By MATMEN, Monday, 5 p.m.
LAKE MARY — A dream season for DeLand now takes its next step homeward.
After winning the 3A-District 2 and Region 1 dual titles last month, the Bulldogs will enter as favorites at home in this weekend’s Region 1 IBT tournament, after rolling to the District 2 IBT title last Wednesday at Lake Mary HS.
DeLand automatically qualified 13 wrestlers out for the region round, with six champions, four runners-up and three 3rds, in rolling up 257 points, 64 ahead of runnerup Buchholz.
The Bobcats will take nine to regions, as will third-place Flagler Palm Coast, as Buchholz outpointed the Flagler County Bulldogs, 193-173.5 for second and third, respectively. Buchholz had three champs, four runners-up, one 3rd and one 4th, while Flagler picked up two titles, five runnerup finishes and two 3rds.
Lake Mary rallied from a last-place finish a year ago to fourth this year, outpointing Seminole 137-109.5 for that spot. The Rams will take eight to the regiion tournament, on two champs, two 3rds and four 4ths, while Seminole advanced seven on one runnerup, three 3rds and three 4ths.
West Port, with 86 points on two qualifiers (one 3rd and one 4th), was sixth, followed by Forest (69 points, two 3rds and two 4ths) and University (Orange City) (47 points, two 4ths).
A brief summary of each weight class follows.
106
Final: Forest’s Scott Smith pinned his way to his first district championship, with preliminary falls over West Port and Lake Mary before pinning DeLand’s Edwin Salina in 3:08 for the championship. Smith scored first, but trailed 7-2 and had given up a nearfall before securing a second-period reversal that led to the pin. Salina reached the final with a fall over Buchholz.
3rd: After his loss to Smith in the quarters, West Port’s Mathew Pishotta rallied back through the consis, with pins over Buchholz in the semis and then a 58-second fall for third over Lake Mary’s Nathan Walck, Walck’s only contested match of the day.
113
Final: In a three-person bracket, DeLand’s Tyler Bracero (ranked 20th statewide per the only Matmen-endorsed set of rankings on KabraWrestling.com) needed just one match win to take his first district title. After a bye into the final, Bracero falled Buchholz’s Hugh Davis in 1:34, needing just one takedown to secure control for the eventual turn and pin. Davis advanced to the final with a semifinal pin over Forest’s Toby Campbell.
3rd: Campbell received a bye to take 3rd.
120
Final: DeLand’s Phoenix Krauth (11th) picked up his first district title with a semifinal pin (2:34) over Lake Mary, followed by a 10-6 win in the championship round over Buchholz’s Finn Buchanan. Krauth had four takedowns in the match (one in each period), not allowing Buchanan a scoring move until halfway through the third when he had a five-point lead. Buchanan reached the final behind a semifinal pin over Forest.
3rd: After his loss by fall to Buchanan, Forest’s Aydan Ruano (front-side pin over University-OC) added two more pins on the back, first over West Port in the blood round and then over Lake Mary’s Adrian Pabon-Rivera in 3:01 for third. Pabon-Rivera (front-side sudden-victory decision) punched his DeLand ticket with a forfeit win in the consi semis.
126
Final: Buchholz’s Jedidiah Brown (18th) won his first district title, bookending a 2-1 semifinal win over Seminole with pins over University and over DeLand’s Grady Bryant in 3:45 in the title match. Bryant had first takedown, but after Brown escaped a few moments later in the first period, he had all the offense, with two takedowns, the second of those leading the pin. Bryant had a pin over Lake Mary and a semifinal decision over Forest in getting to Brown.
3rd: After his 2-1 loss to Brown in the semis, Seminole’s Onel Esquilin (front-side pin over West Port) took two more victories in the consis, with a decision over Lake Mary and fall in the medal round (4:52) over Forest’s Brent Ryals. Ryals needed just one win to secure his DeLand space, with a decision over West Port.
132
Final: The Bobcats’ Cavarius Liddie (5th) won his second title, pinning his way through the draw with falls over Lake Mary (semis) and over Flagler Palm Coast’s Kole Hannant (13th) in 3:07 for the district win. Liddie had all the offense, with a takedown and 3-point nearfall in the first period, and a second takedown that led to the turn and pin in the second. Hannant reached the final behind first-period pins over University-OC and DeLand.
3rd: After his loss by fall to Hannant, Senez rallied for pins on the back over West Port in the semis, then over Lake Mary’s Devean White in 2 minutes for third. White (front-side pin over West Port) added a second pin in the blood round over University-OC.
138
Final: Flagler Palm Coast’s John Hald (12th) won the Bulldogs’ first title of the tournament and his second district championship, bonus-pointing through the day with a quarterfinal pin over University-OC, a semifinal tech (19-3 in 4:14) over West Port, winning by medical forfeit in the final over DeLand’s Kellen Chapman (15th). Chapman advanced to the final behind a quarterfinal pin over Buchholz and decision over Seminole.
3rd: After losing by fall in the quarters to Chapman, Buchholz’s Laine Slayton won three times on the back for third, with a forfeit and decisions over West Port and over Seminole’s Ryan Culbertson in the medal round by an 8-4 count. Culbertson (front-side pin over Lake Mary) added a second pin over University-OC to punch his DeLand ticket.
145
Final: DeLand’s Joshua Folsom (18th) gave his team their third title of the day and his first district title, advancing through decisions over Seminole (4-3) in the semis and then overcoming Flagler’s Hayden Herndon, 9-6, in the title round. Folsom built an early 4-0 lead behind a takedown and turn, then rode Herndon out in the second, but things picked up in an 11-point third period, as both wrestlers had a pair of scoring moves. Herndon reached the final behind a pin over Forest and decision over Buchholz.
