By MATMEN, Monday, 11:50 p.m.
JACKSONVILLE — Whether your preferred side was Westside, Riverside or Beachside — or you just enjoyed the Belleview — there was wrestling to be had in the Westside Roundrobin Saturday.
In the end, the host Wolverines, behind four titles and four runners-up, plus depth, had enough to win the team title, with 137 points to neighbor Riverside’s 101.
Beachside was third with 98 points, while Belleview was fourth with 68. There were three other teams in the team standings, with Baker County fifth, Paxon sixth and Sandalwood seventh, but their team points were generated by girls (recapped separately on Sunday) and combined into one team score.
Westside picked up weight-class wins from Jacob Jackson (106), Kenneth Pope (120), Nathan Williams (152) and Elijah WWilliams (195).
Jackson was 3-0 with 2 pins and a major to grab the 106 crown, with the major (10-2) over teammate Jayden Joseph the effective championship match, while Pope won twice by fall for the 126 title, pinning Beachside’s Ethan Hedrick in 4:25 to win the title.
As for the Williams brothers, Nathan (13th-2A) rolled up a 5-0 day with four pins and an 11-2 major, with his Round 3, third-period fall (5:06) over Riverside’s Cedric Livingston the difference between first and second. Elijah needed just two pins to win at 195, with a 57-second pin over Belleview’s Tate Trauthwein the effective title match.
Riverside picked up three championship efforts from Anthony Kearney (170), Thomas Jones (220) and Chavez Williams (285).
Kearney pinned his way through the 170 bracket, with three pins, including a second-period fall (3:49) over Westside’s Ponchelo Cadet for the effective title match.
Jones (10th-2A) won twice for his title, with a pin followed by an 18-12 decision over teammate Demontra Burnett for first and second, while Williams had four pins for the 285 championship, falling Belleview’s Bernard Little (no time recorded) in round 2; with Little otherwise pinning everyone else, that was the effective title.
Beachside had a lot of depth on Saturday, but could only take home one title at 138. In that weight class, the Barracudas’ Pierce Widrich (2 pins), Riverside’s Ahmir Perry (2 pins) and Westside’s Larry Spencer (pin & major) were all 2-1 against one another, with Widrich determined the bracket winner.
Belleview matched Westside’s haul of four bracket victories, thanks to wins from Christian Lewis (132), Zack McLaughlin (145), Riley Green (160) and Eric McLaughlin (182).
Lewis had two bonus-point wins at 132, with his 8-0 shutout major over the Wolverines’ Ismael Santos good enough to claim victory, while Green also won twice by bonus over two Beachside wrestlers, with his 14-5 major over the Barracudas’ Makai Mitchell clinching the weight class.
As for the McLaughlin brothers, Zach was 5-0 at 145, with a grand slam of contested victories (one pin, one tech, one major & 2 decisions); his 8-2 win in the final round over Westside’s Gha-is Cooper was the effective title match, while Eric (19th-2A) took the 182 crown with a pin and two decisions, edging Beachside’s Eddie Craig (18th-1A) by a 1-0 count in the final at that weight, thanks to an early third-period escape after riding Craig out for all of the second.
Complete results for the tournament can be found HERE. All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings
North Florida Matmen 