By MATMEN, Saturday, 1:20 a.m.
KISSIMMEE — A team trophy is still very much in the mix for Fleming Island later today.
But if the Golden Eagles are to maintain third place, where they are now after Friday’s wrestling in the FHSAA 2A state tournament, or to have designs on moving up, that will largely have to happen in the consi semis and medal round.
That’s because just sophomore Jayce Paridon (132) was able to run the gauntlet of 2A competition and make the finals, where it’ll be an all-Matmen area championship match, with Deltona’s Kevin Kerns also advancing through three preliminary rounds.
Fleming Island currently has 109 points, trailing Lake Gibson (129) and Charlotte (121.5), with Tampa Jesuit well back in fourth at 84 points. Third is looking all but a lock for the Golden Eagles at this point.
The pair of 132s will be joined by New Smyrna Beach’s Dylon York at 220 in the final round, which begins at approximately 4:15 p.m. today.
York’s finals run lifted the Barracudas to 12th after two days of competition, on 41 points, while Lincoln (34 points) is 14th and Clay (28) in 16th, representing the area among teams in the top 20; Kerns’ finals run has Deltona 21st.
Wrestling begins at 9:30 a.m. with consi semis, followed by the medals round at approximately 11:15 a.m. Finals are slated to begin at approximately 4:15 p.m.
A brief summary of each weight class follows. Look for the photo albums of Friday’s action on the North Florida Matmen Facebook page (photos will be posted to Instagram later in the weekend or early next week).
106
Medals secured: Three area wrestlers — Clay’s Jacob Bucci (55-2), Matanzas’ Timothy McLean (45-8) and Fleming Island’s Matthew Newman (41-5) — all will finish somewhere between third and sixth today, with Bucci taking on McLean in the top-half consi semi. Bucci reached the semis with a quarterfinal pin (1:02) over Charlotte, but then fell by a 2-1 count in that round to Brandon, while McLean lost by fall (3:01) in the quarters to Merritt Island, bouncing back with two consi-side wins, first by fall over Okeechobee (3:18) in round 2 and then by an 8-4 decision over Immokalee in the quarters. As for Newman, he also reached the semis, with a quarterfinal pin over Braden River (1:04), but then lost by fall (3:07) to Merritt Island. Newman will face Charlotte’s Matthew Schuler in the bottom consi semi.
113
Medals secured: Lincoln’s Vaniel Caceres (36-9) will be the area’s only medalist in the weight class, with two matches today. Caceres reached the semis after a 4-2 quarterfinal win over Lakeland, but then fell by a 9-1 count in that round to Charlotte. Caceres will wrestle Cape Coral’s Robert Albert in the top consi semi.
Heading home: In his only match of the day, Fleming Island’s Shane Duhaylungsod took a 6-4 loss to Lakeland in consi round 2, finishing the tournament at 1-2.
120
Medals secured: Lincoln’s Jashawn Washington (35-16) and Gulf Breeze’s Coby Shields (47-6) will wrestle for 7th against one another today. After Washington took an 11-2 quarterfinal loss against Charlotte, he secured his medal with a 12-8 win over Leesburg in consi round 2 before falling, 1-0, to Brandon in the top consi quarter. Shields also lost in the quarters, 3-2 in the ultimate tiebreaker, to Cape Coral, but punched his podium ticket with an 11-0 major over Heritage in consi round 2. Shields then took a 6-0 loss to Barron Collier in the bottom consi quarter.
Heading home: Middleburg’s Grady Woodard took a pair of Friday losses, by tech fall (23-8 in 5:48) to Lake Gibson in the championship quarters and via 6-2 loss to Brandon in consi round 2, to go 1-2 in the tournament.
126
Medals secured: Oakleaf’s Sebastian Bonochea earned the area’s only medal and will have two matches today. After a front-side loss by tech fall (16-1 in 4:28) to Mariner in the quarters, Bonochea took consi-side decisions over Brandon (5-1) in round 2 and over Charlotte (7-6) in the top consi quarter. Bonochea will wrestle Countryside’s Landon Bates in the top consi semi.
Heading home: Fleming Island’s Laird Duhaylungsod and Clay’s Brady Glavin both lost twice on Friday and left the tournament with 1-2 records. Duhaylungsod took a 5-2 loss to Bates in the quarters, falling by a 6-4 count to Land O’Lakes in consi round 2, while Glavin fell by 6-2 decision to Lake Gibson on the front, and via sudden-victory takedown in a 6-4 loss to Charlotte.
