By MATMEN, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
4th Annual George Mulligan Memorial (Boys IBT)
When & where: Friday & Saturday at Bay.
Teams in the field: From the coverage area, Arnold, Bozeman, Choctaw, Crestview, Destin, Florida High, Freeport, Ft Walton Beach, Gulf Breeze, Liberty County, Marianna, Milton, Mosley, Niceville, North Bay Haven, Pace, Ridgeview, Rocky Bayou Christian, Rutherford, South Walton, Tate, Wewahitchka.
From out-of-state, Alabama’s Orange Beach and Georgia’s Coffee County, Colquitt County, Montgomery County, Shaw, Thomas County Central and Valdosta will compete.
Defending champion: Ft Walton Beach.
Returning individual champions: Derrick Williams (Bay); Jay Brown (Liberty County); Isaac Brinson (South Walton); Romero Black (Rutherford); David Mercado (North Bay Haven).
Synopsis: This would probably be the premier Panhandle-based tournament not named Border Wars of the regular season, and with the Georgia powerhouses like Coffee and Valdosta and solid programs like Colquitt, TCC and Montgomery, it could almost be a match for the Border Wars field. It’s one of the rare IBTs that places out fully, rather than serve as a double-elimination event, and that allows inexperienced kids to get a few more matches in than they otherwise would. The three 2A-District 1 programs, Gulf Breeze, Ft Walton and Pace, would be the most likely teams to challenge the Georgians; I’m not 100% sure on what Valdosta had back, I like Coffee County as my preliminary favorite. There will be a girls IBT on Saturday; we will preview that on Friday.
Florida state-ranked wrestlers (listed by weight class in ranked order) —
106: Jasper Croom (Florida High, 1st-1A); Garrett Ferguson (Gulf Breeze, 8th-2A); Nathan Lyttle (South Walton, 17th-1A); James Oliver (Arnold, 19th-2A).
113: Derrick Williams (Bay, 1st-1A); Aiden Macken (Gulf Breeze, 9th-2A); Dewan Richardson (Florida High, 18th-1A).
120: Jay Brown (Liberty County, 4th-1A); Zak Vosburgh (Ft Walton Beach, 11th-2A); Coby Shields (Gulf Breeze, 16th-2A); Jake Parker (Wewahitchka, 16th-1A); Leonardo Sanchez (Bay, 20th-1A).
126: Isaac Brinson (South Walton, 7th-1A).
132: Nate Weber (Gulf Breeze, 12th-2A); Gibson Moore (South Walton, 17th-1A).
138: Romero Black (Rutherford, 4th-1A); Maeson Otwell (Pace, 8th-2A); Ethan Pinto (Niceville, 16th-2A); Troy Carroll (Florida High, 20th-1A).
145: Steven Banfield (Ft Walton Beach, 9th-2A); Bear Siegal (North Bay Haven, 11th-1A); Bradack Carroll (Choctaw, 18th-2A); JJ Martinez (Niceville, 19th-2A).
152: Colson Elliott (Gulf Breeze, 7th-2A); Nicholas Roeder (Florida High, 18th-1A).
160: Conner Roberts (Wewahitchka, 8th-1A); Alexander Davidson (Ft Walton Beach, 9th-2A); Dean Wright (Florida High, 10th-1A); Keaton Schirmer (Rutherford, 11th-1A); Jordan Baxter (Pace, 17th-2A).
170: Ty Morgan (Pace, 5th-2A); Malachi Lewis (Niceville, 16th-2A).
182: Xander Hawkes (Florida High, 5th-1A); Isaac Waters (Pace, 9th-2A); Connor Roberts (Ft Walton Beach, 19th-2A).
195: David Mercado (North Bay Haven, 2nd-1A); Darius Brundidge (Ft Walton Beach, 17th-2A).
220: Collin Bishop (Florida High, 12th-1A); Marshall Dixon (Mosley, 13th-2A).
285: Logan McAlister (North Bay Haven, 4th-1A); Nick Lee (South Walton, 5th-1A).
All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings
North Florida Matmen 