By MATMEN, Wednesday, 9 p.m.
NEPTUNE BEACH — Defying expectations has been the norm in 3A-District 1 this year.
In January, the team considered to be the 3A-District 1 IBT favorite took the district’s duals championship, as Bartram Trail grabbed its
Last Friday at Fletcher, the team expected to be the stronger duals team of the group, Creekside, flipped the switch and showed the rest of the District 1 field its ability to compete in IBTs, advancing the most automatic qualifiers to Friday’s Region 1 tournament at DeLand.
The St Johns Knights scored 224.5 points for the team championship, with three champs, five runners-up, two 3rds and two 4ths. That was enough to overcome runnerup Bartram and its six titles, as the Bears finished with 211 points, with one runnerup, one 3rd and two 4ths for 10 automatic qualifiers.
Host Fletcher was in the mix as well, with a third-place team finish on 194.5 points. The Senators qualfied nine wrestlers automatically, with three champs, two runners-up, two 3rds and two 4ths.
Sandalwood edged Nease, 132-129, for fourth place, with both teams advancing seven qualifiers to DeLand. The Saints had one champion, one runnerup, one 3rd and four 4ths, while the St Johns Panthers grabbed one title, three runners-up and three 3rds.
Atlantic Coast, Mandarin and First Coast were eight points apart in sixth through eighth places. The Stingrays had 75 points, with four qualifiers on one runnerup, two 3rds and one fourth, while Mandarin finished seventh with 71 and four qualifiers (one runnerup, one 3rd and two 4ths). First Coast scored 67 points for 8th, with three qualifiers (two 3rds, one 4th).
A brief summary of each weight class follows.
106
Final: Creekside’s Alexavier Panganiban (12th) won his first district title with two victories, with a semifinal tech (20-2 in 6 minutes) over Atlantic Coast in the semis and a 6-4 win in sudden victory over Fletcher’s Landon Locantora for first place. While both of Panganiban’s scoring moves were off the mat during regulation, he was able to get the takedown for the win. Locantora reached the final with a semifinal pin over Bartram Trail.
3rd: After his semifinal loss, Atlantic Coast’s Mason Kaye took two pins in the consis, falling Nease in the semis and then pinning Bartram Trail’s Jacob Becker in 1:56 for third. Becker (front-side pin over Nease) advanced to the region round with a bye in the consi semis.
113
Final: Bartram Trail’s Carmen DiBella (11th) bonus-pointed through the tournament for his first district championship, with a first-period semifinal pin (1:23) over Fletcher, followed by a 10-0 major in the championship round over Creekside’s Santiago Carrion. DiBella had takedowns in each period, with a big nearfall turn to push out to an 8-0 lead after the second. Carrion got to the final with a semifinal pin over Nease.
3rd: In a four-person bracket, Nease’s Wyatt Balger pinned Fletcher’s Jimi Baur in 49 seconds for third.
120
Final: The Knights’ Justin Umali (17th) pinned his way into the final, with preliminary falls over Fletcher (1:29, quarters) and over Atlantic Coast (3:24, semis) before turning back Nease’s Jaiden Zajni, 7-4, for his first district title. After a scoreless first period, Umali reversed out first, only to trail after a Zajni reversal and penalty point in the third. Umali would reverse out from there, with a 3-point turn as well. Zajni reached the final with a semifinal pin over Sandalwood.
3rd: After his loss in the semis, Atlantic Coast’s Arjun Lamba punched his DeLand ticket with a bye into the medal round, where he pinned Sandalwood’s Adam Goodman in 2:54. Goodman secured his region space with a fall over Fletcher in the consi semis.
126
Final: Bartram Trail’s Ethan Vugman (1st) became the first of two wrestlers in the coverage area that won their fourth district title last week, as he pinned his way through the bracket with falls over Sandalwood in the semis and in the title match over Creekside’s Stephan Carrion (3:00). Vugman had a first-period takedown, reversing out in the second and securing control for the pin midway through. Carrion also had two pins, over Mandarin (quarters) and Nease (semis).
