By MATMEN, Tuesday, 12:50 a.m.
LAKE CITY — Clay picked up its second duals title in as many weekends on Saturday.
At Columbia’s one-day Tiger Duals event, the Blue Devils defeated four different opponents to first win their pool and then the championship crossover.
Mosley was second in both pool and crossover, although the Dolphins needed tiebreaker criteria as opposed to Hilton Head (SC) and Union County to take that spot. Union County was fourth, host Columbia fifth, Liberty County sixth and Interlachen seventh.
Below follows a summary —
1. Clay (4-0 tournament, 9-1 overall)
Wins: Interlachen (84-0) and Mosley (54-21) in pool play & Union County (72-12) and Hilton Head (53-27) in the championship crossover.
MVP: Rylan Herrera (126). Herrera max-pointed through the day, going 4-0 with pins over Mosley, Union County and Hilton Head as one of three Blue Devil wrestlers to post four wins, one of two that was a max-pointer.
Hidden in the box scores: Clay sent out 20 wrestlers over the course of the day, with tag-team combinations at 120 (Lemuel Kirkland/Drew Holmquist), 132 (Zack Deaton/Vontae Burke) and 195 (Brody Lyda/Aaron Stacey) that went 12-0 as a six-pack, with eight pins and a major (Deaton & Burke combined to rep the 132 class with four of those falls).
2. Mosley (2-2 tournament & overall)
Wins: Interlachen (78-0) in pool play & Hilton Head (42-39) in the championship crossover.
MVP: Elijah Nolan (106). Nolan took pins in each of the Dolphins’ first three rounds, with falls over Interlachen, Clay and Hilton Head; his win by forfeit against Union County assured a 4-0 max-point day. He was Mosley’s only unbeaten 4-0 competitor.
Hidden in the box scores: Aside from a loss to Clay, the performance of Isaac Biddle (132) was spot on, as he otherwise was 3-0 with pins over Interlachen, Hilton Head and Union County. Biddle was one of five Dolphins to go 3-1, but the only one with all pins.
4. Union County (3-2 tournament, 6-6 overall)
Wins: Columbia (48-20) and Liberty County (54-24) in pool play & Mosley (48-36) in the championship crossover.
MVP: Alexander Cortese (182). One of only six wrestlers to compete in all five of the Tigers’ duals, Cortese was the only 5-0 max-pointer of the group. with a key fall in the criteria-loss Union took against Hilton Head.
Hidden in the box scores: After an opening-round loss to Columbia, Ethan Shea (138) rallied for four pins over the rest of the day, falling wrestlers from Liberty, Hilton Head, Clay and Mosley.
5. Columbia (2-2 tournament & overall)
Wins: Liberty County (28-23) in pool play & Interlachen (42-24) in the consi crossover.
MVP: Jayden Thomas (138). Thomas bonus-pointed through the tournament; after a tech-fall win over Union County in the hosts’ opening dual, Thomas racked up pins over Hilton Head, Liberty County and Interlachen for a 4-0 day.
Hidden in the box scores: Alexander Ulloa (145) didn’t appear in all four duals on Saturday, but was unbeaten in the three in which he did appear, with key decisions against both Union County and Hilton Head, plus a pin over Interlachen to go 3-0.
6. Liberty County (1-3 tournament & overall)
Wins: Interlachen (30-18) in the consi crossover.
MVP: Hunter Brown (126/132). Brown max-pointed through the draw to a 4-0 day for the Bulldogs, with pins over Hilton Head and Union County in pool play and a third fall over Interlachen.
Hidden in the box scores: The Bulldogs were 17-3 in individual matches over the course of the weekend, with just five wrestlers. Their newest one, Mason Geiger (220), overcame an early loss to Hilton Head with two pins (Union County & Interlachen) and three victories on the day.
7. Interlachen (0-4 tournament, 2-10 overall)
MVP: George Rodriguez (182). The Rams did not have a contested victory on Saturday, but Rodriguez’s spot in the lineup did net the group two forfeit wins against Liberty County and Columbia.
Rankings are per https://kabrawrestling.com/rankings
Results from Friday’s tournament can be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 