By MATMEN, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.
NEPTUNE BEACH — Fletcher’s a team that is built more for the IBT post-season run than for duals, at least until a couple more kids could catch some mat time.
And after a Round 2 loss Saturday to Buchholz in the Senators’ inaugural Beachside Brawl, another OK-but-not-great day was looking to ensue, what with the next two duals bringing up a team that Fletcher had lost to at district duals, and a newly-minted state duals qualifier.
No problem; the Senators simply beat both Bartram Trail and Episcopal by double digits in each dual (51-30 and 47-33, respectively); combined with an earlier 69-12 win over Mainland and a day-completing 78-6 victory over First Coast, that gave Fletcher (10-12 for the season) the Brawl team title.
Four Senator wrestlers — Landon Locantora (106, 3 pins), Cole O’Brien (4th-3A at 132, competing at 126 as well, tech & decision), Josh Daltro (4th-3A at 160, 5 pins) and Toby Matson (2nd-3A at 285, 3 pins) — were all 5-0 on the day.
Elisha Purdy (152, 3 pins & decision) also was unbeaten at 4-0, while Jimi Baur (113, 2 pins), Bryson Henson (120, pin) and Theo Brase (182, 2 pins) contributed 4-1 days. Noah Stidfole (138/145, 2 pins & decision) put up a 3-1 record, while Elias Twigg (132/138, pin & decision) and Joseph Kohlhaas (170, pin) were both 3-2.
Bartram Trail (20-9) did come into Saturday a bit short-handed, with with three weights missing at the low end and the middle a bit more mix-and-match. Still, the Bears took wins over Buchholz (42-36), First Coast (54-12), Mainland (51-11) and Episcopal (45-36).
Ethan Vugman (1st-3A at 126, competing at 132/138, 5 pins), John McNames (9th-3A at 182, also competing at 195, 3 pins & decision) and Shane Armstrong (5th-3A at 220, 4 pins & decision) all were 5-0 for Bartram.
Jacob Becker (106/113, 3 pins), Grady Hutchinson (145/152, 4 pins) and Jacob George (285, 3 pins) each were 3-1 for the Bears, with Bryson Biddle adding in a 3-2 tournament (2 pins) at 152.
Episcopal and Buchholz were both 3-2 in the tournament. The Eagles (21-5 in overall duals) took victorys over First Coast (72-12), Mainland (72-9) and Buchholz (42-35) in the first three rounds, despite a small bit of short-handedness themselves, missing three starters.
Levi Ritter (120, 2 pins) was ESJ’s lone 5-0 wrestler on Saturday, while Scott Busey (10th-1A at 126, decision), John Fernandez (16th-1A at 160, 4 pins), Brennan Doherty (11th-1A at 170, 2 pins) and Christian McGarity (16th-1A at 182, 2 pins) all 4-1.
Cohen Chesser (10th-1A at 138, 2 pins & decision), Baylor Maurer (145, 2 pins), and Ben Blatt (152, pin & decision) were all 3-2 as well for the Eagles.
As for the Bobcats (7-5 for season), they bounced back from losses to Bartram and Episcopal with the only win over Fletcher (42-36), plus wins over First Coast (54-30) and Mainland (54-6).
Jun Jie Zheng (113, 3 pins), Cavarius Liddie (2nd-3A at 132, competing at 138, 4 pins & tech), Max Szabo (11th-3A at 170, competing at 182 also, 4 pins) and Kason Nichols (4th-3A at 195, competing at 220 also, 4 pins) were each 5-0 for Buchholz.
Laine Slayton (145, 3 pins) and Bryan Diehl (220/285, 4 pins) both added 4-1 days for the Bobcats.
First Coast had its first duals tournament of the season, with a 36-24 win over Mainland in round 3. The Buccaneers had five wrestlers with two wins; Derric Jacobs (285, pin) led the team with a 3-1 day.
As for Mainland, with just five wrestlers in the lineup, things were going to be tough from the jump, but three of them had three wins each, as Hayden Heilman (160, 3 pins) and Micah McGuire (220, 3 pins) were both 3-1 and Sam Ayodele (152/160/170, 3 pins) was 3-2 for the Buccaneers.
Complete results for the tournament can be found HERE. All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings
North Florida Matmen 