Cutting to the chase…
We’ve got just two more regions to go in our analysis of which district won each of the 12 region tournaments in Florida. Next up is Region 2 in 2A. Which geographic area would win? Orlando area? Lakeland/Brandon? Tampa proper, or points north?
We’ll start with a count of the most points scored by district.
While three of the four districts in 2A-Region 2 had teams with 100+ points, the 2-3 punch of Harmony & Winter Springs generated more than three-quarters of District 5’s points, allowing the 5s to pull away from the others. It was still close, though, as the 5s’ margin of victory was a little less than one point per region slot.
- District 5: 466 points.
- District 6: 416.5
- District 8: 361
- District 7: 329
How about state qualifiers?
The race between Districts 5 and 6 was just as close in terms of region medals. The 6s wound up with the most champions (five) and finalists (10), but the 5s answered with just a little more depth. District 7, with four Tampa Jesuit champions, matched the 5s’ number of champs.
- District 5: 18 qualifiers (4 1st, 5 2nd, 5 3rd, 4 4th).
- District 6: 17 qualifiers (5 1st, 5 2nd, 4 3rd, 3 4th).
- District 7: 12 qualifiers (4 1st, 2 2nd, 3 3rd, 3 4th).
- District 8: 9 qualiifers (1 1st, 2 2nd, 2 3rd, 4 4th).
I also like to look at the depth each region has. One measuring indicator I use is to calculate the depth of each district by compiling the win-loss records of each district’s competitors. This was a very close race between the 5s and 6s through 160 (the 6s had a better win percentage through that weight class), but from 170 on up District 5 rolled up a 48-28 record, while the 6s — even with region champs at 170 and 220 — were 25-35.
- District 5: 114-90
- District 6: 88-91
- District 7: 81-89 (47.65% win percentage)
- District 8: 101-114 (46.98% win percentage).
While the lead for District 5 was quite narrow in terms of points scored and state qualifiers, the 5s had a substantially higher number of wins (the 6s can, and might, claim that they got more mileage out of the wins they had).
Now, for the What Ifs. In MOST cases, there will be a true 4th; there would not be a true 2nd if the runnerup and 3rd-place wrestler met in the semis or quarters, that match would be determinative.
106: No true 2nd or 4th.
113: True 2nd — Runnerup Jonathan Dominguez (Springstead) would face 3rd-place Danny Vargas (Tampa Jesuit). No true 4th.
120: True 2nd — Runnerup Alex Walker (Lake Gibson) would face 3rd-place Darrell Tabor (Brandon). That would be a rematch of the District 6 final, where Walker won by third-period fall. True 4th — Matches Tampa Jesuit’s Christopher Albo (qualified 4th) against Winter Springs’ Ryan Phillips.
126: True 2nd — Runnerup Brent McNichols (Harmony) would face 3rd-place Hayden Whidden (Lake Gibson). True 4th — River Ridge’s Dominick Smith (qualified 4th) would face Lecanto’s Diego Mendez in a rematch of the District 8 final, which Mendez won by a 1-0 count.
132: True 4th — Matches Gaither’s James Simpson (qualified 4th) against Edgewater’s Rocco Vargas.
138: True 2nd — Runnerup Fletcher Small (Harmony) would face third-place Riley Chapdelaine (Winter Springs) in a rematch of the District 5 final, which Small won by decision, 10-5. True 4th — Matches Springstead’s Joe Gallo (qualified 4th) against Pasco’s Jack Evans. That would also be a finals rematch, from District 8, which Gallo won by 5-0 decision.
145: True 4th — Matches Winter Springs’ Davis Deal (qualified 4th) against Gulf’s Dmytriy Snitko.
152: True 2nd — Runnerup Frank Diaz (Brandon) would face 3rd-place Hamzah Mohamad (Freedom, Tampa). True 4th — This is a tough one, because this would match up Winter Springs’ Elijah Penton (qualified 4th) against Pasco’s Savion Spaights. They’d met in the quarters, though, with Spaights winning by fall; fair play to Penton, though, for winning three decisions on the back to get back to the medal round.
160: True 2nd — Runnerup Harlan McCandless (Winter Springs) would face 3rd-place Frank Solorzano (Lake Gibson). True 4th — Matches Pasco’s Devin Jernigan (qualified 4th) against Hillsborough’s John Milian.
170: True 2nd — Runnerup Joe Burgess (Winter Springs) would face 3rd-place Will Jacobson (Harmony) in a rematch of the District 5 final, which Jacobson won by 13-8 decision. No true 4th.
182: True 4th — Matches River Ridge’s Aidan Benjamin (qualified 4th) against Lake Gibson’s Connor Hackett.
195: True 2nd — Runnerup Sebastian Riviere (Gaither) would face 3rd-place Amir Burgess (Pasco). No true 4th.
220: True 2nd — Runnerup Kyle Curl (Springstead) would face 3rd-place Cassidy Grubbs (Pasco) in a rematch of the District 8 final. Curl won that match with a 6-2 decision. True 4th — Matches Harmony’s Nelson Toro (qualified 4th) against Freedom, Tampa’s Trent Ifamilik.
285: True 4th — Matches Brandon’s Cedric Ellis (qualified 4th) against Fivay’s Jarod Scott.
Next up — time permitting this week — will be Region 3 in 2A, which will wrap up the 2A regions.
North Florida Matmen 