KISSIMMEE — It’s fitting, perhaps, that just a half-point separates Clay and Wakulla after the first day of competition of the 1A state wrestling tournament.
However, both teams would concede they’re further down the standings than they’d like heading into Saturday’s second day at Silver Spurs Arena. Clay has 25.5 points to hold ninth place, while Wakulla’s a half-point back in 10th.
Raines and Suwannee are tied for 14th with 22 points each, while Ridgeview is T-17th at 16. Fernandina Beach stands 21st, with 13, while Bolles and University Christian are tied for 23rd at 11 and South Walton is T-28th with nine.
Palatka is T-31st, with eight points, while Yulee is T-39th with six. North Bay Haven & Rutherford are T-41st, with five, while Union Cty is T-47th with four and Baker Cty is T-50th with three. Bishop Kenny is T-56th, with two points, while Episcopal is 60th with one. Arnold, Bishop Snyder and West Nassau were each T-61st, with no score.
Local semifinalists going into Saturday are as follows: Jayce Paridon (University Christian, 106); Mikade Harvey (Palatka, 106); De’Quon King (Raines, 113); Tyler Reeve (Florida High, 126); Timothy Jolicoeur (Suwannee, 126); Matthew Rodriquez (Ridgeview, 132); Cale Hoskinson (Clay, 160); Raynarde Thomas (Raines, 170) and Jack Pyburn (Bolles, 220).
In the blood round Saturday in the lower weights are Christian Simmons (Union Cty, 106); Julian Harvey (Wakulla, 106); Max Brewster (South Walton, 113); Maverick Rainwater (Clay, 113); Austin McKinney (Suwannee, 120); Raymond Hatchman (Wakulla, 120); Jeremy Mahoney (Fernandina Beach, 126); Isaiah Wilson (Wakulla, 126); Tyson Musgrove (Suwannee, 138); Emil Ganim (Florida High, 138) and Caleb Parsons (Suwannee, 145).
Local upper weights in the blood round are Dominic Martin (Clay, 152); Enzo Gamba (Fernandina Beach, 152); Aston Ricks (Yulee, 160); Conner South (Baker Cty, 182); David Mercado (North Bay Haven, 195); Micah Perdue (Florida High, 195); Jamari Watson (Raines, 195); Xavier Stillgess (Rutherford, 220), and Derrick Mosley (Ridgeview, 285).
Statewide, Somerset Academy holds a 7.5-point margin over Palm Bay, 84.5-77, for the first-day lead, with Am Heritage-Delray third with 58.5 points, Jensen Beach fourth at 58 and Cardinal Gibbons fifth at 47.
Brackets from Friday’s wrestling can be found HERE.
A summary of the weight classes follows:
106
Semis: Paridon (53-4) v Christian Fretwell (Somerset Academy, 44-4); M. Harvey (26-5) v Roman Lermer (Admiral Farragut, 24-0).
Blood round: Peyton Vargas (Cardinal Gibbons, 15-4) v J. Harvey (41-3); Raider Morelli (Space Coast, 27-5) v Simmons (33-16).
Local summary: Paridon had two third-period pins to secure his state medal, falling Coral Shores’ Vincent Biondoletti (4:39) in the round of 16 and then coming back to pin Berkeley Prep’s Diogo Santos (33-8) in 4:24 in the quarters. Mikade Harvey had two six-minute wins for his podium ticket, majoring First Baptist (Naples)’s Jonathan Moder (32-7), 11-3, in the first round and then edging Julian Harvey, 8-7, in the quarters. Julian Harvey, for his part, had pins on both sides of the bracket, falling Jensen Beach’s Gian Ortiz (36-14) in 2:38 in the rd of 16 and pinning Carrollwood Day’s Ryan Kissel (31-14) in 2:03 in consi round 2. Simmons also was 2-1, bouncing back from a loss by fall (2:43) to Vargas on the front with consi victories over Master’s Academy’s Dustin Kohn (36-14; 5-3 decision) and Santos (fall in 1:45). Suwannee’s Topher Pearson was 0-2, losing by tech on the front to Fretwell (17-1 in 5:12) and by a 6-5 decision to Kissel in consi round 1.
113
Semis: King (25-1) v Tyler Perrow (Palm Bay, 34-0); Dylan Garcia (Mater Lakes Academy, 35-7) v Nicholas Yancey (Cardinal Gibbons, 22-0).
