By MATMEN, Monday, 4 p.m.
ORLANDO — In 3A-District 3 in 2023, defending one’s home gym gave an additional motivation to the hosts.
First, it was Hagerty that defended its home gym in January en route to the 3A-D3 duals title. Last Wednesday, it was Timber Creek’s turn to ascend to the top in the Wolfpack home gym, as the hosts overcame seven other teams to take the FHSAA 3A-D3 IBT team victory.
But it was Oviedo as well as Hagerty that the Wolfpack had to hold off. Each of the three teams qualified 11 wrestlers for Friday’s Region 1 tournament in DeLand, but Timber Creek’s firepower in collecting five titles, with two runners-up, three 3rds and one fourth, was the difference, as the Wolfpack had 227.5 points to Oviedo’s 214, with Hagerty third at 200.
The Lions had one champion, but six runners-up, along with one 3rd and three 4ths, in getting their 11 out, while Hagerty won three titles, with one runnerup, five 3rds and two 4ths.
Lake Brantley pushed past Winter Park, 154-141, for fourth place. The Patriots automatically qualified 10 for regions, with two champs, five 3rds and three 4ths, while the Wildcats had three champions, two runners-up, and one 4th.
Evans was sixth with 71 points and three qualifiers, all of them runners-up, while Lake Howell edged Wekiva, 50.5-48, for seventh. The Silver Hawks had one champion and one 4th, while Wekiva had three 4ths.
Below follows a brief summary of each weight class.
106
Final: Winter Park’s Jacob Rothman (16th as ranked at the time, by the sole Matmen-endorsed state rankings on KabraWrestling.com) ran through the bracket in 70 seconds for his first district title, with a preliminary pin over Oviedo before falling the hosts’ Mohammad Davtalabsabet in 29 seconds, needing just one takedown in that match for the bracket win. Davtalabsabet won by fall twice to reach the final, with pins over Wekiva and Lake Brantley.
3rd: After his third-period loss by fall to Davtalabsabet, Lake Brantley’s Zaiden Rodriguez rallied for two pins in the consis, first over Hagerty and then over Oviedo’s Gunner Essary in 47 seconds to grab third. Essary (front-side pin) punched his DeLand ticket with a fall in the blood round over Wekiva.
113
Final: Timber Creek’s Marlo Clark (7th) won his first district title, bonus-pointing through the afternoon with a fall over Hagerty and a 14-6 major in the championship round over Oviedo’s Josh Sabbia. Clark racked up seven takedowns in all, with three in both the first and third periods, allowing only cuts in response. Sabbia reached the final behind a decision victory over Lake Brantley.
3rd: In a four-person bracket, Lake Brantley’s Clayton Willits found a takedown in sudden victory for a 7-5 win over Hagerty’s Alex Moonsammy.
120
Final: The hosts’ Keegan Clark pinned his way into the final, with falls over Wekiva and Lake Brantley, then pushed through to an 8-4 win over 2022 district champ Conner Rodriguez of Oviedo, earning Clark his second district title. Rodriguez scored first, even earning a brief turn late in the first period, but after that it was all Clark, who hit a five-point move at the end of the second and rode Rodriguez out in the third. Rodriguez had two bonus-point wins to get to the final, with a pin over Evans and major over Hagerty.
3rd: After losing to Rodriguez in the semis, Hagerty’s James Zena won by fall twice in the consis, with a preliminary pin over Wekiva before falling Lake Brantley’s Joey Davis in 2:48 for third. Davis (front-side major) secured his region space with a fall over Evans in the consi semis.
126
Final: Lake Brantley’s Dario Duany (10th) rolled to his first district championship behind a 15-0 tech over Oviedo in the semis and second-period fall (2:45) over Evans’ Jaylen Clayton to win in the finals. Duany had one takedown in the first period and rode in the second, securing a turn and pin. Clayton needed just one victory to get to the finals, with a decision victory over Timber Creek.