132
Going for gold: In the only boys’ side all-area state championship match, Fleming Island’s Jayce Paridon (47-2) and Deltona’s Kevin Kerns (36-9) got there with three wins each, including two on Friday. Paridon falled Tampa Jesuit (3:11) in the quarters and controlled the pace in an 11-5 win over Winter Springs in the top-half semi, while Kerns majored Lely, 16-6, in the quarters before pushing past South Ft Myers for a 6-4 bottom-half semi win.
Medals secured: New Smyrna Beach’s Jonathan Bruner (39-9) will wrestle for 7th today. Bruner was 1-1 on Friday, with a 6-3 win in consi round 2 over Hollins before falling to Tampa Jesuit, 6-4, in the bottom consi quarter. Bruner will wrestle Lely’s McKenley Charelus for 7th place.
Heading home: In his only match of the day, Middleburg’s Wyatt Leduc took a 6-3 loss to Tampa Jesuit, going 1-2 in the tournament.
138
Medals secured: Pace’s Maeson Otwell (46-9) will be the area’s only medalist and will wrestle for 7th. Otwell took a 17-9 loss to Lake Gibson in the quarters, but rebounded for an 8-4 win over Belen Jesuit in consi round 2 to lock in his medal before losing by tech fall (17-2 in 5:32) to Tampa Freedom. Otwell will wrestle Brandon’s Thomas Gernhart for 7th place.
Heading home: Chiles’ Garrett Marschka and New Smyrna Beach’s Aidan Sutton were both 1-2 in the tournament. Marschka took a pair of one-point Friday losses, falling 6-5 on the front to Springstead and 4-3 on the back to Heritage, while Sutton had just one match Friday, losing by fall (3:39) to Gernhart in consi round 2.
145
Medals secured: Fleming Island’s Kaden Schaefer (32-2) and Middleburg’s Logan Moore (41-10) will face off in the top half consi semi, as both Clay County wrestlers will earn medals today. Schaefer opened with a third-period tech (22-5 in 5:02) over Hollins in the quarters, but then fell by a 14-1 major to Lake Gibson in the semis. As for Moore, after a quarterfinal loss by fall (1:09) to Heritage, he rallied with a 6-2 decision in consi round 2 over St Thomas Aquinas to assure his medal finish, going on to pin Miami Norland in 2:31 in the top consi quarter.
152
Medals secured: Lincoln’s Connor Edwards (38-13) and Fleming Island’s Matthew Kotler (32-10) will have two matches today, while Matanzas’ Dylan Parkinson (44-9) will wrestle for 7th. Edwards reached the front-side semis with a 9-2 win over Gateway, but then fell to Tampa Jesuit by a 7-2 count. Edwards will face Port Charlotte’s Tyler Rodriguez in the top consi semi. As for Kotler, he won twice in the consis on Friday, with decisions over Gateway (12-5) and over Parkinson, 5-4, in the bottom consi quarter. Kotler will wrestle Mariner’s Hansel Pompa-Mauri in the bottom consi semi, a rematch from round 1, with Pompa-Mauri winning that one by a 15-6 major on Thursday. Parkinson’s day began with an 8-7 win in consi round 2 over Lakeland to punch his podium ticket before getting to Kotler. Parkinson will wrestle Merritt Island’s Dylan Quiroga for 7th place.
Heading home: In his one match Friday, Westside’s Nathan Williams lost by fall (2:37) to Rodriguez, as Williams was 1-2 in the tournament.
160
Medals secured: Fleming Island’s Christopher Chop (34-9) will have two matches today, while Ed White’s Benny Lewis (36-12) will wrestle for 7th. After a 3-2 loss in the quarters to Winter Springs, Chop had two consi-side bonus-point wins, falling Pasco (3:21) in round 2 and then majoring Heritage, 12-2, in the bottom consi quarter. Lewis opened the day with a quarterfinal loss by fall (5:42) to Brandon, earning his medal space with a 10-6 decision over Wesley Chapel in consi round 2 before losing by fall (2 minutes) to Charlotte in the top consi quarter. Lewis will wrestle Heritage’s Kaleb Gabrielsen for 7th place.
