By MATMEN, Saturday, 8:35 p.m.
BRANDON — Just two wrestlers will represent the Matmen coverage area in Thursday’s 2A state tournament out of Region 2.
Deltona senior Kevin Kerns and Horizon junior Bo Kenney are their terms’ solo representatives after both qualified Saturday at the Region 2 IBT at Brandon, with Kerns (11th statewide per sole Matmen-endorse ranker, KabraWrestling.com) taking second at 132 and Kenney finishing fourth at 220.
Kerns max-pointed through the 132 bracket in getting to the final and second-ranked Ryan Phillips of Winter Springs; after two max-point wins reported on the site earlier, Kerns punched his Silver Spurs ticket with a semifinal pin (4:41) over Springstead’s Ricky Corbett, the District 5 champ.
He could not generate the same offense in the final against Phillips, who’d spent much of the season ranked 1st at 132, falling by a 6-0 count. Still, though, Kerns qualified for states — at either 1A or 2A — for the fourth time with the semifinal result.
Kenney was 2-1 with two pins on Friday, but his toughest task might have been pushing past 15th-ranked Frankie Marquez of Winter Springs, 8-6, in sudden victory in the consi quarters. Kenney then secured Horizon a state space with a 44-second in the blood round over Auburndale’s Anthony Gardner.
In the medal round, Kenney faced third-ranked Cassidy Grubbs of Pasco, who’d lost by pin in the semis to eventual champ Ethan Kent of River Ridge. Grubbs won by fall in 2:51.
The Wolves had two wrestlers — Kyle Yasses (138) and Nathan Hatch (285) — and Lyman had one (Luke Nilles, at 120), reach the blood round. Yasses and Nilles both were 1-1 on Saturday, while Hatch was 0-2.
Falling in their only match Saturday were the Greyhounds’ Jackson Fredrickson (126), Cameron Popeck (145), Cameron Warner (152) and Julio Menoyo (160), along with Horizon’s Matteo Lasorsa (195), all in the consi quarters.
In the team standings, Deltona was 12th, with 49 points, while Lyman finished 13th at 46. Horizon was T-21st, with 24 points. Defending 2A state champion Lake Gibson built an 80-point margin of victory, 256-176, over the runnerup host Eagles, with Winter Springs third at 147.5, River Ridge fourth with 78 and Land O’Lakes fifth with 76.
Results from all four 2A state brackets ccan be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 