3rd: After his 8-5 loss to Clayton in the semis, Timber Creek’s Aidan Benson came back in the wrestlebacks, with a fall over Winter Park and a sudden-victory takedown for third in a 10-8 win over Hagerty’s Benjamin Wolgamuth, matching his earlier 6-4 win on the front side. Wolgamuth secured his DeLand space with a consi-semi pin over Oviedo.
132
Final: Hagerty’s Nikolas Blake (2nd) needed just 2:47 to rack up three pins and his first district title, falling Winter Park and Lake Brantley before taking his third pin in the finals over Oviedo’s Eric Esquivel. In each case, Blake got the one takedown he’d need to get the fall in the first 20 seconds, without letting his opponent off the mat. Esquivel reached Blake behind prior pins over Lake Howell and Timber Creek.
3rd: After giving Blake his longest match of the day, Lake Brantley’s Oliver Barfield (front-side pin over Wekiva) had two decision victories in the consis, first over Lake Howell and then a 16-9 decision in the medal round over Winter Park’s Cole Rasmy. Rasmy, who lost by fall to Blake in the quarters, earned his DeLand space with two consi-side pins over Wekiva and Timber Creek to qualify out.
138
Final: Timber Creek’s Josue Batista pinned his way into the final, taking falls over Wekiva and Hagerty before pushing past Oviedo’s Johnathan Dishman in the championship match, 4-3. Batista scored first, but Dishman would come back and lead behind a third-period takedown to go up 3-2, only for Batista to find a reversal with 13 seconds left to take the win and his first district title. Dishman reached the final behind pins over Lake Howell and Lake Brantley.
3rd: After losing by fall in the semis to Batista, Hagerty’s Clayton Chiders won twice on the back to wrestle back for third, with a fall over Lake Howell and 8-4 decision over Lake Brantley’s Troy Vazquez, who won by decision in the blood round to punch his region ticket.
145
Final: Winter Park’s James Gonzalez (14th at 138) bumped up a weight and seemed little worse for doing it; after a quarterfinal pin over Lake Howell, Gonzalez took decisions over Lake Brantley and over Evans’ Tyran Schanck (14th), 3-2, in the title round, earning his second district championship. Gonzalez had a takedown midway through the first period and made that stand up after Schanck was awarded a penalty point in the second and after Gonzalez rode Schanck for nearly all of the third. Schanck won twice to reach the final, with a pin over Timber Creek and decision over Wekiva.
3rd: After a 6-0 semifinal loss to Gonzalez, Lake Brantley’s Giovanni Duany (8th, front-side decision over Oviedo) won twice in the consis for third, with a decision over Hagerty and fall in 1:12 over Wekiva’s Seth Galvin (17th). Galvin (front-side decision over Hagerty) punched his DeLand ticket with a second decision over Oviedo in the blood round.
152
Final: The Wildcats’ Joey Parker (6th) also won his second district title, with pins over Lake Howell in the semis and over Oviedo’s Luke Forsberg in 2:24 for the bracket win. Parker scored in both periods before earning the fall, with first takedown 14 seconds in and an early reversal in the second. Forsberg needed just one win, a semifinal decision over Hagerty, to get to the championship.
3rd: After a 3-0 loss to Forsberg in the semis, Hagerty’s Austin St John (front-side major) added two bonus-point wins in the consis, with a fall over Wekiva and 14-4 major for third over Lake Howell’s Aiden Wood. Wood (front-side pin) qualified out with a blood-round tech fall over Timber Creek.
160
Final: Hagerty’s Kamdon Harrison (3rd) reached his fourth district final and won his third title with three pins in a combined mat time of 2:26, falling Winter Park, Lake Brantley and Timber Creek’s William Muniz in 41 seconds to take first. Harrison needed just one takedown in each match, not letting any of his opponents up along the way. Muniz had two pins of his own, over Wekiva and Oviedo, to get to the final.
3rd: After his loss in the semis to Muniz, Oviedo’s John McCandles (front-side pin) added two more bonus-point wins in the consis for third, with a major over Evans and fall in 3:06 for third place over Lake Brantley’s Thomas Abrahamson. Abrahamson (front-side decision over Evans) checked in for regions with a consi-semis pin over Lake Howell.
