup, the visiting Trojans (12-1) secured both the Tallahassee city title as well as the traveling Warriors’ Trophy between the two schools.
Lincoln raced away to an early 24-0 lead on pins from Nic Weaver (285) and JayShawn Washington (120), plus forfeit wins at 106 and 113.
The Seminoles (4-13) would get on the board with Tyler Reeve’s fall at 126, and the teams would then trade pins at 132 and 138 (Zaire Fernanders-Jackson pinning for Lincoln at 32, Emil Ganim for Florida High at 38).
The Trojans would tack on another nine points on Patrick Blanca’s fall at 152 and an 8-6 win for Mason Kirkland at 145 before the Seminoles’ Alexander Hawkes would answer at 160 to make it at that time 39-18 Lincoln with four weights to go.
But with forfeits in hand at 182 and 195, the Trojans would close out with a four-pack of wins, as Mason Crowder (170) won by fall and Omarion LaRoach (220) pushed through to a 7-6 win.
Both teams competed in Saturday’s Timberwolf Duals at Chiles. That event will be recapped separately upon submission of timely results.
Pirates sweep quad: At Englewood, it was the visiting out-of-county teams that got the better of things, as Nassau’s Fernandina Beach was 3-0 and Clay’s Orange Park 2-1 on the night.
Fernandina Beach (21-4 in duals for the season) defeated the host Rams (60-24), Orange Park (49-24) and Wolfson (60-18) to win the night.
Triple winners for the Pirates were Nik Saldana (106, decision), Jacob Simmons (113, pin), Jeremy Mahoney (126, tech), Dietrich Woods (132, 2 pins), Enzo Gamba (152, 2 pins), Brooks Rohe (160, pin) and Kolby Kidd (220, 2 pins).
Orange Park won its duals in rounds 1 and 3, with wins over Wolfson (47-27) and Englewood (48-30). Davon Bailey (120, pin & decision) and Zachary Cruz (170, pin & decision) each were triple winners.
Wolfson won round 2 with a 42-30 victory over the hosts. Grant Barineau (145, pin & decision) and Tavion Ford (285, 3 pins) were each 3-0 for the Wolfpack (4-3), while Englewood (7-7) was paced by Lynden North (138, 3 pins), Darryl Sam (182, 3 pins) and Sam Howard (195, 3 pins) were all triple winners.
Everyone but the Raiders will be in action next on Wednesday. Fernandina Beach hosts Nease and Englewood will again host Wolfson on that night, while Orange Park is off until the 2A-District 2 IBT on February 20.
Results: Box scores from from all competitions Friday can be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 