170
Medals secured: Fleming Island’s Ronan Bozeman (41-8) will have two matches today, with Clay’s Dominic Martin (27-10) wrestling for 7th. After a 3-2 loss to Lake Gibson in the quarters, Bozeman took two consi-side majors over Sebring (9-1) in round 2 and over Brandon (10-1) in the bottom consi quarter. Bozeman will wrestle Bonita Springs’ Konner Stuttgen in the bottom consi semi. Martin opened the day with a loss by tech fall (18-2 in 2:17) to Winter Springs in the quarters, securing his medal with a fall (5:12) over Dunbar in consi round 2. Martin then fell in sudden victory, 5-3, in the top consi quarter to Manatee.
Heading home: In his only match of the day, Pace’s Ty Morgan took an 11-8 loss to Manatee, as Morgan was 1-2 in the tournament.
182
Medals secured: Fleming Island’s Joshua Sandoval (46-5) will face New Smyrna Beach’s Sawyer VanRider (48-8) in the top consi semi, with both getting two matches today, while Ft Walton Beach’s Connor Roberts (41-13) will wrestle for 7th. Sandoval’s Friday began with a quarterfinal pin (5:54) over Belen Jesuit, but two third-period takedowns were his undoing in a 6-5 semifinal loss to Braden River. As for VanRider, he lost by fall in the quarters (2:37) to Satellite, but came back in the consis behind a blood-round 12-8 decision over Bonita Springs and fall (:48) over Roberts in the top consi quarter. Roberts punched his podium ticket with an 11-9 win over Immokalee in consi round 2 before facing VanRider, and will face Pasco’s Bruno Ingalls for 7th place.
195
Medals secured: All four Region 1 wrestlers will medal today, with Ft Walton Beach’s Darius Brundidge (48-5) facing Lincoln’s Jakob Nowak (45-7) in the bottom consi semi. Oakleaf’s Isaiah Shevchook (37-7) also will get two matches today, while New Smyrna Beach’s Derek King (26-9) will wrestle for 7th. Brundidge began the day with a loss by fall (3:54) in the quarters to Charlotte, but responded with pins over Palmetto (5:50) in consi round 2 and then over King (5:25) in the bottom consi quarter, while Nowak reached the front-side semis with a 12-1 major over Merritt Island before losing by fall (1:27) to Countryside. As for Shevchook, after a quarterfinal loss by pin (1:41) to Countryside, he came back with a 7-1 blood-round win over Winter Springs, followed by a pin (3:55) over Merritt Island in the top consi quarter. King also fell in the quarters by a 5-4 count to Manatee, but earned his medal with a consi round-2 pin (3:10) over Lake Gibson before his loss to Brundidge.
220
Going for gold: New Smyrna Beach’s Dylon York (42-5) continued to power his way through the bracket with a pair of Friday decisions in reaching the final, with a sudden-victory takedown good for a 7-5 quarterfinal decision over Miramar, followed by an 8-5 win over Riverside’s Thomas Jones in the semis. York will wrestle Charlotte’s Cael Newton (55-2) for the state championship.
Medals secured: Jones (45-2) and Fleming Island’s Jhoel Robinson (40-1) will meet in the bottom consi semi, as both will get two matches today, while Clay’s Kedtric Wilbourn (45-12) will wrestle for 7th. After falling in the ultimate tiebreaker, 4-3, in the quarters to Pasco, Robinson won twice in the consis, with a 7-6 decision over Immokalee in round 2 and fall (1:43) over North Ft Myers in the bottom consi quarter. Jones got to York after a quarterfinal pin (4:56) over River Ridge. As for Wilbourn, he locked up his medal with a consi round-2 fall (4:46) over River Ridge, but fell in the top consi quarter, 6-4, to Merritt Island. Wilbourn will wrestle North Ft Myers’ Frank Cornelison for 7th place.
285
Medals secured: After a round-1 loss, Fleming Island’s Ethan Hoffstetter (26-10) will have two chances to wrestle for a possible third-place medal today, while Lincoln’s Ryder Luck (39-15) will wrestle for 7th. Hoffstetter had a pair of consi-side wins, pushing past Land O’Lakes, 2-1, in round 2, then going deep into double-overtime before falling Luck in 7:57. Hoffstetter will wrestle Port St Lucie’s Jabarie Yearby in the top-half consi-semi. Luck earned his way on podium with a 5-4 blood-round win over Middleburg’s Tucker Cody in consi round 2 in order to get to Hoffstetter, and will face Charlotte’s Nikko Frattarelli for 7th place.
Heading home: Cody took a pair of losses Friday to go 1-2 in the tournament, with a front-side quarterfinal loss by pin (4:29) to Port Charlotte before his loss to Luck.
Second-day brackets can be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 