By MATMEN, Friday, 10:20 p.m.
3A State Finals
When & where: Weighins at 9 a.m. Saturday at Osceola. 3A semis will be contested asmats from earlier 1A & 2A semifinal duals conclude, so there is no set time. Finals are scheduled for 2 p.m.
Teams: #13 DeLand (14-6) v #1 South Dade; #3 Osceola v #5 Ft Pierce Central, semifinals. Semifinal winners will meet for the title; there is no dual for third place.
Friday’s wrestling: DeLand put on a late run to turn back Hagerty, 48-23, and win the Region 1 championship, while — in the sixth straight region-final meeting — South Dade hammered #7 Cypress Bay, 68-3, to win the Region 4 final. Osceola defeated #6 Palmetto Ridge, the defending 3A champion, by a 42-25 count to win in Region 2, while Ft Pierce Central pushed past #15 Wellington, 34-30, to claim the Region 3 championship.
Projection: DeLand has defied our predictions all season, even when we have them winning, but this one is probably too big a hill to climb for the Bulldogs. South Dade has won four 3A titles and looked locked in, according to veteran observers, on Friday against Cypress Bay. I don’t think the Buccaneers will hold DeLand to just one weight-class win, but I would be very surprised if South Dade lets the Bulldogs be any closer than 30 points. I would project Osceola to handle business against Ft Pierce Central in the other semi, and while the Kowboys have home-mat advantage and some hammers, I expect South Dade to return to the top of the heap late Saturday afternoon.
State-ranked wrestlers remaining (listed by weight class in ranked order) —
106: Bryan Morales (South Dade, 8th); Myles Henkel (Ft Pierce Central, 18th).
113: Guillermo Jaramillo (South Dade, 8th); Connor Harris (Ft Pierce Central, 11th).
120: Luis Acevedo (South Dade, 2nd); Daniel Echeverria (Ft Pierce Central, 4th); Evan Martinez (Osceola, 5th); Phoenix Krauth (DeLand, 10th).
126: Joshua Aviles (South Dade, 3rd); Nathaniel Williams (South Dade, 15th); Isfandier Sharipov (Osceola, 19th).
132: Tyree Graham (South Dade, 6th); Luis Arboleda (South Dade, 14th); Ashton Hager (Ft Pierce Central, 20th).
138: Elvis Solis (South Dade, 1st); Kellen Chapman (DeLand, 16th).
145: Anderson Heap (Osceola, 1st); Misha Arbos (South Dade, 3rd); Joshua Folsom (DeLand, 17th).
152: Cooper Haase (Osceola, 1st); Gavin Balmeceda (South Dade, 2nd); JT Apicella (Ft Pierce Central, 5th); Mathias Franz (DeLand, 12th).
160: Gunner Holland (Osceola, 1st); Cordell White (South Dade, 3rd); Brian Melara (Ft Pierce Central, 13th); Zane Canada (DeLand, 18th).
170: Lawrence Rosario (South Dade, 2nd).
182: Christopher Sanchez (South Dade, 3rd); Gavin Rodriguez-Cayro (DeLand, 10th); Bryan Gari (Osceola, 14th); Aiden Madden (Ft Pierce Central, 15th).
195: Ansel Cervantes (South Dade, 1st); Jomar Sanchez (Osceola, 7th).
220: Sawyer Bartelt (South Dade, 1st); Hernan Ortiz (Ft Pierce Central, 6th); Elijah Vansickle (Osceola, 7th).
285: MJ Smokes (DeLand, 7th); Marcelo Rosario (South Dade, 11th); Alaq Dowd-Grant (Ft Pierce Central, 12th);
All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings/class-3a
North Florida Matmen 