By MATMEN, Friday, 12:35 a.m. UPDATED 8:35 a.m.
Gateway Conference
When & where: Friday & Saturday at Sandalwood. (This was decided on Thursday this week).
Teams in the field: In addition to the host Saints, Atlantic Coast, Baldwin, Ed White, Englewood, First Coast, Fletcher, Mandarin, Paxon, Raines, Riverside, Stanton, Terry Parker, Westside and Wolfson will be in attendance.
Defending champion: Fletcher.
Returning individual champions: Tristian Martinez (Wolfson); Jimi Baur (Fletcher); Cole O’Brien (Fletcher); Jeff Brown (Terry Parker); Josh Daltro (Fletcher); Malik Wilson (Sandalwood); Jaelen Simmons (Mandarin); Toby Matson (Fletcher).
Synopsis: Fletcher is on a good run right now, and I don’t think they’re going to be pushed too hard by the rest of the field for the team race. Sandalwood and Westside should be favored for the chase for second, but I think I will not necessarily be surprised by who finishes in the second and third spots on Saturday.
State-ranked wrestlers (listed by weight class in ranked order) —
106: Landon Locantora (Fletcher, 20th-3A); Jacob Jackson (Westside, 20th-2A).
120: Kyle Brown (Paxon, 10th-1A).
126: Cole O’Brien (Fletcher, 4th-3A); Elias Spurlin (Stanton, 9th-1A).
138: Olleon Hickmon (Westside, 11th-2A).
145: Jeff Brown (Terry Parker, 15th-2A).
152: Nathan Williams (Westside, 13th-2A).
160: Josh Daltro (Fletcher, 5th-3A).
182: Malachi Mista (Sandalwood, 17th-3A).
195: Duffy Mista (Sandalwood, 3rd-3A); Jhalill Richardson (Raines, 19th-1A).
220: Jaelen Simmons (Mandarin, 10th-3A); Thomas Jones (Riverside, 10th-2A); Jordan Jackson (Ed White, 16th-2A).
285: Toby Matson (Fletcher, 2nd-3A).
All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings
North Florida Matmen 