KISSIMMEE — The regular-season and a part of the post-season has been about new blood finding its way to the top in the northern part of Class 2A.
But after the first day of competition at the 2A state tournament at Silver Spurs Arena on Friday, it’s still District 2 teams from Tallahassee that are on top when it comes to northern teams.
Chiles stands in T-12th place with 24 points to lead the north, with intracity rival Lincoln close behind in T-14th, with 22. The Timberwolves have a pair of semifinalists in Olufemi Egberongbe (138) and Kyle McGill (195), with a third wrestler — Garrett Marschka (113) — in Saturday’s blood round.
Lincoln also has two semifinalists in Cayden Bevis (182) and Wyatt Yown (195), with Elijah Hendley (113) also in the blood round.
Next on the table is Columbia, in 19th place with 15 points. The Tigers have one wrestler in the consis, in Joseph Rice (170). Fletcher and New Smyrna Beach are tied for 22nd, with 13 points each. The Senators have one semifinalist in Joel Rodriguez (152) and one in the consis in Ethan Hollenbach (220), while the ‘Cudas have two in the blood round (Jamey Bruner at 126 and Doug Dittmer at 195).
Mosley, Niceville and Robert E Lee are all tied for 25th with 11 points. The Dolphins’ Nick Hejke (145) and Nick Kendrick (152) are in the consis, while Niceville’s David Polaski (220) and the Generals’ Ahmahd Denmark (160) are both in the semis. Westside, behind semifinalist Ray Bolden (285), is T-28th with nine points, while Ft Walton Beach is 34th with eight points and has one semifinalist in Cedric Fairrow (220).
Orange Park and St Augustine are T-35th with six points apiece. The Raiders have Gabriel Hecht (285) in the blood round. Matanzas is T-40th with five points and Leon is T-43rd with four; both teams have completed competition. At T-49th are Gulf Breeze and Pace with three points each. The Dolphins have Colson Elliott (132) in the consis. Belleview was 54th on Friday, with two points, and Deltona and Middleburg each were T-55th with one; Ponte Vedra was T-60th with no team points. All four teams have completed competition.
Statewide, Palmetto Ridge holds a five-point edge over Region 3 rival Charlotte, 74-69, with Lake Gibson holding third at 61.5, Tampa Jesuit fourth at 56 and Harmony fifth with 49.
Brackets from Friday’s wrestling can be found HERE.
A summary of the weight classes follows:
106
Semis: Camren French (Charlotte, 15-3) v Christian Vasquez (Killian, 24-1); Dominic Nardini (Springstead, 40-2) v Tyler Washburn (Palmetto Ridge, 44-1).
Blood round: Thomas Gernhart (Brandon, 24-4) v Kevin Nguyen (Countryside, 28-5); Richard Albert (Cape Coral, 35-10) v Fredrick Mitchum (Southridge, 13-7).
Local summary: Columbia’s Brett Millard (37-10) and Matanzas’ Carter Wilder (21-11) both won front-side matches in going 1-2 on Friday. Millard pinned Port St Lucie’s Donnell Williams (29-11) in 1:08 before falling, 8-4, in the quarters to French, and by tech fall in the consis to Mitchum (20-3 in 4:30). Wilder downed Mitchum, 9-5, in the round of 16, but then took losses to Washburn (fall in 2:29) and Gernhart (16-1 tech in 4:21). Orange Park’s Ryder Pimienta (21-10) and Chiles’ Sam Tolomeo (24-9) both were 0-2 on Friday. Pimienta lost by a 12-6 count to Hialeah-Mater Lakes’ Jasmine Godinez (14-7), 12-6, in the round of 16, then fell, 13-0, in the consis to Albert. Tolomeo lost by pins on the front to Vasquez (4:16) and on the back to Nguyen (2:40).
113
Semis: Voshawn Baker (Dixie Hollins, 26-3) v Tyson Lane (Brandon, 36-0); Danny Vargas (Jesuit, 26-4) v Jonathan Dominguez (Springstead, 37-7).
Blood round: Austin Gehr (Lake Gibson, 14-9) v Patrick Nolan (Charlotte, 32-4); Marschka (27-4) v Hendley (35-2).
