YULEE — It’s been three weeks since Yulee last hit the competitive mats, when the Hornets were second at Wakulla’s MyHOUSE Big Bend Invitational.
Despite the layoff, the Hornets maintained tournament form through the 20-day period, pushing past an eight-team field to defend their 1A-District 3 IBT title Saturday.
Yulee advanced 13 of its 14 wrestlers automatically to next week’s Region 1 tournament at Bolles, as the Hornets outpointed Fernandina Beach, 216.5-172.
Yulee finished with four champions, five runners-up and four 3rds on the day.
Yulee’s Nassau County rival, the Pirates, qualified 10 wrestlers to region. Fernandina Beach had five champions, two runners-up and three 3rds.
Episcopal outdistanced Bishop Kenny for third place, with 136 points to the Crusaders’ 90. The Eagles moved nine wrestlers to regions, with one champion, four runners-up, three 3rds and one 4th.
As for Bishop Kenny, it moved nine through as well, with one champion, one runnerup, two 3rds and five 4ths.
Raines pushed past the rest of the district to finish fifth, with 72 points, with West Nassau sixth (56) and Ed White and Paxon tied for seventh (30).
The Vikings moved three wrestlers to regions, all of them champions, while the Warriors qualified five out (one runnerup, one 3rd, three 4ths). Ed White had two qualifiers (one runnerup and one 3rd), while Paxon moved through three 4ths.
Brackets for Saturday’s wrestling can be found HERE.
THE QUALIFIERS
Yulee: Logan Pugh (106-3rd); Jacob Proffit (113-3rd); Tristan Martinez (126-2nd); Austin Adamson (132-3rd); Dylan Johns (138-1st); Isaiah Shook (145-1st); Jesse Johnson (152-2nd); Aston Ricks (160-1st); Collin Sewell (170-2nd); Keleb Reddish (182-1st); Braylen Ricks (195-2nd); Tim King (220-3rd); Will Harvey (285-2nd).
Fernandina Beach: Nik Saldana (106-1st); Caden Kubatzke (120-1st); Jeremy Mahoney (126-1st); Dietrich Woods (132-2nd); Cole Misciagna (138-3rd); Enzo Gamba (152-1st); Lucas Crawford (160-2nd); Brooks Rohe (170-3rd); Tyler Harris (182-3rd); Kolby Kidd (220-1st).
Episcopal: Cohen Chesser (106-2nd); Scott Busey (120-2nd); Christian Ryan (126-3rd); Joe Jackson (132-1st); Noah Meyer (138-2nd); Ben Helton (145-3rd); John Fernandez (152-4th); Christian McGarity (182-2nd); Tommaso Pozzoni (285-3rd).
Bishop Kenny: Jacob Harless (106-4th); Ryan Mayer (113-2nd); Allan Bustos (120-3rd); Jack Raynor (132-4th); Aden Seepersad (138-4th); Collin Hearn (152-3rd); Paul Barakat (160-4th); Barrie Snyder (182-4th); Kevin Thallemer (285-1st).
Raines: De’Quon King (113-1st); Raynarde Thomas (170-1st); Jamari Watson (195-1st); Gregory Townsend (285-4th).
West Nassau: Blayden Tharpe (113-4th); Jackson Holcomb (120-4th); Nolan McKelvy (145-4th); Jakob Turnage (160-3rd); Jackson Rowell (220-2nd).
Ed White: Sebastian Gonzalez (145-2nd); Da’vaughn Patterson (195-3rd).
Paxon: Michael Dramis (170-4th); Matthew Brunelli (195-4th); Daniel Harman (220-4th).
THE DISTRICT CHAMPS
106: Saldana (28-4), a sophomore, won his first district title with a semifinal pin over third-place Pugh, followed by a 5-2 win in the finals over Chesser.
113: Junior King (19-1) reached his third final and won his second district championship, with an injury-default semifinal win over Fernandina Beach’s Jacob Simmons and a 13-0 major in the title round over Mayer.
120: Kubatzke (32-2), a sophomore, qualified for regions for the second time (4th last year), winning his first district title with a semifinal pin over Yulee’s Lewis Duhan and a 17-0 tech fall over Busey in the championship match.
126: Senior Mahoney (27-0) never lost a district-round match in his high school career, winning his fourth championship with a bye into the finals and a 17-2 tech fall win in the finals over Martinez.
132: Jackson (21-5), a senior, qualified for regions for the fourth time (3rd in 2018, runnerup in both 2019 and last year), winning his first district title with pins in the semis over third-place Adamson and over Woods in the title round.
138: Sophomore Johns (17-8) qualified out for the second time to regions (3rd last year), with pins over third-place Misciagna in the semifinals and over Meyer in the championship match.
145: Shook (23-8), a senior, won his first district title and qualified for regions for the second time. After a bye into the semis, Shook had a semifinal pin over fourth-place McKelvy, followed by a fall in the finals over Gonzalez.
152: Freshman Gamba (22-0) won his first district title; after a bye, Gamba recorded pins in the semis over fourth-place Fernandez and in the title round over Johnson.
160: Ricks (33-7), a senior, qualified for regions for the fourth time (4th in 2018, runnerup in both 2019 and also last year), winning his first district championship with pins over Episcopal’s Hunter Luzar (semis) and over Crawford in the championship match.
170: Senior Thomas (21-0) won his third district title (also won in 2019 and 2020, finished a match short of regions in 2018) with techs in the semis over fourth-place Dramis (20-5) and in the final over Sewell (16-1).
182: Reddish (14-9), a junior, won his second district championship (also won last year) with pins in the semifinals over third-place Harris and again in the title rou8nd over McGarity.
195: Junior Watson (14-0) reached the finals for the third time (runnerup in 2019) and won his second title (also won last year), taking falls in the semis over third-place Paterson and over Ricks in the championship match.
220: Kidd (29-1), a senior, qualified for regions for the first time and won his first district championship, with pins over fourth-place Harman (semis) and avenging his only loss with a fall over Rowell in the final.
285: Junior Thallemer (23-13) reached regions for the second time and won his first district title, with a double-overtime 4-3 win in the semis over third-place Pozzoni, followed by a pin in the title round over Harvey.
North Florida Matmen 