By MATMEN, Sunday, 6:55 p.m.
PANAMA CITY BEACH — It’s still a relatively-new event, Arnold’s one-day Spearfish Roundrobin tournament.
But after two versions of the event, with two very different Niceville teams taking first in both of them, there’s only been one team champion.
Saturday, the Eagles held off Fernandina Beach, with 285.5 points to the Pirates’ 263, in defending their 2022 championship Saturday.
The host Marlins were third in the one-day, nine-team roundrobin event, with 173 points, with Bozeman 4th (152), Tate 5th (147.5), Rutherford 6th (143), Crestview 7th (116), Rocky Bayou Christian 8th (115.5) and Destin 9th (100).
Niceville might have had a new group with new leaders Saturday, but the result was the same, as the Eagles had five champions, plus a pair of runners-up finishes and three 3rds. Collver Hipp (120), Ethan Pinto (138), Braden Strohl (160), Malachi Lewis (170) and Asa Adams (285) all brought home bracket golds.
Hipp got things started with a pin and tech to win Pool A at 120, moving him into a crossover final against Pool B champion Tyler Johnson of Bozeman. Hipp’s first takedown, 20 seconds in, led to him earning a fall 20 seconds later to win the championship.
Pinto (2A-16th) earned five pins Saturday at 138, never going past the second period in taking first Pool A, then pinning Crestview’s Daniel Giafaglione in 3:07 in the crossover final. Pinto collected three takedowns in the first period, with a quick turn early in the second prior to earning the pin.
Strohl won Pool A of 160 behind two quick pins (combined mat time 44 seconds) and a 9-5 decision, then picked up his third pin of the tournament over Crestview’s Marc Beauvirage, with a fall in 3:05. During that match, Strohl held Beaurivage scoreless, with a pair of takedowns stoking his own offense before the pin.
Lewis completed the back-to-back with two pins in Pool B, taking a third victory behind a 10-6 win over 2A-District 1 rival Lance Sanders of Crestview in the crossover final at 170. Takedowns in both the first and second periods allowed Lewis to seize early momentum, but it was a reversal and tilt that allowed him to put the dual away and stave off Sanders’ late flurry in the third.
Adams had three first-period pins in collecting the win at 285, with his second pin of the day, in round 4 over Fernandina Beach’s William Schuster (fall time 1:27), proving to be the effective championship match. Adams scored first with a takedown, earning the fall nine seconds later to finish off the day.
Fernandina Beach matched Niceville’s group of titles despite a short-handed group making the trip, with three runners-up as well, as the Pirates’ Crew Richter (113), Caden Kubatzke (126), Cael Kubatzke (132), Gauge Housely (195) and Peyton White (220) all finished first.
Richter was on the mat for 1:29 in two matches, taking pins in both for the Pool A win at 113; in the crossover final against the hosts’ Anthony Bradbury, Richter recorded three nearfalls in the first period to build a 9-0 lead, and made that lead hold up for a 14-5 major, gathering two more takedowns along the way.
In the 126 class, Caden Kubatzke (1A-13th) had two pins to win Pool B, falling Bozeman’s Justin Johnson in 1:18 in the crossover final for first. Kubatzke grabbed the only takedown he would need just 11 seconds into the match, riding for nearly a minute before securing the turn and fall.
In a four-pool group at 132, Cael Kubatzke (1A-11th) won twice by fall to take Pool A, adding two more pins in the championship crossover, first over Rutherford and then in 28 seconds over Niceville’s Garrett Jarvis, needing just one takedown to complete an all-pins tournament.
At 195, Housely won twice (pin & decision) to take first in Pool A, then turned back Destin’s Cesar Fuentes by a 6-3 count to win the weight class. After a scoreless first period, Housely reversed out and earned a quick turn to go up, 4-0, and didn’t trail from there, securing the decision with a late takedown.
White was 3-0 at 220, with two pins in roundrobin competition before a 10-5 win in the final round over Bozeman’s Asher Burris, breaking open a tight match with a reversal and 4-point nearfall midway through the third-period that helped build an eight-point lead en route to the victory.
Rutherford might have been sixth as a team, but the Rams grabbed up a pair of individual titles, as Romero Black (145) and Bryson Schirmer (182) emerged victorious.
Black (1A-12th) had three first-period pins and a 6-2 decision to win Pool B at 145, turning back Fernandina Beach’s Cole Misciagna, 8-3, in the crossover for first place. Black led the entire way, with takedowns in each period, four in all during the match, allowing just three escapes along the way.
Schirmer pinned his way through a six-person roundrobin, with his fall in round 1 (3:44) over Fernandina Beach’s Lucas Crawford the effective championship match. Schirmer gave up first takedown, and trailed 4-0 until midway through the second period behind a reversal, 3-point turn and eventual second turn for the pin.
Arnold and Tate each had one champion in the tournament.
For the hosts, James Oliver took home the title at 106, going 4-0 in a five-person roundrobin. His round-1 win by fall (3:40) over Rutherford’s Dylan Malott turned out to be the effective championship match, as Malott pinned out after that. Malott got first takedown in the event, but after that it mostly all Oliver, who had two scoring moves and a nearfall before the turn and pin victory.
Tate’s Caiden Stone won the 152 title behind three max-point wins and a decision to take Pool A of that weight class; in the final against Niceville’s Andres Maldonado-Negron, Stone broke open a scoreless title with a takedown midway through the second period. That became a turn a half-minute later and that turn turned into a fall in 4:45.
Brackets from the weekend can be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 