Local summary: In going 2-1 Friday, Hendley pinned Gehr in 44 seconds in the round of 16, but then fell to Baker, 12-8, in the quarters. Hendley then came back to major Palmetto Ridge’s Bernardo Barnhart (25-18), 9-0, in consi round 2. Marschka fell on the front to Vargas, 6-1, but came back behind consi-side pins over Suncoast’s Holden Kapsos (28-12, fall in 2:10) and Barron Collier’s Enis Ljikovic (34-9) in sudden victory. Middleburg’s Grady Woodard (23-16) and Belleview’s Zackery Young (29-16) were both 0-2 on Friday. Woodard lost by fall to Dominguez (3:05) on the front and by an 11-2 major to Barnhart on the back, while Young lost by fall in the round of 16 to Lane (:13) and to Okeechobee’s Gabriel Bowen (11-5, 2:39) in consi round 1.
120
Semis: Darrell Tabor (Brandon, 34-4) v Christopher Minto (Mariner, 45-1); Caleb Massari (Ft Myers, 33-5) v Lucas Giles (Barron Collier, 35-8).
Blood round: Conner Hueck (Southridge, 23-5) v Aiden Poe (Harmony, 35-5); Alex Walker (Lake Gibson, 25-3) v Christopher Albo (Jesuit, 33-8).
Local summary: Deltona’s Kevin Kerns (34-9) was the only Region 1 wrestler to take a win on Friday. Kerns lost by fall on the front to Massari (pin in 2:26), but rallied for a 7-3 win in consi round 1 over Okeechobee’s Sonny Hancock (13-5). Kerns then lost by fall (4:27) to Walker. All of the other Region 1 wrestlers were 0-2 on Friday. Chiles’ Hunter Brown (26-5) lost by tech fall on the front (19-3 in 4 minutes) to Palmetto Ridge’s Jean Valoria (24-16) and on the back to Hueck (pin in 2:33). Niceville’s Ethan Pinto (21-10) lost by fall to Minto (1:25) on the front and by a 10-0 count in consi round 1 to Heritage’s Roman Maldonado (29-6). Finally, Orange Park’s Davon Bailey lost by fall to Giles (4:54) in the round of 16 and by an 11-0 major to Albo in the consis.
126
Semis: Demetri Zertopoulis (Palmetto Ridge, 34-8) v Braden Basile (Jesuit, 40-0); Andrew Austin (Charlotte, 40-2) v Andrew Pinzon (Viera, 30-0).
Blood round: Nicholas Dukes (Southridge, 15-7) v Hayden Whidden (Lake Gibson, 31-3); Ethan Byrd (Barron Collier, 37-7) v Bruner (36-4).
Local summary: Bruner was 2-1 on Friday, with a front-side fall in the round of 16 over River Ridge’s Dominick Smith (4:52) before losing by tech fall to Zertopoulis (16-1 in 5:24) in the quarters. Bruner then came back with a 9-2 win over Ft Myers’ Nolan Nguyen (34-8) in consi round 2. Middleburg’s Riley Girgis was 1-2 and both Gulf Breeze’s Logan Merritt and Niceville’s Noah Tritz were 0-2 on Friday. Girgis fell to Whidden (1:42) in the round of 16, but rallied for a 12-5 decision in consi rd 1 over Hialeah-Mater Lakes’ Michael Zunino (15-6) before falling by pin (3:45) to Byrd in round 2. Merritt lost by fall on the front to Harmony’s Brent McNichols (3:57) and by tech in the consis to Nguyen (17-0 in 5 minutes), while Tritz lost by fall to Basile (1:55) in the round of 16 and by fall to Okeechobee’s Charlie Armstrong (2:46) in consi round 1.
132
Semis: John McNichols (Harmony, 41-2) v Brennan Van Hoecke (Palmetto Ridge, 47-0); Gianni Maldonado (Brandon, 35-0) v Isaac Church (Charlotte, 41-4).
Blood round: Gabriel Ferreira (Heritage, 42-4) v John Vadyak (Ft Myers, 38-6); Blake Walker (Lake Gibson, 29-5) v Elliott (35-1).
