Category: REGION IBTS

We know who won regions last week.

Fleming Island, The Gib, Charlotte, Heritage.

But we also like to toss around ideas about the region tournament, that this district is the best, or no, that district is top-heavy but isn’t the best top-to-bottom.

And the little kid-baseball-stats-nerd-turned-wrestling-writer-stats-nerd loves these kinds of discussions.

So, which district “won” each of the four regions?

These numbers might help start the discussion. I have breakdowns of all four regions, but, with an eye toward tomorrow’s first day of the FHSAA state girls tournament, here’s first a breakdown of the state qualifiers, by numbers per district:

26: District 4.
22: District 13.
21: District 11.
18: District 7.
17: District 6.
15: District 10, District 15.
11: District 1, District 3, District 5, District 12.
10: District 8, District 14.
9: District 9, District 16.
8: District 2.

My Iowa math tells me that’s 224 state qualifiers, which should track.

There’s two ways to evaluate which district “won” each region — points and qualifiers (with medals broken down). The breakdowns by each region follow (we did Region 1 earlier, but have thrown the data back in for comparison’s sake).

Region 1

Points: 1. District 4 584.5. 2. District 3 365. 3. District 1 327.5. 4. District 2 301.5.

Medals:

• 1. District 4 26 (9 1st, 8 2nd, 5 3rd, 4 4th).
• 2. (tie) District 1 11 (2 1st, 2 2nd, 4 3rd, 3 4th).
• 2. (tie) District 3 11 (4 2nd, 3 3rd, 4 4th).
• 4. District 2 8 (3 1st, 2 3rd, 3 4th).

Region 2

Points: 1. District 7 474.5. 2. District 6 433. 3. District 8 391. 4. District 5 289.

Medals:

• 1. District 7 18 (7 1st, 2 2nd, 6 3rd, 3 4th).
• 2. District 6 17 (3 1st, 6 2nd, 5 3rd, 3 4th).
• 3. District 5 11 (1 1st, 2 2nd, 2 3rd, 6 4th).
• 4. District 8 10 (3 1st, 4 2nd, 1 3rd, 2 4th).

Region 3

Points: 1. District 11 574.5. 2. District 10 349.5. 3. District 12 324. 4. District 9 298.5.

Medals –>

• 1. District 11 21 (6 1st, 7 2nd, 5 3rd, 3 4th).
• 2. District 10 15 (2 1st, 1 2nd, 4 3rd, 8 4th).
• 3. District 12 11 (2 1st, 3 2nd, 3 3rd, 3 4th).
• 4. District 9 9 (4 1st, 3 2nd, 2 3rd).

Region 4

Points: 1. District 13 626.5. 2. District 15 407.5. 3. District 16 326. 4. District 14 294.

Medals –>

• 1. District 13 22 (11 1st, 7 2nd, 2 3rd, 2 4th).
• 2. District 15 15 (1 1st, 3 2nd, 4 3rd, 7 4th).
• 3. District 14 10 (1 1st, 6 3rd, 3 4th).
• 4. District 16 9 (1 1st, 4 2nd, 2 3rd, 2 4th).

It’ll be interesting to see how the districts will fare at states, starting shortly!

JOIN us on Facebook at North Florida Matmen (you can also friend me on my personal page) or on Twitter at @NorthFLAMatmen, or on Instagram at nflamatmen. Please support our independent journalism! We’re on Venmo now: Shannon-Heaton-6. Or if you prefer PayPal, search me at Shannon Heaton (use the site email account to find the correct me).

We know who won regions last week.

DeLand, Osceola, Wellington, South Dade.

But we also like to toss around ideas about the region tournament, that this district is the best, or no, that district is top-heavy but isn’t the best top-to-bottom.

And the little kid-baseball-stats-nerd-turned-wrestling-writer-stats-nerd loves these kinds of discussions.

So, which district “won” each of the four regions?

