FERNANDINA BEACH — Rather than drive the whole way into Nassau County, the coastal-based Fletcher team used a mixture car and boat, taking the St Johns Ferry over to Fernandina Beach Tuesday night.
After traveling partially by sea, the Senators took care of business on land against the Pirates, overcoming a 21-4 deficit at one point to take a 34-30 victory.
The teams largely traded points in the first two weights, with Elisha Purdy’s 13-0 major for Fletcher giving the Senators a 4-3 edge after Cole Misciagna (145) had posted a 12-6 win for Fernandina Beach. The Pirates (12-7 in duals for the season) then took back-to-back-to-back pins via Enzo Gamba (160), Brooks Rohe (170) and Lucas Crawford (182) to go up, 21-4.
Fletcher (24-10) would get those 18 back, thanks to falls from Dylan Tate (195) and Logan Locantora (106), plus a forfeit win at 106. However, the Pirates regained the lead at 24-22 on Cael Kubatzke’s 7-3 at 120.
But the Senators had a couple more answers, putting away the dual with a 12-0 flurry on pins from Cole O’Brien (126) and Fred Saporita (132), with Saporita’s fall clinching the dual. The night ended with Dietrich Woods’ pin at 138 for Fernandina Beach.
Fernandina Beach goes right back on the mat Wednesday night with an away dual at Bishop Kenny, while Fletcher will be looking to defend its Gateway Conference title on Friday and Saturday at Sandalwood.
Land O’Lakes 51, Belleview 30: At Land O’Lakes, the visiting Diamondbacks (season record unknown) took five pins, including three in a row from 170 through 195, but a short-handed lineup hurt their chances against the hosts.
Zackery Young (120), Mark Willis (132), Cornelius Bentley-Greene (170), Eric McLaughlin (182) and Tate Trauthwein (195) all won by fall for Belleview, with the Diamondback upper weights closing out the dual on an up note.
Belleview is now off until Saturday, when it will host the one-day Diamondback Duals.
RESULTS: Box scores from Tuesday night’s dual can be found HERE.
MISSING: We have a lot of missing results, from several teams around the coverage area, and we need YOUR help to clean that up. Please check out our SCHEDULE PAGE; if your school is listed as pending, or an event in which you took part is pending, see if your coach can send in your team’s part of that event. We will post results at any time of year, no matter how late they are when they are sent.