BRADENTON — In a tournament dominated by southern Florida teams, mostly in the southwest Gulf region, Deltona was the only area team in competition at the two-day Bradenton Battle, hosted by Bradenton Christian over the weekend.
The Wolves finished 14th in the 26-team tournament, scoring 205 points.
Brandon outdistanced Lemon Bay, 623-526, for the team title. North Port (487), Palm Bay (476) and First Baptist (Naples) (451) rounded out the top-five teams in the event, which placed every single wrestler that competed, however many there were in a given weight class.
Kevin Kerns was the Wolves’ only wrestler to finish in the top four at his weight, taking third at 132. Kerns won his pool with pins over St Petersburg Catholic, Brandon and DeLaSalle to go 3-0 in Pool B. In the championship bracket, Kerns opened with a pin in the quarters over Sarasota, then lost by 9-0 major to Lemon Bay, the eventual runnerup, in the semi. That sent Kerns to the third-place match, where he won by a 12-8 count over a second Brandon wrestler.
Complete pool results, brackets and team scores from the weekend’s tournament can be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 