MT DORA — Wednesday concluded a successful season in 1A-District 6 competition for Seabreeze under first-year head coach Paul Shuler.
The Sandcrabs posted their second runnerup finish in district competition this year on Wednesday, duplicating their duals effort with a second-place finish in the IBT component as well.
Seabreeze scored 156 points on the day, 49.5 behind champion and host Mt Dora. Deltona was fourth in the eight-team event, scoring 140 points, comfortably ahead of fifth-place Tavares but 9.5 back of third-place Bishop Moore.
The Sandcrabs will advance nine wrestlers automatically to next weekend’s Region 2 tournament at Palm Bay, with three champions, three runners-up and three 4ths. Deltona will take eight automatic qualifiers onward to the next round, with two champions and six 3rds.
Below follows a summary of the day, for both teams in the coverage area and their Region 2 individual qualifiers —
106: In a three-person bracket, Seabreeze freshman William Sites (16-10) had a bye into the final, taking his first district title with a pin in that round over Mt Dora’s Brayden Brown in 1:59.
113: Sandcrabs sophomore River Gray (9-22) earned his second region appearance and first in 1A. After a loss by TF (17-0) to the eventual champ from Mt Dora in the quarters, Gray secured his space with a blood-round fall in 1:11, but then fell to Bishop Moore, 10-8, in the third-place match.
126 (no coverage-area automatic qualifiers at 120): Seabreeze junior Wyatt Sites (22-11) reached the final after a quarterfinal bye and 7-5 semifinal win over Deltona sophomore Kyle Yasses to earn his first region qualification, losing by TF (17-2) in the final to Bishop Moore’s Mason Medina. Yasses (30-17, front-side pin) added two more pins in the consis to wrestle back to third and his first region appearance, pinning First Academy in 12 seconds in the medal round.
132: The district’s only all-coverage area final saw Deltona junior Kevin Kerns (39-8) advance to regions for the third time, first time as champion, with a fall in 1:32 in the final over Seabreeze senior Joseph Kent (27-8), who qualified out for the third time as well to the region level. Both had quarterfinal byes, with Kent falling Tavares (1:04) and Kent pinning Bishop Moore (1:52) in the semis.
145 (no coverage-area automatic qualifiers at 138): Sandcrabs sophomore Hayden Herndon (17-7) picked up his second region appearance here, pinning his way to his first district title behind falls in the semis over Deltona freshman Matt McCaw (1:16) and again in the title match over Bishop Moore’s Matthew Marino (1:56). McCaw (7-7) wrestled back to third behind two quick pins as well, falling Atlantic (1:17) in the medal match.
152: Deltona senior Zane Hair (11-15) placed third, earning his second region appearance after a year away, while Seabreeze freshman Aiden Hedge (3-9) was fourth, as Hair won by fall in eight seconds in the third-place match. Earlier, after a bye into the semis, Hair took a 12-2 loss to Mt Dora, but made sure of regions with a 38-second fall in the blood round over Tavares. After a bye in the quarters, Hedge lost by fall (1:51) to the eventual champion from Leesburg, but moved on with a bye in the consi semis.
160: Deltona senior Noah Hancock (11-28) earned his first region tournament appearance, rallying from a 7-5 semifinal loss to the eventual champ from Mt Dora behind a 51-second pin over Tavares for third place.
170: Seabreeze freshman Brogan Kelly (3-14) placed fourth and moved on to regions, taking a loss by fall (1:09) to the eventual runnerup from Atlantic in the semis, followed by a 10-6 loss to Tavares in the third-place match.
195 (no coverage-area wrestlers at 182): In a three-person bracket, Seabreeze junior Jackson Pruett (4-6) reached the final behind a semifinal pin (1:31) over Deltona junior Nate Tsang (11-18), going on to take a loss by fall (:46) to Mt Dora’s Russell Fickett in the championship match. Tsang received a bye for third place.
220: Seabreeze junior Pedro Sierra-Bonilla (27-7) pinned his way through three rounds to win the Sandcrabs’ third title of the day, with falls over Bishop Moore (1:28, quarters), over Deltona freshman Wyatt Keckler (1:47, semis) and over Tavares’ Chase Stockman in 26 seconds to win the gold. Keckler (7-20) won his way back to third in the consis, with a bye into the third-place match, where he pinned Bishop Moore in 90 seconds.
285: After a year away from the region tournament, Deltona junior Nathan Hatch (39-10) won his first district championship. After a bye into the semis, Hatch pinned First Academy (1:52) in that round, coming back for a second bonus-point win with a 14-2 major in the finals over Mt Dora’s Miguel Suarez.
You can see complete brackets from this tournament and other 1A contested brackets in Regions 1 & 2 and throughout the state HERE.
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