Local summary: Elliott was 2-1 on Friday, with a 4-2 win in the round of 16 over Barron Collier’s Grant Gappelberg, but then lost by fall to McNichols (5:36) for his first loss of the year. Elliott came back with a 9-2 consi round 2 win over region rival Jace Engberg of New Smyrna Beach. Engberg (34-6) was 1-2 on Friday, while Ft Walton Beach’s Weston Burbidge (27-11) and St Augustine’s Brayden Lovingood (20-16) were both 0-2. Engberg took a 15-7 loss to Church on the front, but came back to decision Gaither’s James Simpson, 7-2, in consi round 1 to get to Elliott. Lovingood lost by fall on the front to Van Hoecke (:36) and on the back to Ft Lauderdale’s James Berline (2:21), while Burbidge took a 5-2 loss to Vadyak in the round of 16 and a 10-4 loss to Viera’s Nate Olson in consi round 1.
138
Semis: Egberongbe (28-2) v Riley Chapdelaine (Winter Springs, 33-9); Tom Crook (Jesuit, 39-0) v Ethan Mojena (Countryside, 31-1).
Blood round: Fletcher Small (Harmony, 32-8) v Jaden Harrah (Island Coast, 35-6); Frank Messina (St Thomas Aquinas, 28-3) v Joe Gallo (Springstead, 44-8).
Local summary: Egberongbe clinched his state medal with a pair of Friday decisions, downing Belen Jesuit’s Manuel Dominguez (11-11), 8-3, in the round of 16, then coming back for a 7-0 shutout over Palmetto Ridge’s Leonard Feliciano (24-8) in the quarters. Leon’s Nolan Zirgibel (25-6) and Belleview’s Andrew Davis (36-8) were both 1-2 on Friday, while Pace’s Cam Friend (20-5) was 0-2. Zirgibel falled Sebastian River’s Niko Huff (3:45) in the round of 16, but then lost by fall to Mojena (3:35) in the quarters and took a 4-2 loss to Small in consi round 2. Davis found a four-point move in sudden victory over Viera’s Braden Urso for an 11-7 round-of-16 win, but then lost by fall to Crook (1:34) in the quarters and to Harrah, 6-1, in consi round 2. Friend fell to Messina, 11-0, on the front, and lost by fall to Harrah (4:52) on the back.
145
Semis: Ryan Bennett (Tampa Freedom, 37-7) v Carson Miller (Palmetto Ridge, 19-3); Jack Crook (Tampa Jesuit, 40-0) v Christian Moder (Golden Gate, 47-3).
Blood round: Hejke (46-8) v Rashad Hannon (McArthur, 12-10); Daniel Quiroz-Cerceda (Archbishop McCarthy, 36-6) v Davis Deal (Winter Springs, 31-11).
Local summary: Hejke took wins on both sides of the bracket, with a pin over Southridge’s Julian Mayorga (17-7) in 1:54 in the round of 16 before losing by fall to Crook (3:39) in the quarters. Hejke then knocked out Lake Gibson’s only wrestler to drop on Friday, Jason Lemmond (25-8), with a 5-0 win in consi round 2. New Smyrna Beach’s Michael Shannon (37-4) was 1-2 and both Fletcher’s Gabe Daltro (31-6) and Pace’s Atticus Waters (20-8) were 0-2. Shannon pinned Belen Jesuit’s Lucas Amaya (12-10) in 49 seconds in the round of 16, but then took a pair of decision losses to Bennett (7-2) in the quarters and to Deal (5-3) in consi round 2. Daltro lost to Hannon, 12-7, on the front, and to Deal, 6-2, on the back, while Waters took a 5-4 loss to Quiroz-Cerceda in the round of 16 and a 6-0 loss to Lemmond in consi round 1.
152
Semis: Rodriguez (33-1) v Roman Garcia (Palmetto Ridge, 38-7); Brendon Abdon (Lake Gibson, 34-0) v Cyrus Williams (Southridge, 19-1).
Blood round: Kendrick (29-13) v Koen Hoffman (Port Charlotte, 32-5); Frank Diaz (Brandon, 35-4) v Elijah Penton (Winter Springs, 30-14).