Blood round: Brewster (25-4) v Rainwater (33-7); Ryan Mooney (Jensen Beach, 34-14) v Matthew Velasco (Somerset Academy, 38-9).
Local summary: King won two front-side victories for his podium space, with an 18-10 major over Merritt Island’s Zane Hudson (29-12) in the round of 16 and a 6-0 decision over Velasco in the quarters. Rainwater and Brewster both fell in the bottom half quarters, both going 2-1 Friday. Rainwater teched Zephyrhills Christian’s Talon Maple (43-7), 18-0 in 4:40, on the front before falling, 9-4, in the quarters to Garcia. He then came back to major Bishop Kenny’s Ryan Mayer, 11-0, in consi round 2. Brewster pinned Satellite’s Alex McMiller (1:11) on the front before taking an 11-5 loss to Yancey in the quarters. Brewster then majored Hudson, 14-3, in consi round 2. Mayer would be 1-2 on Friday, with a loss to Perrow (fall in 3:13) on the front followed by a 14-1 major over Lemon Bay’s Logan Kelly (34-20) to get to Rainwater.
120
Semis: Matthew Palermo (Cardinal Gibbons, 18-4) v Jewell Williams (Jensen Beach, 20-1); Elijah Lusk (Merritt Island, 35-2) v Elvis Solis (Somerset Academy, 32-2).
Blood round: McKinney (45-10) v Guy Yodock (McKeel, 45-7); Hatchman (36-5) v Aiden Prunoske (Clearwater CC, 48-2).
Local summary: Both McKinney and Hatchman rallied in the consis after quarterfinal losses. Hatchman pinned Lemon Bay’s Brycen Warren (25-22) in 52 seconds in the round of 16, only to lose by fall (3:32) to Palermo in the quarters. He advanced to Saturday by pinning Citrus’ Charles Smith (6-5) in 1:24 in consi round 2. McKinney opened with an 11-1 major over First Baptist (Naples)’ Jacob Bacon (27-5) on the front before falling by tech (19-2 in 4 minutes) to Lusk in the quarters. McKinney then pushed past Palm Bay’s Shaver Jackson (18-8), 5-2, in consi round 2. Bishop Snyder’s Christian Villanueva (27-10) and Arnold’s Lucas Biddle (36-13) were both 0-2 on Friday. Villanueva lost by injury-default to Yodock on the front side, and did not compete again, while Biddle took losses by fall on the front (1:32) to Prunoske and on the back (:59) to Jackson.
126
Semis: Reeve (45-3) v Rocco Senia (Palm Bay, 30-2); Jolicoeur (37-10) v Jonny Dobbs (Jensen Beach, 35-6).
Blood round: Mahoney (33-2) v Wilson (36-9); Andrew DeSola (Am Herit-Delray, 31-11) v Lucien Comelchook (Merritt Island, 14-5).
Local summary: The Region 1 quartet combined to go 8-2 on Friday. Reeve secured his podium space with wins on the front over Zephyrhills Christian’s Landen Holley (7-4, fall in 5:33) in the round of 16 and over Mater Lakes’ Luis Arboleda (15-7), 6-3, in the quarters. Jolicoeur had two pins, falling Hernando’s Diego Mojica (1:45) in the round of 16 and Oasis’ Ashton Roeder (39-5) in 5:53 in the quarters. Mahoney had a front-side 3-0 win over Comelchook before losing by fall (1:23) to Dobbs in the quarters, coming back to pin Holley in 3:41 in consi round 2. Wilson fell to Senia, 5-1, but rallied in the consis, with a 14-3 major over Tenoroc’s Kris Hunter (6-3) and Roeder (fall in 4:38) in succession.
132
Semis: Rodriquez (55-0) v Brandon Cody (Master’s Academy, 43-5); Ronald Theilacker (Palm Bay, 31-1) v Skyler Caban (Somerset Academy, 20-2).
Blood round: Justin Brady (Lemon Bay, 45-12) v Luis Bellon (Mater Lakes, 23-7); Tyler Savastano (Jensen Beach, 30-15) v Jonathan Hudson (Am Heritage-Delray, 18-8).