3rd: After his loss in the semis, Nease’s Brady Stoutamire (front-side pin over Fletcher), max-pointed through two consi rounds, with an injury-default win over Atlantic Coast in the blood round and forfeit over Sandalwood’s Seth Mleczynski in the medal round. Mleczynski (front-side ID win over Atlantic Coast) qualified out with a sudden-victory decision over Fletcher.
132
Final: Fletcher’s Cole O’Brien (6th) picked up his second district championship, pinning his way through the bracket on falls over Nease (2:50, quarters), Sandalwood (1:51, semis) and a third pin over Bartram Trail’s Gabriel Betancourt, in 2:34. O’Brien built a 7-0 lead on first takedown, a 3-point nearfall, with a reversal that led to the turn and pin. Betancourt got to the final with pins over Mandarin and First Coast, respectively.
3rd: After his loss in the quarters, Nease’s Lucian Slayden bookended a 9-8 blood-round win over First Coast with pins over Atlantic Coast (consi quarters) and over Sandalwood’s Qalani Cobb in 3:15 for third. Cobb (front-side pin over Atlantic Coast) falled Creekside in the consi semis to earn his region spot.
138
Final: Creekside’s Conner Wright (14th) earned his first district title, with a 15-11 semifinal win over Sandalwood sandwiched by pins in the quarters over Atlantic Coast (1:23) and again in the final round over Nease’s Parker Stamschror in 3:39. Wright scored first takedown, but trailed after a Stamschror nearfall, but he reversed out and used that to secure the fall. Stamschror reached the fianl with a semifinal decision over Fletcher.
3rd: After his semifinal loss to Stamschror, Fletcher’s Elias Twigg (front-side tech over First Coast) took two pins in the wrestlebacks, with falls over Atlantic Coast in the semis and in 3:26 over Sandalwood’s Ricky Hicks for third. Hicks secured his DeLand trip with a consi-semi pin over First Coast.
145
Final: The Bears’ Grady Hutchinson rolled through the bracket with tiree first-period falls, pinning First Coast (:23, quarters), Mandarin (1:55, semis) and Creekside’s Larry Mims in 1 minute for his first district championship. In each round, Hutchinson needed just one takedown to assert control that would turn into pins. Mims won by fall over Nease (quarters) and Fletcher (semis) to get to Hutchinson.
3rd: After his loss in the semis, Fletcher’s Noah Stidfole (front-side pin over Sandalwood) added two wins in the consis, with a decision over Atlantic Coast and fall in 4:34 over Mandarin’s Antonio Ramos in the medal round. Ramos (front-side pin over Atlantic Coast) added a pin in the consi semis over Sandalwood to qualify out for regions.
152
Final: Bartram’s Preston Pena (11th) needed just 1:12 of mat time to get to the final, with pins over First Coast (:31, quarters) and Sandalwood (:41, semis), before majoring Fletcher’s Elisha Purdy, 12-2, for his second district title. Pena hit a 5-point move early in the first and put together another in stages in the second to build a 10-0 lead; after a Purdy quick turn opened the scoring in the third, Pena reversed out. Purdy made it to the final with a semifinal pin over Creekside.
3rd: After his loss in the semis, Creekside’s Chihaya Cook (front-side pin over Mandarin) added two falls in the wrestlebacks, with pins over First Coast in the blood round and over Mandarin’s Brendan Warren in 1:55 for third. Warren had one pin in the consi semis over Sandalwood to earn his region space.
160
Final: Fletcher’s Josh Daltro (9th) won his third district championship while bonus-pointing through the bracket, with pins over First Coast (:34, quarters) and Mandarin (1:35, semis) before a 12-2 major over #12 Jacob Lutz of Nease. Daltro racked up four takedowns, at least one in each period, with a big turn late in the second, allowing just two escapes. Lutz reached the final with a semifinal pin over Creekside.
