By MATMEN, Thursday, 4:15 p.m.
Wakulla FCA Invitational
When & where: Friday & Saturday at Wakulla.
Teams in the field: In addition to the host War Eagles, Chiles JV, Episcopal, Florida High JV, Ft Walton Beach, Godby, Leon, Liberty County, Lincoln JV, Marianna, Middleburg, Mosley, Niceville, North Bay Haven, Rutherford, South Walton, Suwannee JV, Wewahitchka & Yulee will be attending.
Defending champion: Wakulla.
Returning individual champions: Connor Brown (Wakulla), Jay Brown (Liberty County), Austin Adamson (Yulee), Dylan Johns (Yulee), David Mercado (North Bay Haven), Nick Lee (South Walton).
Synopsis: We started the preseason with this event being called the Big Bend Invitational, but Wakulla’s FCA group has taken over sponsorship. I think the War Eagles would be favored either eay, but there’s going to be a solid fight for first place in this event, with Ft Walton Beach, Middleburg and Yulee factoring for top-3 positions and there will be a quite solid group in the 4-8 range as well. Many ranked wrestlers in this field, which offers the last bigger IBT in the Panhandle area before the post-season begins next month.
State-ranked wrestlers (listed by weight class in ranked order) —
106: Connor Brown (Wakulla, 3rd-1A); Nathan Lyttle (South Walton, 17th-1A); Josh Harris (Yulee, 20th-1A).
113: Bryan Davis (Middleburg, 14th-2A); Anthony Fondo (Wakulla, 17th-1A).
120: Jay Brown (Liberty County, 4th-1A); Zak Vosburgh (Ft Walton Beach, 11th-2A); Turner Glenn (Episcopal, 11th-1A); Jake Parker (Wewahitchka, 16th-1A); Troy Thaxton (Wakulla, 18th-1A).
126: Isaac Brinson (South Walton, 7th-1A); Scott Busey (Episcopal, 17th-1A); Dylan Johns (Middleburg, 18th-2A).
132: Wyatt Leduc (Middleburg, 8th-2A); Nicholas Pressley (Episcopal, 13th-1A); Gibson Moore (South Walton, 17th-1A).
138: Romero Black (Rutherford, 4th-1A); Austin Adamson (Yulee, 12th-1A); Cohen Chesser (Episcopal, 13th-1A); Ethan Pinto (Niceville, 15th-2A); Brady Jackson (Wakulla, 17th-1A).
145: Jae T Thaxton (Wakulla, 8th-1A); Steven Banfield (Ft Walton Beach, 9th-2A); Bear Siegal (North Bay Haven, 11th-1A); Logan Moore (Middleburg, 12th-2A); JJ Martinez (Niceville, 19th-2A).
152: Chance Wolffe (Episcopal, 14th-1A); Nate Jacobs (Wakulla, 20th-1A).
160: Conner Roberts (Wewahitchka, 8th-1A); Alexander Davidson (Ft Walton Beach, 9th-2A); Keaton Schirmer (Rutherford-1A); John Fernandez (Episcopal, 14th-1A); Michael McNair (Yulee, 20th-1A).
170: Dylan Johns (Yulee, 4th-1A); Brennan Doherty (Episcopal, 11th-1A); Malachi Lewis (Niceville, 16th-2A).
182: Christian McGarity (Episcopal, 12th-1A); Christopher Aud (Yulee, 13th-1A); Connor Roberts (Ft Walton Beach, 19th-2A).
195: David Mercado (North Bay Haven, 2nd-1A); Alex Smith (Yulee, 4th-1A); Lawson Perry (Episcopal, 9th-1A); Darius Brundidge (Ft Walton Beach, 17th-2A).
220: Carter Tobik (Ft Walton Beach, 7th-2A); Kohl Pippin (Wakulla, 11th-1A); Marshall Dixon (Mosley, 13th-2A); Tucker Cody (Middleburg, 15th-2A); Cayden Ricks (Yulee, 19th-1A).
285: Logan McAlister (North Bay Haven, 4th-1A); Nick Lee (South Walton, 5th-1A); Braylen Ricks (Yulee, 7th-1A); Austin Hoyle (Yulee, 15th-1A).
All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings
North Florida Matmen 