Local summary: Rodriquez needed just 51 seconds to pick up his fifth state medal, with pins over Bayside’s Amulek Partida (33-13) in 17 seconds in the round of 16 and over Hudson (:34) in the quarters. Episcopal’s Joe Jackson (25-8) was 1-2, while Wakulla’s Jackson Merrick (35-9), Palatka’s Brandon Lewis (34-7) and Clay’s Chandler Thomas (20-11) were all 0-2 on Friday. After a 10-8 loss to Brady in round 1, Jackson rallied for an 8-2 consis win over Zephyrhills’ Jaiden Martinez (40-10) before falling in consi round 2 to Hudson (pin in 2:31). Merrick took losses by pin to Tenoroc’s Gabriel Leach (7-3, 1:23) on the front and Savastano (1:48) in the consis, while Thomas had two losses by decision, on the front to Oasis’ Nicholas Clay (38-4, 8-1) and on the back to Bellon (7-4). Lewis lost by injury-default on the front to Hudson and did not compete in the consis.
138
Semis: Ryan Duguay (Jensen Beach, 33-8) v Tyler Cabral (Cardinal Gibbons, 22-1); Chase Gillis (Somerset Academy, 39-6) v Vincenzo Napolitana (Am Herit-Delray, 25-7).
Blood round: Zachary Mann (Labelle, 24-2) v Michael Watson (Cocoa Beach, 32-6); Musgrove (47-6) v Ganim (35-11).
Local summary: Both Musgrove and Ganim had to win twice on the back to get to Saturday, after Musgrove lost to Gillis, 6-0, and Ganim took a 17-4 loss to Napolitana on the front side. Musgrove then majored Oasis’ Kai Shelton (23-11), 10-2, and Carrollwood Day’s Brendan Palamar (40-13) by the same score. Ganim falled Zephyrhills Christian’s Javier Lopez (41-9, pin in 2:35) and decisioned Palm Bay’s Braden Baxter (30-7) by a 4-1 count. Clay’s Luke Boree (27-9) and Yulee’s Dylan Johns (20-12) were both 0-2 on Friday. Boree fell on the front to Duguay, 3-2, and lost by fall in consi round 1 to McKeel’s Owen McNabb (41-7, pin in 2:15), while Johns lost by fall (:17) to Cabral, then took a 7-2 loss against Satellite’s Ryan Beirne (8-4) in the consis.
145
Semis: Billy Gould (Hernando, 32-6) v Benjamin Rogers (Mater Lakes, 7-1 as reported); Nathan Furman (Palm Bay, 32-3) v Bas Diaz (Somerset Academy, 15-2).
Blood round: Cameron Rima (Villages, 43-12) v Rafael Romero (Am Herit-Delray, 27-5); Parsons (37-16) v Mateo Villalobos (Bonita Springs, 40-2).
Local summary: After a front-side loss by fall to Diaz (3:28), Parsons took two wins in the consis to get to Saturday, downing Lemon Bay’s Caleb Corridino (40-13), 4-0, and then Wakulla’s Hayden Reeves (36-9), 6-1, to advance. Reeves and Yulee’s Isaiah Shook (27-11) were both 1-2 on Friday, while Clay’s Josh Kumpf (19-8) was 0-2. Reeves majored Westminster Chapel’s Ethan Ardavin (13-6), 11-0, but then fell in the quarters to Gould by a 12-7 count. Shook lost by fall (1:41) to Romero, but came back behind a 6-4 win over Tarpon Springs’ Jacob Farren (30-6) before losing by tech to Villalobos (16-1 in 2:55) in consi round 2. Kumpf lost by tech (17-2 in 4:37) on the front to Rogers and had a 10-4 loss in consi round 1 to Cocoa Beach’s James Clark-Herndon (28-8).
152
Semis: Omer Barak (Am Heritage-Delray, 33-10) v Vish Williams (McKeel, 42-3); Jack Dinberg (Palm Bay, 32-1) v Darian Estevez (Somerset Academy, 40-1).
Blood round: Martin (35-9) v Erik Borresen (Sarasota Military, 37-4); Gamba (28-1) v Tehran Piza (Jensen Beach, 25-7).