170
Final: Lake Brantley’s Jake Jessee brought home his first district title, with bonus-point preliminary wins over Lake Howell (17-2 tech) and Oviedo (pin) before decisioning Hagerty’s Connor Gilliam (15th), 3-2, for first place. After a scoreless first two periods, Jessee got out immediately to open the third, only to see Gilliam take him down 20 seconds later and just as quickly reverse, and then ride, to secure the win. Gilliam had two bonus-point wins, with a quarterfinal pin over Winter Park and major over Timber Creek, to get to the final.
3rd: After his 15-7 loss to Gilliam in the semis, Timber Creek’s Juan Viera-Paulos (front-side pin over Evans) won twice more on the back, with a major over Lake Howell and 12-9 third-place decision over Oviedo’s Lukas Crawley. Crawley (front-side pin over Wekiva) pinned Winter Park in the blood round to secure his region space.
182
Final: Hagerty’s Hunter Tate (11th at 195) checked in at the lower weight, bonus-pointing through the draw with falls over Winter Park and Timber Creek, wrapping up with an 11-3 finals major over Oviedo’s James Chiaradio for his third district title. Tate had two takedowns, with a third-period turn and three penalty points down the stretch to earn the victory. Chiaradio won twice to reach Tate and the final, with a pin over Evans and decision over Lake Brantley.
3rd: After falling by a 5-2 count to Chiaradio in the semis, Lake Brantley’s Christopher Swanson (front-side decision over Lake Howell) added two more decisions in the consis, downing Winter Park first and then taking a 4-1 win over Timber Creek’s Daniel Pacheco. Pacheco (front-side pin over Wekiva) had a second pin to punch his region ticket, falling Lake Howell in the blood round.
195
Final: Oviedo’s Joseph Gioa won the Lions’ lone district title and his first, with a pair of decisions, going into the ultimate tiebreaker for a 3-2 win semifinal win over Lake Howell and then taking down Winter Park’s Cade Jorgensen, 7-3, in the final. Jorgensen had first takedown in the first period, but Gioa broke it open with a 3-point nearfall early in the third to get separation. Jorgensen reached the final behind decisions over Wekiva and Timber Creek.
3rd: After a 4-2 semis loss to Jorgensen, Timber Creek’s Rocco Jonigan took third behind pins over Evans and over Wekiva’s Charles Hall in 46 seconds in the medal round. Hall didn’t have to wrestle a contested match, with a bye and then a forfeit in the blood round to get to regions.
220
Final: Timber Creek’s Jayden Smith helped lock up the team title with his first district title; after an 18-2 tech in the quarters over Evans and semifinal 5-2 win over Hagerty, Smith found a takedown with 13 seconds left in sudden victory for a 3-1 win over Winter Park’s Liam Glassmeyer (10th). Smith got out in six seconds and allowed Glassmeyer a neutral start in the third to make it 1-1. Glassmeyer got to the final with pins over Wekiva and Oviedo.
3rd: After his loss in the semis to Smith, Hagerty’s Landon Revis had two bonus-point wins to wrestle back to third, falling Lake Brantley in the semis and shutting out Oviedo’s Yosef Mohaisen, 8-0, in the medal round. Mohaisen (front-side pin over Lake Brantley) added a second pin with his blood-round fall over Evans.
285
Final: The Wolfpack’s Peter Nesheiwat (4th) won his second district title, behind two preliminary pins over Winter Park and Wekiva in a combined mat time of 1:22, but had to go into double-overtime to turn back Evans’ Jermael Paul, 2-1. After seven minutes with just one escape apiece, Nesheiwat was able to ride Paul out in his 30 seconds on top, escaping from bottom when it was his turn with 13 seconds to go. Paul got to the final after a bye and semifinal decision over Hagerty.
3rd: After his 10-6 loss to Paul in the semis, Hagerty’s Thad Elam (front-side pin over Oviedo) racked up two more pins in the consis, falling both Winter Park in the semis and Wekiva’s James Mixon in 5:56 to take third. Mixon punched his DeLand ticket with a consi-semi pin over Oviedo.
You can see results from this event and all other 3A districts HERE.
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