3rd: After his loss to Daltro, Mandarin’s Isaiah Diltz got to the medal round behind a bye in the consi semis, then pinned Creekside’s Xavier Grimm in 1:21 to claim third. Grimm also won by pin in the consis, with a fall in the semis over First Coast.
170
Final: Nease’s Alan Rivera (14th) won his team’s only district title and his first as well, with second-period pins over Bartram Trail in the semis and over Creekside’s Colton Leavell in 2:36 for the bracket win. Rivera had a takedown in the first period before taking the pin in the second. Leavell got to the final with a semifinal decision over Sandalwood.
3rd: After his semifinal loss, Sandalwood’s Malik Wilson (front-side decision over Fletcher) added a pair of six-minute wins on the back, with a major over Mandarin in the blood round and a second decision over Fletcher’s Joseph Kohlhaas, this time by a 6-3 count (was 12-7 in the quarters), in a rematch for third. Kohlhaas punched his DeLand ticket with a fall over Bartram Trail in the consi semis.
182
Final: The Bears’ John McNames (8th) pinned his way through the bracket, taking falls in the semis over Fletcher and again in the title match in 3:25 over Sandalwood’s Malachi Mista (3:25) for McNames’ second district championship. McNames had a takedown and nearfall and reversed back after Mista (14th) was able to reverse following the nearfall, taking the pin in the second period. Mista reached the final behind a major decision over First Coast.
3rd: After his loss to Mista, First Coast’s Alphonso Parsons (front-side 4-2 decision over Creekside’s Tristen Darling) won twice in the consis, with a shutout decision over Nease and a rematch pin (1:52) over Darling for third. Darling secured his DeLand spot with a consi-semi decision over Fletcher.
195
Final: Sandalwood’s Duffy Mista (9th) won his first district title, taking just 2:35 of mat time for three falls, pinning Fletcher (:37, quarters), Bartram Trail (:45, semis) and Atlantic Coast’s Hayden Brodehl in 1:13 for the bracket win. Mista had one takedown and nearfall before the second turn turned into the pin. Brodehl won twice in getting to the final, with a quarterfinal pin over Nease and semifinal decision over First Coast.
3rd: After his semifinal loss, First Coast’s Dean Marshall (front-side pin over Mandarin) added two consi-side falls, pinning Creekside in the blood round and Bartram Trail’s Jason Merkison in 1:02 for third. Merkison (front-side pin over Creekside) pushed his way into regions with a one-point decision victory over Mandarin.
220
Final: Bartram Trail’s Shane Armstrong (5th) pinned through the draw with three falls, including quick pins over First Coast (:25, quarters) and Fletcher (:23, semis) before going into the second period in pinning Mandarin’s Jaelen Simmons (10th) in 3:21 for his first district championship. A scoreless first period and Simmons escape in the second set the stage for Armstrong’s pin. Simmons advanced to get to Armstrong with pins over Atlantic Coast (quarters) and over Creekside (semis).
3rd: After his semifinal loss, Creekside’s Eli Pagan (20th) finished the tournament with two pins, taking down Sandalwood in the consi semis and then pinning Atlantic Coast’s Sebastian Colon in 1:45 in the medal round. Colon qualified out for regions with a consi-semi pin over Fletcher.
285
Final: After pins over Bartram Trail (3:51, quarters) and First Coast (1:02, semis), Fletcher’s Toby Matson (8th) took wins over all of his fellow region qualifiers after downing Creekside’s Cole Anderson (15th), 4-2, in the final to win his second district title. After a scoreless first period, Matson escaped and got a takedown to seize the early lead, then escaped out of Anderson’s reversal in the third to secure the win. Anderson reached the final behind a semifinal pin over Sandalwood.
3rd: After his quarterfinal loss to Matson, Bartram Trail’s Jacob George won twice in the consis to rally back to third, with a blood-round pin over Sandalwood and 5-1 decision over First Coast’s Derric Jacobs. Jacobs punched his DeLand ticket with a consi-semi decision over Mandarin.
You can see results from this event and all other 3A districts HERE.
North Florida Matmen 