By MATMEN, Wednesday, 11:25 p.m.
MIDDLEBURG — Many teams are starting to introduce the Alumni Night concept in their dual seasons and giving it as much space as their Senior Nights.
On Middleburg’s Alumni Night, just a couple of days before the Broncos are set to tangle with three Clay County rivals in the FHSAA region round of duals competition, they got a tuneup from Fletcher and a chargeup from the alumni attendance.
And the result was a 51-27 Middleburg victory. The Broncos (15-3) will take that momentum into Thursday’s 2A-Region 1 quarterfinal against Clay.
Middleburg won three in a row between 132-145 and put another four-weight win streak between 170 and 220. Bryan Davis (113), Grady Woodard (120), Logan Moore (145), Aden Thornton (170), Brad Darnold (182) and Porter Loveland (195) all had pins for the Broncos, while Joseph Forte (138) took an 18-3 tech-fall win and Wyatt Leduc grabbed a 15-4 major at 132.
Fletcher (6-11) got pins from Landon Locantora (106), Cole O’Brien (132) and Josh Daltro (160), plus a 7-6 win at 152 from Elisha Purdy.
In girls competition, Middleburg won both matches, as Sara Walsh (120) and Cheyenne Cruce (190) both won with pins.
While the Broncos are at Fleming Island on Thursday, the Senators are off until Saturday, when they’ll host the inaugural Beachside Brawl.
Ocoee 42, Apopka 30: At Ocoee, in another Alumni Night event put on in Orange County this time, the host Knights did their alumni proud, taking wins at every weight from 160-285.
Ocoee (3-2) used five forfeits to push ahead of their district rivals, but the Knights also got falls from Andrew Williams (195) and Keniel Carrasquillo (220) to secure the win.
Apopka (2-3) got one last tuneup in before Wednesday night’s 2A-Region 1 duals competition at Olympioa, with pins from Carter White (126), Sebastian Olivencia-Grafals (132), Haziel Armendariz (138) and Jermaine Benyoun (145), plus decisions from Tahj Paillant (5-1 at 120) and Demetreez Ramsey-Booker (12-10 at 152).
The Knights are now off until Saturday’s 17th Ed Kilpatrick Classic, a one-day IBT hosted by Citrus.
Ocoee girls 33, Apopka 30: Also at Ocoee, the hosts put on a three-match run between 145-170 to secure the dual victory.
Ocoee got pins from Valerie Marte (120), Layla Ceballos (145) and Cierra Young (170), plus a 7-6 win from Hannah Haworth at 155.
Apopka kept things tight behind pins from Hananeel Gregoire (100), Shelby Sherman (115), Samantha Sherman (125), Nehemie Gregoire (135) and Jada Jones (190).
Milton splits double dual: At Daphne AL, Milton (4-12) split a pair of duals against Alabama teams, with a 45-30 loss to host Bayside Academy and a 33-21 win over Davidson.
Alexis Brown (106, pin), Aireaana Gavere (132, pin) and Nolan Ellis (152/160, 2 pins) were double winners for the Panthers.
Additionally, Tyler Green (220) won by pin against Bayside, with Cyprian Castillo (126) and Julian Fuentes (170) took falls over Davidson.
Milton will next be at Wewahitchka’s Gator Brawl on Friday and Saturday.
Bozeman 60, Rutherford 22: In the battle of 1A-District 1 rivals, the host Bucks (7-7) took six pins in the victory.
Isaac Parrish (106), Sam Elsner (120), Daniel Pierce (152), Ana Joyner (170), Zachary Rosalis (182) and Asher Burris (220) all won by fall for Bozeman.
Rutherford (7-4) gained a pin from Dylan Malott (113), while Augustine Lurvey won by a 20-8 major decision at 132.
Like Milton, the Bucks and Rams will both be at Gator Brawl starting on Friday.
Tocoi Creek 66, Palatka 17: At Tocoi Creek, the hosts took advantage of a short-handed Panther lineup, but also grabbed a majority of the contested matches as well.
Willie Sims (132), Mark Coniker (138), Ryland McGinley (152), Daniel Hageman (160), Michael Soffian (195) and Jason Callahan (285) all won by fall for the Toros (5-2).
Palatka (3-7) got pins from Mikade Harvey (145) and Kason Bradford (220).
Both teams were right back in action, both on the road, Wednesday night, as Tocoi Creek was at Nease and Palatka at Flagler Palm Coast.
Keystone Heights 48, Bishop Snyder 24: At Keystone, the hosts picked up four pins and added as many forfeit victories in the home victory.
Riley McGorty (120), Luke Graves (138), Canyon Hayes (145) and Steven Raab (220) all won by fall for the Indians (3-8).
Bishop Snyder (1-12) earned pins from Amari Akel (152), Joseph Miranda (160) and Dan Brandenburg (195).
Keystone Heights will be at Wolfson’s Wolfpack Challenge on Saturday, while Bishop Snyder will compete at the Parker Duals, hosted by Terry Parker, also on Saturday.
Riverside double dual: At Riverside, Mandarin faced off against a pair of Gateway Conference rivals, splitting two duals, with a 60-18 loss to Westside and a 33-23 victory over the host Generals Westside (12-3) and Riverside (unknown record due to missing result) did not wrestle each other.
Isaiah Diltz (160) and Xavier McNeill (182) each had two pins for the Mustangs (3-12); William Jackson (285) won by pin over Westside, while Brendan Warren powered through to a 7-6 win in the Riverside dual at 152.
The Wolverines got pins from Ponchelo Cadet (170), Kenneth Pope (120), Ismael Santos (126), Olleon Hickmon (138), Gha-is Cooper (145) and Nathan Williams (152).
Riverside took contested victories on pins from Tyler Leonard (120) and Anthony Kearney (170), with Thomas Jones (285) winning by third-period tech fall (25-9 in 4:55).
In the lone girls’ match of the evening, Westside’s Trayce Goodman (235) won by fall over Riverside.
Riverside had a tri-meet on Wednesday with Raines and Baldwin, while Mandarin and Westside will reconvene on Saturday at the Westside Roundrobin.
Missing dual: We did not get a report from Ocoee on the Knights’ dual with Apopka. If we get that during the course of this week, we will update this recap to reflect.
Results from Tuesday’s duals can all be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 