Local summary: Rodriguez secured his state medal with two bonus-point wins, majoring Charlotte’s Chase Ruiz (25-19), 16-4, in the round of 16 and then pinning Tampa Freedom’s Hamzah Mohamad (41-10) in 5:29 in the quarters. Kendrick was 2-1 on Friday; after an opening-round loss to Garcia (pin in 1:18), he came back for pins in the consis over Ft Lauderdale’s Zaiden Bucknor (30-8) in 3:44 in round 1 and Columbia’s Thomas Greene (42-8) in 51 seconds in round 2. Greene had an earlier 11-6 win over Cape Coral’s Justin Cole (33-10) in the round of 16, followed by a quarterfinal loss by fall to Abdon (1:13). Matanzas’ Tyson Mills (23-7) was 0-2 on Friday, with a 9-4 loss to Hoffman on the front and a 6-4 loss to Penton on the back.
160
Semis: Denmark (40-1) v Sergio Desiante (Jesuit, 39-1); Lucas Willis (Charlotte, 32-2) v Harlan McCandless (Winter Springs, 22-5).
Blood round: Skyler Hall (St Thomas Aquinas, 22-7) v Frank Solorzano (Lake Gibson, 34-2); Mack Koselke (Mariner, 37-8) v Jacob Holland (Braden River, 52-7).
Local summary: Denmark had two max-point wins to secure his medal, with a forfeit over Pasco’s Devin Jernigan in the round of 16 and a third-period fall (4:37) over Holland in the quarters. Ft Walton Beach’s Caleb Tourgee (32-8) and Matanzas’ Jordan Mills (21-8) were both 1-2, while St Augustine’s Clint Griffin (38-13) was 0-2 on Friday. Tourgee lost by fall on the front (3 minutes) to Desiante, but came back for a 6-1 win over Okeechobee’s Travis McKenna (25-7) in consi round 1 before losing by fall to Solorzano (3:49) in round 2. Mills took a tech fall loss (17-1 in 4:41) to Solorzano, but came back with a fall over Port St Lucie’s Elijah Yuhas (22-11) in 4:23 in consi round 1. Mills then fell to Koselke, 14-2, in round 2. Griffin lost by fall on the front (3:17) to McCandless) and on the back by tech (17-2 in 3:42) to Barron Collier’s Curtis Poulsen (34-8).
170
Semis: Brian Burburija (Countryside, 30-5) v Cory Cannan (Barron Collier, 38-5); Raul Soto (Lake Gibson, 22-0) v Cody Rice (Charlotte, 41-3).
Blood round: Quiton Johnson (Southridge, 24-6) v Will Jacobson (Harmony, 38-7); Julian Stoneman (Heritage, 34-4) v Rice (39-6).
Local summary: Rice was 2-1 on Friday, pinning St Thomas Aquinas’ Nicolas Rodriguez (17-10) in 2:16 in the round of 16 before losing by fall to Burburija (4:59) in the quarters. Rice then bounced back with a 12-3 major in consi round 2 over Robinson’s Gabriel Gilles (32-8). St Augustine’s Connor Spossey (43-6) was 1-2 and both Ponte Vedra’s Rett Maritato (39-6) and Niceville’s Martin Black (30-6) were both 0-2 on Friday. Spossey pinned Melbourne’s Gabriel Richmond (10-8) in 4:22 in the first round, but then fell, 11-3, to Soto in the quarters and injury-defaulted. Maritato lost on the front to Johnson, 7-1, and on the back to Gilles, 5-4, while Black lost by fall to Stoneman (4:40) in the round of 16 and to Jacobson (:23) in consi round 1.
182
Semis: Bevis (26-0) v Michael Moss (St Thomas Aquinas, 27-0); Dylan Deal (Winter Springs, 25-9) v Lais Cardero (Golden Gate, 42-6).
Blood round: Destin Watson (Eau Gallie, 14-4) v Joe Santana (Jesuit, 30-8); Gregorio Herrera (Palmetto Ridge, 32-10) v Cael Newton (Charlotte, 34-8).
Local summary: Bevis took a pair of decisions to secure his state medal, downing Suncoast’s Sebastian Macaulay (34-6), 5-1, in the round of 16 and then finding a takedown in sudden victory for a 6-4 win over Newton in the quarters. St Augustine’s Ryan Murphy (31-5) was 1-2 on Friday, while Gulf Breeze’s Hunter Dupont (32-4) and Fletcher’s Ryan Klein (28-10) were both 0-2. Murphy edged Hialeah-Mater Lakes’ Gian Espinal, 6-5, in the round of 16, with two decision losses to Deal (7-4) in the quarters and to Santana (5-4) in consi round 2. Dupont fell to Watson, 7-4, on the front and to River Ridge’s Aidan Benjamin (36-9), 7-6, on the back, while Klein lost by fall to Moss (1:42) in the round of 16 and to Santana by tech (16-1 in 4:58) in consi round 1.