3rd: After his one-point loss to Folsom in the semis, Seminole’s Andres Sanchez (front-side win by ID over West Port) took two victories on the back, majoring Lake Mary and then pushing past Buchholz’s Jack Buchanan, 6-2. Buchanan (front-side decision over Lake Mary) advanced with a medical forfeit into the medal round.
152
Final: In taking his first district title, Mathias Franz (12th) made it back-to-back titles for the Volusia Bulldogs, taking pins in the semis over Buchholz and again in the championship match (2:50) over Flagler’s Carson Baert. Franz scored in both periods, with a takedown in the first and reversal in the second, using that to secure control for the pin. Baert also had two pins, falling Seminole in the quarters and Lake Mary in the semis.
3rd: After his loss to Baert in the semis, Lake Mary’s Nicholas Ghezzi needed just 56 seconds in the consis, pinning first West Port and then Seminole’s Gavin Kubiak (:27) for third. Kubiak had a bye into the blood round, where he won by third-period tech fall over Buchholz to secure his region spot.
160
Final: In his first post-season as a starter, Flagler’s Kelton Howard won the title, with falls in the semis over West Port (4:43) and over DeLand’s Zane Canada (1:36) in the championship. Howard needed just one takedown, picking up the fall just 12 seconds later. Canada also won by fall twice to get to the final, with pins over Lake Mary and Seminole.
3rd: After his semifinal loss to Canada, Seminole’s Jovani Valenzuela took third after a bye into the medal round, where he decisioned Lake Mary’s Brock Binford, 8-7. Binford had two matches get decided by three points in the consis, winning one in sudden victory over West Port in order to get to the third-place match.
170
Final: Lake Mary freshman Gavin Isaacs (9th) bonus-pointed through the bracket, with a quarterfinal pin (2:44) over West Port, a semifinal tech (16-0 in 4 minutes) over Lake Mary and a 10-2 major in the final over Buchholz’s Max Szabo. Szabo got first takedown, but it was all Isaacs after that, as he scored twice and had 3-point nearfalls in both the second and third periods. Szabo also had two bonus-point wins, with a pin over University-OC and a major over Seminole.
3rd: After losing by tech in the semis to Isaacs, Flagler Palm Coast’s Josh Davis (front-side pin over DeLand) won twice in the wrestlebacks, with a blood-round pin over University-OC and an 11-5 win in the medals against Seminole’s DeShawn Bristow-Harris. Bristow-Harris (front-side decision over Forest) secured his region space with a consi-semi pin over West Port.
182
Final: DeLand’s Gavin Rodriguez-Cayro (12th) pinned his way into the final, with falls over Seminole and University-OC, before taking a 9-6 win over Buchholz’s William Lancer for his first district title. Rodriguez-Cayro had a pair of takedowns in the first period, staving off a Lancer takedown in the second with one of his own to build enough cushion for the win. Lancer won twice to get to Rodriguez-Cayro, with a pin over West Port and decision over Flagler Palm Coast.
3rd: After his 8-3 loss in the semis to Lancer, Calidonio (front-side pin over Forest) added two more wins in the consis, with a pin over Seminole followed by a 7-2 third-place win over West Port’s Luis Sotomayor. Sotomayor needed two pins in the consis over Forest and University-OC to punch his DeLand ticket.
195
Final: Buchholz’s Kason Nichols (4th) won his second district title, pinning his way through the draw with preliminary pins over University-OC (2:34) and Forest (3:18) before falling Flagler Palm Coast’s Dalton Schell in 49 seconds in the championship round. Schell was able to reverse out of Nichols’ first takedown, but Nichols was able to seize control again almost immediately to get the pin. Schell got to Nichols after a decision win over Seminole and pin over DeLand.
3rd: After losing by fall to Schell, DeLand’s Garrett Perkins (front-side pin over Lake Mary) added two more consi-side wins, falling University-OC and then pushing past Forest’s Ellis Lawson, 6-4, in the medal round. Lawson secured his region space with a blood-round fall over Seminole.
220
Final: Lake Mary’s Michael Frederick (16th) won twice for his first district title, with a late third-period fall over DeLand (5:59) and a 5-1 decision in the final over Flagler Palm Coast’s Ethaniel Laupepa. After a scoreless first and only a Frederick escape in the second, he was able to work a turn to kick off the third period, adding a late takedown as insurance for the decision. Laupepa reached the final behind a semifinal decision over University-OC.
3rd: After his loss by pin to Frederick, DeLand’s Tyron Moore (front-side decision over Seminole) had a pair of bonus-point wins, falling Buchholz and then majoring University-OC’s Rubens Joseph, 16-4, for third. Joseph (front-side pin over Buchholz) became the Titans’ first qualifier thanks to a blood-round pin over Seminole.
285
Final: DeLand’s MJ Smokes (6th) won his second district title and first at the weight, needing just 1:31 to pin three opponents, Buchholz (:12), University-OC (:26) and Seminole’s Jerome Johnson (:53) in succession). Smokes grabbed three takedowns in that short stretch, adding a quick turn before his second turn led to the pin. In becoming the Noles’ only finalist, Johnson advanced there with a sudden-vcitory win over Lake Mary.
3rd: After his 2-1 loss to Johnson in the semis, Lake Mary’s Joshua Raymond (front-side pin over West Port) added two more in the consis, with pins over Buchholz (semis) and over University-OC’s Seth Cruz in 2:40 for third. Cruz punched his DeLand ticket with a fall in the blood round over West Port.
You can see results from this event and all other 3A districts HERE.
North Florida Matmen 