By MATMEN, Wednesday, 9:55 p.m.
OVIEDO — The two-day Johnny Rouse Duals do more than start to work out who the strongest teams in Region 1 are. They do some of the bigger head-to-head work, in the duals concept, as to which teams are the best in the state.
And the northern teams in attendance at Hagerty this weekend learned they have some catching up to do in comparison to programs like 1A state duals champ Jensen Beach, like 2A powerhouses Merritt Island and Winter Springs. And all learned — as so many have — that arguably the best public school in the deep South remains Camden.
Six local teams competed in the duals event. A summary of their tournaments follows.
5. Lincoln (3-4 tournament & overall) —
Wins: Hagerty (46-33) & Oakleaf (48-33) in blue pool; DeLand (48-33) in 1st-6th pool.
Additional losses not noted above: Camden (71-4) in blue pool; Jensen Beach (56-21), Winter Springs (42-34) & Merritt Island (52-21) in the 1st-6th pool.
MVP: Connor Edwards (160, 6th-2A). Edwards was one of four Trojan wrestlers to go 5-2 on the weekend, winning all of his matches in pool, including scoring Lincoln’s only contested win (a 10-2 major) over Camden. On Saturday, Edwards decisioned Jensen Beach’s Colten Byrd (8th-1A), 11-8, and had a fall over DeLand’s Zane Canada (3A-15th).
Hidden in the box scores: In Saturday’s second day, the Trojans got two powerhouse 2A matchups, plus the 1A duals state champ, plus the recently crowned 3A-District 2 champ. Only one Lincoln wrestler, Vaniel Caceres (9th-2A at 113) ran through with a 4-0 day. Caceres had pins over Winter Springs and Merritt Island.
6. DeLand (1-6 tournament, 3-6 overall) —
Wins: North Bay Haven (63-18) in grey pool.
Additional losses not noted above: Merritt Island (45-25) in grey pool; Camden (67-12), Jensen Beach (50-18), Winter Springs (42-30) & Merritt Island (56-22) in 1st-6th pool.
MVP: Marion (MJ) Smokes (285, 7th-3A). Smokes largely dominated most of the opponents put in front of him, needing just 5:40 of mat time to rack up six falls. Most of that time was needed to pin NBH’s Logan McAlister (5th-1A), in 2:28; Smokes had first-period pins over Merritt Island (twice), Camden, Lincoln’s Ryder Luck (13th-2A) and Winter Springs.
Hidden in the box scores: A lot of solid Bulldog kids struggled after the high of winning the district duals just two days before, but Mathias Franz (19th-3A at 152) put in solid work, going 5-1, with his only loss against a Camden state placer. Franz had pins over Jensen Beach and Lincoln, adding decisions Friday over NBH’s Bear Siegal (11th-1A, 6-1 count) and Saturday over Winter Springs (8-6).
8. Oakleaf (3-3 tournament, 7-5 overall) —
Wins: Hagerty (43-36) in blue pool; North Bay Haven (58-21) & Matanzas (47-29) in 7th-11th pool.
Additional losses not noted above: Camden County (70-6) in blue pool; Olympic Heights (56-13) in 7th-11th pool.
MVP: Angel Rodriguez (113). Rodriguez was the only Clay County Knight to go 6-0 on the weekend, with a pin and three decisions, including one of just two against Camden (15-12) in pool play. He decisioned Lincoln’s Caceres, 4-3, in pool play, and took an 11-6 win over Olympic Heights’ Alex Schnobrick (13th-3A at 106) in the crossover pool, with a fall over North Bay Haven.
Hidden in the box scores: Several Knights were 4-2 in the tournament, but Bryant Taylor (19th-2A)’s version at 170, in particular, proved to be pretty useful, as he took a 7-5 win over Camden on Friday, then added pins over both Lincoln and North Bay Haven, plus a tech fall (24-8) win over Matanzas’ Landon Wright (20th-2A).
9. North Bay Haven (1-5 tournament, 4-5 overall) —
Wins: Hagerty (42-36) in the 7th-11th pool.
Additional losses not noted above: Merritt Island (60-15) in grey pool; Matanzas (41-34) & Olympic Heights (63-9 in the 7th-11th pool.
MVP: David Mercado (195, 3rd-1A). Mercado pinned his way through the tournament, something only one other Region 1 wrestler would do during the weekend. That itinerary included falls over Olympic Heights’ Jackson Boileau (17th-3A), but also falls over DeLand, Merritt Island, Matanzas, Oakleaf and Hagerty.
Hidden in the box scores: Although he did take one loss by fall against Merritt Island, the weekend that Zander Stillgess put together at 138 was a solid one, particularly with just one contested win at 106 through 132 for the Buccaneers. Stillgess was 5-1, with 3 pins (DeLand, Oakleaf and Hagerty) and had just one of two wins for NBH over Olympic Heights, a 7-5 decision.
10. Hagerty (1-5 tournament & overall) —
Wins: Matanzas (39-26) in the 7th-11th pool.
Additional losses not noted above: Camden County (69-12) in blue pool; Olympic Heights (61-16) in 7th-11th pool.
MVP: Nikolas Blake (132/138, 5th at 3A-132). Blake joined Mercado in pinning his way through the tournament, going 6-0 over the two days. That included pins over Lincoln, Oakleaf and Camden on Friday (he had just one of the Huskies’ two wins over the Wildcats). On Saturday, Blake falled Olympic Heights, Matanzas’ Carter Wilder (7th-2A) and North Bay Haven to complete the sweep.
Hidden in the box scores: Hagerty’s other super-frosh, Benjamin Wolgamuth (13th-3A) was 5-1 at 126, with his one loss only to Camden. Wolgamuth had pins over Oakleaf and North Bay Haven, took an 8-0 major over Olympic Heights, and had decisions over Lincoln’s Jashawn Washington (12th-2A, 12-6 win) and over Matanzas’ Toryion Stallings (10th-2A, 12-8 count).
11. Matanzas (1-6 tournament, 6-6 overall) —
Wins: North Bay Haven (41-34) in the 7th-11th pool.
Additional losses not noted above: Winter Springs (56-22), Jensen Beach (57-19) and Olympic Heights (47-29) in black pool; Olympic Heights (42-19) in the 7th-11th pool.
MVP: Timothy McLean (3rd at 2A-106). The Pirates had a very, very tough pool, and it showed in the records. So McLean’s ability to go 7-0 was especially resonant. He had four pins (Winter Springs, Olympic Heights, North Bay Haven & Hagerty, with a pin over OH’s Mason Boni, 20th-3A at 113), a 13-5 major over Schnobrick (also noted as ranked earlier in recap), a tech fall over Oakleaf’s Connor Barnes (18th-2A) and a 4-0 decision wins over Jensen Beach’s Ben Norris (13th-1A).
Hidden in the box scores: Matanzas typically is solid in the middles, but they struggled some against the competition. That made Dylan Parkinson’s 6-1 day at 152/160 a bright light. Parkinson (11th-2A at 152) had four tech-fall victories (most of anyone in Region 1), teching opponents from Olympic Heights (2x), Hagerty and Oakleaf, with a pin over North Bay Haven.
Rankings are per https://kabrawrestling.com/rankings
Results from Saturday’s tournament can be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 