By MATMEN, Tuesday, 11:40 p.m.
DELAND — Perhaps the road to 3A-Region 1 gold is going to go through Volusia County this year.
We’ll find out on Thursday and January 20, of course, but DeLand start staking out its position last weekend, with seven double-digit wins to repeat as winners of the Bulldog Duals two-day duals tournament.
DeLand (10-6 in duals for the season) defeated Olympia (84-0), Astronaut (77-6), Viera (57-15), Raines (84-0), Ocoee (59-21), New Smyrna Beach (42-32) and Seabreeze (72-9) to take the title, good for an average margin of victory of 56 points per dual.
All but one of the Bulldogs’ starters had at least four wins over the weekend, with five going 7-0. Three of those five were max-pointers, including Edwin Salinas (106, 3 pins & win by DQ), Zane Canada (160, 5 pins) and Mason Perkins (170, 4 pins). Kellen Chapman (138, 4 pins & decision) and Mathias Franz (152, 4 pins/tech/major) also won seven matches over the weekend.
The Bulldogs got 6-1 efforts from Tyler Bracero (113, 4 pins & decision), Grady Bryant (126, 3 pins & major), Peyton Senez (132, 3 pins & major), Gavin Rodriguez-Cayro (182, 4 pins & tech) and Marion Smokes (285, 4 pins). Joshua Folsom (145, 3 pins) and Owen York (220, 3 pins) both were 5-2 for DeLand, while Garrett Perkins (195, 2 pins & major) was 4-3.
New Smyrna Beach (11-5) wound up second in the eight-team full-dual roundrobin, with wins over Viera (48-29), Olympia (48-33), Raines (72-6), Seabreeze (66-12), Astronaut (63-16) and Ocoee (60-24).
The Barracudas employed a bit more of a mix-and-match than DeLand’s same-14-in-every-dual approach. Sawyer VanRider (182/195, 2 pins & decision) was 6-0 on the weekend, while Spencer Timm (120, 6 pins) took a 6-1 tournament record.
Richard Crunkilton (113, 4 pins) and Micah Nilsson (170, 2 pins) were both 5-2 for the ‘Cudas. In regular appearances, Samuel Larkin (132, pin & decision), Kyle Nilsson (195, 3 pins) and Dylon York (220, 3 pins) were all 4-0, while Adam Novak (106, 2 pins) earned a 4-3 tournament weekend.
Next up among area teams was Olympia (9-4 overall), whhich was 4-3 and placed fourth. The Titans had wins over Seabreeze (48-30), Ocoee (42-36), Raines (54-24) and Astronaut (43-42 in criteria), taking a 57-12 loss to third-place Viera.
Zack Winkelkotter (195, 2 pins) was 5-1 for Olympia, with Madden Bourst (145, 2 pins & decision), Ethan Rivera-Mendez (152/160, 4 pins) and Phillip Lamendola (182, 3 pins) all checking in with 5-2 records. Jorge Carpio (152/160, 3 pins) was 4-2 for Olympia, while Tony Ho (126/132, 3 pins) was 4-3 for the Titans.
Seabreeze, at 2-5 for the tournament (2-11 overall), was sixth, with wins over Ocoee (48-36) and Raines (60-12), plus losses not noted above to Astronaut (59-24) and Viera (58-18).
William Sites (120, 5 pins), Antonio Serrano (138/145, 3 pins) and Jackson Pruett (195, 3 pins & decision) were all 5-2 for the Sandcrabs, while River Gray (126/132, 2 pins) was 4-2 and Aiden Hedge (152/160, 4 pins) 4-3 for Seabreeze.
Ocoee’s lone win was a 75-6 victory over Raines over round 1, with losses not noted above to Viera (54-27) and Astronaut (43-42 in criteria).
For the Knights (3-8), Deandre Scott (285, 6 pins) was a 7-0 max-pointer, while Keniel Carrasquillo (220, 3 pins & decision) was 6-0. Andy Delva (170, 4 pins) had a 6-1 record, while Nazzio Huyler (106, 2 pins, win by injury-default) was 5-2 and Wayne Brady (120, 4 pins) earned a 4-3 weekend.
Raines (0-12) had additional losses against Viera (66-9) and Astronaut (54-18) not noted above, with Jay’Quan Vaughn (113, 2 pins) earning the Vikings’ top record, as he was 4-2.
You can see a full set of box scores from the weekend’s competition HERE.
North Florida Matmen 