Local summary: Both Gamba and Martin fell in the quarters and came back. Gamba had a front-side fall over Lemon Bay’s Austin Werden (42-17) in 5:58 before taking a 7-3 loss to Barak in the quarters. Gamba then took down Zephyrhills’ Idael Reyes (41-13), 10-4, in consi round 2. Martin had a 10-4 win of his own on the front over Berkeley Prep’s Konstantin Houvardas (20-9), but then lost via 21-8 major to Estevez before rallying for a fall (2:36) over Werden. Suwannee’s Austin Howard (43-16) was 1-2 and Bishop Kenny’s Colin Hearn (28-14) 0-2 on Friday. After falling via tech (18-2 in 5 minutes) to Borresen, Howard came back for a 6-4 decision over Cardinal Gibbons’ Robert Limperis (15-9) in consi round 1, only to lose by fall (1:30) to Piza in round 2. Hearn lost by tech fall on the front to Williams (16-1 in 4:10) and by pin on the back to Citrus’ Logan Simpson (22-5, fall in 4:32).
160
Semis: Hoskinson (40-2) v Cameron Komat (Palm Bay, 31-2); Daniel Korchensky (Cardinal Gibbons, 15-3) v Terrell Taylor (Coral Springs Charter, 28-0).
Blood round: Ricks (38-9) v Billy Fetzner (Hernando, 30-7); Gavin Wheeler (Bishop Moore) v Izac Martinez (Clewiston, 41-6).
Local summary: Hoskinson took two front-side wins for his podium space, falling Nature Coast’s Caleb Murray (23-11) in 1:07 in the round of 16, then coming back for a 9-2 decision over Martinez in the quarters. Ricks was 2-1, with wins on both sides of the bracket. After downing Wheeler, 8-5, in the first round, Ricks fell by a 12-8 count to Korchensky, but rallied to pin Admiral Farragut’s Nicolas Sheets (18-7) in 3:36 in consi round 2. Wakulla’s Cole Baggett (41-5) was 1-2 and Florida High’s Xander Hawkes (19-21) 0-2 on Friday. After falling to Fetzner, 7-0, in the round of 16, Baggett pinned Berkeley Prep’s Andrew Crouch (1:54) in the consis, only to fall to Martinez, 8-2, in round 2. Hawkes lost by fall on the front to Komat (:57) and took a 7-1 decision loss to Sheets in consi round 1.
170
Semis: Thomas (27-0) v Khalil Mitchell (Merritt Island, 29-4); Dylan Kohn (Master’s Academy, 45-1) v Jonathan Conrad (Carrollwood Day, 44-2).
Blood round: Danny Diaz (Somerset Academy, 7-3) v Achilles Rocha (Mater Lakes, 34-5); Kyle Grey (Lincoln Park, 29-8) v Michael McCarthy (Satellite, 7-3).
Local summary: Thomas pinned his way on to the podium, with falls in the round of 16 over Jensen Beach’s Matt O’Hara (11-8) in 2:44 and over McCarthy in 5:03 in the quarters. South Walton’s Chase Maddox (19-5) and Clay’s Ethan Larsen (31-13) were both 1-2 on Friday, both with consi-side wins. Maddox lost by fall (5:55) to Rocha in the round of 16, but came back to fall Sarasota Military’s Sebastian Fassett (28-14) in 2:39, but then fell to Grey, 4-2, in consi round 2. Larsen took a 10-0 loss to Diaz, but came back with a pin over Palm Bay’s Anthony Holden (26-8, fall in 2:06) before losing by fall to McCarthy (3:45). Yulee’s Collin Sewell did not compete due to an injury sustained last weekend at Bolles for regions.
182
Semis: Hunter Eichelberger (Oasis, 33-6) v Joseph Nicolosi (Am Heritage-Delray, 32-2); Zander Owens (Palm Bay, 24-3) v Lance Schyck (Lemon Bay, 37-0).
Blood round: Sean Concepcion (Somerset Academy, 38-6) v Hisham Ramadan (Clewiston, 40-7); Payton Cramer (Admiral Farragut, 16-3) v South (13-5).
Local summary: South was 2-1 with two consi-side wins after an opening loss by fall to Concepcion (3:29), decisioning Cocoa’s Troy Sawyer (25-10), 7-3, and Bolles’ Ethan Asbury (27-9), 5-1, in consi round 2. Asbury was 1-2 and Yulee’s Keleb Reddish (17-13) 0-2 on Friday. Asbury knocked off Mater Lakes’ Matthew Cruanes (18-11), 10-5, in the round of 16, but then lost by fall to Eichelberger (2:33) in the quarters. Reddish took losses by fall to Nicolosi (1:49) on the front and Citrus’ Blake Coleman (25-3, pin in 1:46) on the back. Wakulla’s Jackson Osteen (40-5) lost by injury default on the front side to Ramadan and did not compete in the consis.
