By MATMEN, Tuesday, 7:45 p.m.
District 3 Girls IBT
When & where: Wednesday at Matanzas, 2:30 p.m. (wrestle start).
Teams in the field: In addition to the Lady Pirates, the following teams have been assigned to this district: Bartram Trail, Beachside, Buchholz, Clay, Creekside, Flagler Palm Coast, Fleming Island, Keystone Heights, Middleburg, Nease, Pedro Menendez, Ponte Vedra, Ridgeview, St Augustine & Tocoi Creek. Not all of these teams will have representation in Wednesday’s event.
At stake: Top four wrestlers in each of 14 weight classes will automatically advance to the Region 1 tournament at Matanzas on February 18. Additional fifth- and sixth-place wrestlers at each weight may be selected to advance as additional region qualifiers to fill out the region bracket. Those wrestlers are selected via an FHSAA schematic.
Defending team champion: Matanzas.
Returning individual champions: Mariah Mills (Matanzas); Tiana Fries (Matanzas); Erin Rizzuto (Ponte Vedra); Brielle Bibla (Matanzas); Aubrianna Apple (Clay); Olivia Richie (Ponte Vedra); Katherine Stewart (Bartram Trail); Kiona Upegui (Buchholz); Gracie Bradshaw (Middleburg)*; Cheyenne Cruce (Middleburg)*.
* — won District 2 titles last year.
Synopsis: This will be the strongest district in Region 1 once again this year and — perhaps only after District 6 — the strongest district in Florida. I see Matanzas defending, but with the top three teams in this field all potentially with state top-5 shots, including Ponte Vedra and Middleburg as well in that group, it’s going to be a fun fight to see how the standings shake out. Bartram Trail, as well, is making a late push and while a top-3 district finish might be a tall order, look for the Bears to make big impacts down the next few weeks. We’ll see several District 3 wrestlers in the Region 1 finals and more than a couple will be in the state finals, so Wednesday’s event will kick all that off.
State-ranked wrestlers (listed by weight class in ranked order) —
100: Gracie Bradshaw (Middleburg, 4th); Lily Bradshaw (Middleburg, 13th); Talia Robbins (Buchholz, 16th).
105: Skyla Fisher (Middleburg, 9th).
110: Mariah Mills (Matanzas, 4th); Memphis Moses (Middleburg, 17th); Sophia Mallon (Ponte Vedra, 19th).
115: Erin Rizzuto (Ponte Vedra, 2nd); Sarah Walsh (Middleburg, 13th).
120: Christina Borgmann (Matanzas, 3rd); Natalia Choquegonza (Ponte Vedra, 7th).
125: Tiana Fries (Matanzas, 5th).
130: Brielle Bibla (Matanzas, 1st); Ana Vilar (Flagler Palm Coast, 4th).
135: Aubrianna Apple (Clay, 2nd); Anjel Balkenbush (Creekside, 17th).
140: Olivia Richie (Ponte Vedra, 4th); Gabrielle Proctor (Matanzas, 16th); Olivia Carr (Nease, 19th).
145: Katherine Stewart (Bartram Trail, 1st); Kendall Bibla (Matanzas, 3rd); Aryan Benson (Tocoi Creek, 4th); Josie Sagasser (Ponte Vedra, 9th).
155: Ava Burre (Bartram Trail, 10th).
170: Brooklyn Watt (Matanzas, 12th).
190: Cheyenne Cruce (Middleburg, 1st); Kiona Upegui (Buchholz, 13th).
235: Ani Brown (Matanzas, 14th).
All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings/girls
North Florida Matmen 