By MATMEN, Monday, 11:35 p.m.
SPRING HILL — Even missing a couple of starters, Fleming Island still had more than sufficient firepower to dominate the scene at Springstead’s Corey Hill Memorial two-day IBT this past weekend.
The Golden Eagles won eight of the 14 weight classes in accumulating 276 points, 86 ahead of former district and region rival Flagler Palm Coast, in taking the team title.
The 1-2 teams in the field were the only teams in the 15-team field from the coverage area. A summary follows:
Wonder twin powers: Both Shane (113) and Laird (120) Duhaylungsod rolled through their brackets in a fashion nearly as identical as the Golden Eagle sophomores are.
Shane (6th-2A) bonus-pointed through the 113 bracket, with a Friday pin over Dixie Hollins and 12-0 major over Springstead in Saturday’s semis. In the final, against Palm Harbor University’s Zach Berry (14th-3A), Duhaylungsod earned a trio of 3-point nearfalls, coupling with three takedowns en route to a 16-1 tech fall in 3:13. Shane gave up just one escape all weekend.
At 120, Laird (2nd-2A) went the pins route after getting a bye into the semis, with a fall in that round over River Ridge, followed by a second pin in the championship, over PHU’s Yosef Walsh (1:29). Laird didn’t give up any points in either match in taking the title.
Bookending the four-pack: In addition to the activated twins, Fleming completed a sweep of the first four weights, thanks to titles from Matthew Newman (106), in an all-Fleming final, and Jayce Paridon (126).
Newman (3rd-2A) pinned his way into the final, with a pair of falls over two different Weeki Wachee wrestlers, then shut out fellow Golden Eagle Jordan Mukaddam, 7-0, behind a first-period takedown and a pair of turns. Mukaddam (13th-2A) had reached the final with a pair of first-period pins over Crystal River and then over Lecanto’s Lorenzo Macatol (19th-2A).
Paridon (2nd-2A) celebrated his 16th birthday weekend by pinning his way through the 126 draw, with a Friday fall over Nature Coast and first-period pins Saturday over Palm Harbor University’s Titus Herron (3A-11th) (fall time 1:38) in the semis, polishing off the tournament with a 68-second pin over River Ridge’s Dominick Smith (8th-2A at 120). Neither Newman nor Paridon gave up any points during the weekend.
Up the middle, back-to-back: Fleming picked up two more titles at 152 and 160, with strong performances from Matthew Kotler (152) and Christopher Chop (160).
Kotler (3rd-2A) pinned his way through the 152 bracket, with a 37-second Friday pin over Nature Coast. In his two Saturday matches, Kotler took second-period falls over Weeki Wachee in the semis, and again in the final, pinning Springstead’s Arthur Walczak in 2:32 in the final. He trailed only once at any point in the tournament, and only for 30 seconds.
At 160, Chop (7th-2A) bonus-pointed through the tournament, with a Friday pin over Weeki Wachee and big bonus wins Saturday over Flagler Palm Coast (semifinal pin) and a 17-3 major over Crystal River’s Payton Godfrey (16th-1A), in which Chop had turns in each period after giving up first takedown (four nearfalls in all).
Bigs hold it down: The Golden Eagles were represented up top with titles from Joshua Sandoval (182) and Jhoel Robinson (220).
Sandoval (4th-2A) needed just 2:28 of mat time in claiming his bracket, with a Friday pin over Nature Coast and first-period pins over Mitchell (semis) and over Weeki Wachee’s Jisir Allen in 50 seconds for the title. In each match, just one takedown was all Sandoval needed to eventually get the fall, and he was unscored upon all tournament.
Robinson (2nd-2A at 195) pinned his way to the 220 final with a Friday pin over a teammate and a Saturday semifinal fall over River Ridge, breaking a scoreless tie in the final against Crystal River’s Tim Gray (4th-1A) with a key reversal 27 seconds into the third period, and made it stand up in a 2-1 win, giving up just two points all weekend.
Notes: In addition to Mukaddam at 106, Ethan Hoffstetter (2nd-2A) reached the 285 final, thanks to a Friday decision and Saturday pin, both over River Ridge wrestlers, but then couldn’t solve Dixie Hollins’ Grabiel Rodriguez (3rd-2A) in a pairing of wrestlers we could see on Saturday at states, as Rodriguez grabbed a late takedown for a 4-1 win.
As for the Bulldogs, they bagged one title on the weekend, with an additional runnerup and an additional six top-4 medalists.
At 195, Dalton Schell (7th-3A) was unseeded but didn’t let that stop him from controlling the weight class. Schell didn’t give up a single point all weekend, with two pins Friday in 2:06 over wrestlers from Mitchell and Crystal River. On Saturday, Schell shut down the Golden Eagles’ Walter Poe (19th-2A), 3-0, in the closest match he’d have all weekend, and then extended that dominance in a 7-0 win in the final over Weeki Wachee’s Jordan Jandro, making a key takedown and three penalty points work in his favor.
John Hald (8th-3A) made the final at his weight behind a pin and major, but couldn’t slow down Springstead’s Josh Gallo (2nd-2A at 145) in the final, as Gallo had turns in both the first and third period en route to a 16-0 third-period TF.
Rankings are per https://kabrawrestling.com/rankings
Results from the weekend’s tournament can be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 