By MATMEN, Friday, 5:25 p.m.
Paxon Invitational
When & where: Saturday at Paxon.
Teams in the field: In addition to the host Golden Eagles, Atlantic Coast, Baldwin, Beachside, Englewood, First Coast, Keystone Heights, Pedro Menendez, Providence, Riverside, Stanton, Tocoi Creek, University Christian, Wolfson will be attending and representing the coverage area, along with out-of-area Vero Beach.
Defending champion: None; last year’s champion, Buchholz, is not returning.
Returning individual champion: Cooper Patton (Vero Beach).
Synopsis: With the top three teams (and four of last year’s top five) not returning, I’m looking for the out-of-area group, Vero Beach, to climb the ladder to the top this year. Pedro Menendez is probably the strongest team from the area, and Vero Beach’s closest competitor. Beachside, Tocoi Creek and Wolfson should also be in the mix for top-3 spots.
State-ranked wrestlers (listed by weight class in ranked order) —
120: Kyle Brown (Paxon, 1A-9th).
126: Elias Spurlin (Stanton, 1A-9th).
138: Kevin Benjamin (Vero Beach, 3A-13th).
145: Grady Smith (Beachside, 1A-20th).
160: David Benjamin (Vero Beach, 3A-19th).
170: Cooper Patton (Vero Beach, 3A-9th).
182: Eddie Craig (Beachside, 1A-15th).
220: Sylas Bachler (Vero Beach, 3A-15th).
All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings
North Florida Matmen 