By MATMEN, Tuesday, 5 p.m. (EDITED for updated start time at 7:05 p.m.)
2A-District 4 IBT
When & where: Wednesday at Clay, noon (wrestle start).
Teams in the field: In addition to the host Blue Devils, Belleview, Fleming Island, Mainland, Matanzas, New Smyrna Beach, Pedro Menendez, Seabreeze & St Augustine will be in the field.
At stake: Top four wrestlers in each of 14 weight classes will automatically advance to the 2A-Region 1 tournament at Chiles on February 24-25. 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: New Smyrna Beach.
Returning individual champions: Carter Wilder (Matanzas, won in 2021 also); Jonathan Bruner (New Smyrna Beach); Christian Jackson (St Augustine); Sawyer VanRider (New Smyrna Beach); Dylon York (New Smyrna Beach); Aidan Sutton (New Smyrna Beach, won in 2021); Zackery Young (Belleview, won in 2020); Shane Duhaylungsod (Fleming Island)*; Jayce Paridon (Fleming Island, won in 2021 also)*#; Laird Duhaylungsod (Fleming Island)*; Kaden Schaefer (Fleming Island)*; Christopher Chop (Fleming Island)*; Ronan Bozeman (Fleming Island)*; Jhoel Robinson (Fleming Island)*; Ethan Hoffstetter (Fleming Island)*; Jacob Bucci (Clay)#; Brady Glavin (Clay)#; Rylen Herrera (Clay)#; Dominic Martin (Clay, won in 2021 also)#; Kedtric Wilbourn (Clay, won in 2021)#.
* — won 2A-District 4 titles.
# — won 1A-District 4 titles.
Synopsis: The imports into the district changed the dynamic of the district but the region as well, with Fleming Island staying in 2A but moving into District 4, plus Clay moving up a classification and joining the district. As the top team in the coverage area, the Golden Eagles will be the heavy favorite in this event, and Clay’s task in chasing them got a little easier when Matanzas lost its top competitor to season-ending shoulder surgery. The Pirates still have plenty of weaponry in the tank and should be finishing ahead of New Smyrna Beach for third place. Not sure entirely which team should be finishing up the top half of the bracket, but I’m guessing it will be Belleview at this point, although we’ve been missing a few sets of results for them, and thus projecting them gets a little harder.
State-ranked wrestlers (listed by weight class in ranked order) —
106: Jacob Bucci (Clay, 1st); Timothy McLean (Matanzas, 5th); Matthew Newman (Fleming Island, 7th); Jordan Mukaddam (Fleming Island, 18th).
113: Kaden Golder (Matanzas, 4th); Shane Duhaylungsod (Fleming Island, 7th).
120: Laird Duhaylungsod (Fleming Island, 5th); Rylan Herrera (Clay, 15th).
126: Brady Glavin (Clay, 9th); Toryion Stallings (Matanzas, 10th).
132: Jayce Paridon (Fleming Island, 1st); Jonathan Bruner (New Smyrna Beach, 12th).
145: Kaden Schaefer (Fleming Island, 2nd).
152: Matthew Kotler (Fleming Island, 8th); Dylan Parkinson (Matanzas, 17th).
160: Christopher Chop (Fleming Island, 4th).
170: Ronan Bozeman (Fleming Island, 6th); Dominic Martin (Clay, 11th).
182: Joshua Sandoval (Fleming Island, 3rd); Eric McLaughlin (Belleview, 10th); Sawyer VanRider (New Smyrna Beach, 14th).
195: Walter Poe (Fleming Island, 9th); Derek King (New Smyrna Beach, 16th).
220: Jhoel Robinson (Fleming Island, 1st); Dylon York (New Smyrna Beach, 5th); Kedtric Wilbourn (Clay, 6th).
285: Ethan Hoffstetter (Fleming Island, 17th); Will Kelly (Clay, 18th).
All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings/class-2a
North Florida Matmen 