195
Semis: Scott Lynch (Northside Christian, 18-4) v Ryan Cody (Master’s Academy, 41-2); Tyre Smith (Sarasota Military, 36-0) v Mikey Tal Shahar (Am Heritage-Delray, 37-2).
Blood round: Watson (19-3) v Mercado (31-2); Perdue (35-7) v Jaeden Kinlock (Am Heritage-Plantation, 24-3).
Local summary: Watson, Mercado and Perdue all had to rally from quarterfinal losses. Perdue pinned Villages’ Jaden Markus (19-7) in 5:22 in the round of 16, only to lose by fall to Lynch (4:39) in the quarters. He then pinned Hernando’s Johnathan Ahne (28-12) in 2:27 to get to Saturday. Mercado found a takedown in sudden victory for an 11-9 win over Weeki Wachee’s Matthew Kovalskiy (31-3) in the first round, but then fell by a 15-6 count in the quarters to Smith. Mercado then rallied to fall Mulberry’s Eric Cooper (22-9) in 1:57 in consi round 2. Watson decisioned Ahne, 7-3, in the first round, but then lost by fall (1:03) to Tal Shahar in the quarters. Watson then pushed past Somerset Academy’s Joshua Oyeneye (35-8), 10-7, in consi round 2. Yulee’s Braylen Ricks (17-10) was 0-2 on Friday, with losses on the front by fall to Cody (3:01) and by decision on the back to Cooper (6-5) in consi round 1.
220
Semis: Max Ryan (Key West, 35-7) v Andrew Burnette (Jensen Beach, 39-5); Mason Arnold (Carrollwood Day, 35-0) v Pyburn (23-2).
Blood round: Stillgess (25-5) v Chase Thompson (Am Heritage-Delray, 36-3); Kidd (35-2) v Chris Spellman (Hernando, 26-4).
Local summary: Pyburn clinched his medal with one of the biggest wins in the quarters anywhere on the day, as he hit a throw for a 3-1 sudden-victory quarterfinal win over Thompson after earlier fall over Zephyrhills’ Theotis Smith (23-9) in 2:40 in the round of 16. Kidd and Stillgess were both 2-1 Friday, both with wins on both sides of the bracket. Kidd downed Villages’ Nicholas Heise, 7-4, in the round of 16, but then fell by an 8-7 count to Ryan in the quarters. Kidd then decisioned Smith, 7-4, in consi round 2. Stillgess had defeated Palm Bay’s Ozkan Aydin, 9-3, in the front side, and had Arnold on his back during the second period of the quarters before losing by fall in 4:58. He then pinned Tenoroc’s Darrin Gillians (1:49) in consi round 2. West Nassau’s Jackson Rowell (10-7) was 0-2 Friday, with losses by fall to Spellman (4:20) on the front and Gillians (4:30) on the back.
285
Semis: Matthew Jimenez (Somerset, 40-4) v Carlos Gerardino (Palm Bay, 31-5); Jordan Love (Rockledge, 36-0) v Ethan Vergara (Mater Lakes, 33-3).
Blood round: Sam Fleming (Hernando, 32-8) v Joquorius Taylor (Mulberry, 25-5); Mosley (51-1) v Desmond Mamudi (Carrollwood Day, 28-3).
Local summary: Mosley was 2-1 on the day, with a front-side 4-0 decision over Labelle’s Justin Connell (16-5) before falling to Jimenez, 6-2, in the quarters. Mosley pushed through to Saturday with a fall (4:05) over Baker Cty’s Daeshawn Larry (12-7) in consi round 2. Larry and Clay’s Ethan Daniels (33-11) were both 1-2 and Wakulla’s Jayven Hearns (36-9) was 0-2 on Friday. Larry fell on the front to Avon Park’s Chance Larsen (8-3) by fall in 2:35, but came back to hold off Zephyrhills’ Dajuan McCullough (36-9), 5-4, in consi round 1 to get to Mosley. Daniels lost by fall (1:08) to Taylor, but responded with a consi pin over Key West’s River Cutino-Lyda (1:45) before losing by fall to Mamudi (1:31) in consi round 2. Hearns fell to Mamudi, 11-4, in the round of 16, taking a loss by fall (5:53) in consi round 1 to Cardinal Gibbons’ Jertavis Black (18-4).
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