195
Semis: McGill (28-0) v Juan Gomez (Harmony, 21-4); Yown (30-7) v Gregory Dennard (Ft Myers, 41-0).
Blood round: Dittmer (38-4) v Rafael Camarena (Sebastian River, 27-5); Okten Logue (Port Charlotte, 32-7) v Antonio Petraglia (Palmetto Ridge, 30-12).
Local summary: McGill picked up his state medal with Friday falls over Lakeland’s Rudy Destin (26-11) in the round of 16 and over Petraglia (3:20) in the quarters, while Yown also won twice on Friday, with a fall in the first round over Gaither’s Sebastian Riviere (33-6) in 3:24, followed by a 9-4 quarterfinal win over Camarena. Dittmer put himself in the final eight with a 2-1 day Friday, downing Pasco’s Amir Burgess (42-6), 4-2, in the round of 16, but then lost by tech (16-1 in 5:39) to Dennard in the quarters. Dittmer came back in consi round 2, edging Pace’s Wyatt Dillon (27-6), 3-2. Dillon was 1-2 on Friday, falling, 8-3, to Gomez on the front, but coming back to pin Port St Lucie’s Gervaris Desire (21-9) in 4:45 in consi round 1.
220
Semis: Fairrow (39-0) v Tristan Middlebrook (Lake Gibson, 26-1); Angel Alverio (Ida Baker, 27-0) v Polaski (17-5).
Blood round: Nelson Toro (Harmony, 40-6) v Hollenbach (31-5); Maikeli Tuinakauvadra (Osceola PP, 19-2) v Morvens Saint Jean (Ft Myers, 36-4).
Local summary: Fairrow secured his first Florida state medal with two decisions, shutting out Toro, 7-0, in the round of 16, and then dominating double overtime against Saint Jean, winning by a 13-7 count. His district rival, Polaski, also secured a medal with two pins, falling Springstead’s Kyle Curl (36-12, 5:24) in the round of 16 and pinning Marshall in sudden victory (7 minutes) in the quarters. Hollenbach was 2-1 on Friday, with a 9-4 front-side win over Pasco’s Cassidy Grubbs (43-7) before falling, 6-3, to Alverio in the quarters. Hollenbach rallied for a 5-0 win in consi round 2 over Killian’s Alexys Rodriguez (23-9). Deltona’s Ethan Chiu (33-7) was 0-2, with a loss by fall to Middlebrook (2:57) on the front and a loss by fall to Rodriguez (2:11) on the back.
285
Semis: Bolden (22-1) v Jeremiah Jackson (Kathleen, 41-1); Marvin Collins (Winter Springs, 25-1) v Nathaniel Box (Charlotte, 39-8).
Blood round: Jackson Hatfield (Viera, 23-5) v Austin Foye (Palmetto Ridge, 33-8); Hecht (10-4) v Darren Davis (Harmony, 23-6).
Local summary: Bolden punched his podium ticket with two Friday wins, finding a takedown for a 3-1 sudden-victory win over Cypress Lake’s Adam Larochelle (19-5) in the round of 16, then falled Davis in 3:35 in the quarters. Hecht was 2-1 on Friday, with a front-side loss to Foye (5:13) followed by an injury-default win over McArthur’s Kevin Magrinat (22-8) and a 46-second fall over Golden Gate’s Javier Ramirez (35-6) in the consis. Columbia’s Jaycob Jones (25-8) was 1-2 and Mosley’s Robert Wills (28-18) 0-2. Jones fell to Box, 15-8, on the front side, but rallied for a fall over Brandon’s Cedric Ellis (21-9, fall in 4 minutes) before taking a 3-1 overtime loss to Davis. Wills lost on the front to Ramirez, 8-4, and then took a loss by fall to Southridge’s Marcelo Rosario (25-7) in 1:31 in consi round 1.
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