These numbers might help start the discussion. I have breakdowns of all four regions, but, with an eye toward tomorrow’s first day of the FHSAA state girls tournament, here’s first a breakdown of the state qualifiers, by numbers per district:

32: District 16.
20: District 2.
18: District 3, District 8, District 10.
16: District 12.
15: District 9.
14: District 1, District 15.
13: District 6, District 7.
12: District 5.
7: District 11, District 14.
4: District 4.
3: District 13.

My Iowa math tells me that’s 224 state qualifiers, which should track.

There’s two ways to evaluate which district “won” each region — points and qualifiers (with medals broken down). The breakdowns by each region follow (we did Region 1 earlier, but have thrown the data back in for comparison’s sake).

Region 1

Points: 1. District 3 517.5. 2. District 2 510. 3. District 1 395.5. 4. District 4 163.5.

Medals:

• 1. District 2 20 (3 1st, 4 2nd, 8 3rd, 5 4th).
• 2. District 3 18 (7 1st, 6 2nd, 3 3rd, 2 4th).
• 3. District 1 14 (3 1st, 3 2nd, 2 3rd, 6 4th).
• 4. District 4 4 (1 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 1 4th).

Region 2

Points: 1. District 8 471.5. 2. District 7 402. 3. District 6 361.5. 4. District 5 332.5.

Medals:

• 1. District 8 18 (5 1st, 7 2nd, 3 3rd, 3 4th).
• 2. (tie) District 6 13 (3 1st, 1 2nd, 6 3rd, 3 4th).
• 2. (tie) District 7 13 (2 1st, 4 2nd, 3 3rd, 4 4th).
• 4. District 5 12 (4 1st, 2 2nd, 2 3rd, 4 4th).

Region 3

Points: 1. District 10 460. 2. District 9 438.5. 3. District 12 437. 4. District 11 257.5.

Medals –>

• 1. District 10 18 (3 1st, 5 2nd, 4 3rd, 6 4th).
• 2. District 12 16 (4 1st, 2 2nd, 6 3rd, 4 4th).
• 3. District 9 15 (4 1st, 4 2nd, 3 3rd, 4 4th).
• 4. District 11 7 (3 1st, 3 2nd, 1 3rd).

Region 4

Points: 1. District 16 767. 2. District 15 408. 3. District 14 286. 4. District 13 141.5.

Medals –>

• 1. District 16 32 (11 1st, 11 2nd, 5 3rd, 5 4th).
• 2. District 15 14 (1 1st, 2 2nd, 5 3rd, 6 4th).
• 3. District 14 7 (2 1st, 1 2nd, 2 3rd, 2 4th).
• 4. District 13 3 (2 3rd, 1 4th).

It’ll be interesting to see how the districts will fare at states next week!

JOIN us on Facebook at North Florida Matmen (you can also friend me on my personal page) or on Twitter at @NorthFLAMatmen, or on Instagram at nflamatmen. Please support our independent journalism! We’re on Venmo now: Shannon-Heaton-6. Or if you prefer PayPal, search me at Shannon Heaton (use the site email account to find the correct me).

We know who won 3A-Region 1 last week. DeLand joined Suwannee and Fleming Island as “double region” champs.

But we also like to toss around ideas about the region tournament, that this district is the best, or no, that district is top-heavy but isn’t the best top-to-bottom.

And the little kid-baseball-stats-nerd-turned-wrestling-writer-stats-nerd loves these kinds of discussions.

So, which district “won” each of the four regions?

These numbers might help start the discussion, here’s first a breakdown of the state qualifiers, by numbers per district:

20: District 2.
18: District 3.
14: District 1.
4: District 4.

My Iowa math tells me that’s 56 state qualifiers, which should track.

There’s two ways to evaluate which district “won” each region — points and qualifiers (with medals broken down). The breakdowns by each region follow.

Region 1

Points: 1. District 3 517.5. 2. District 2 510. 3. District 1 395.5. 4. District 4 163.5.

Medals:

• 1. District 2 20 (3 1st, 4 2nd, 8 3rd, 5 4th).
• 2. District 3 18 (7 1st, 6 2nd, 3 3rd, 2 4th).
• 3. District 1 14 (3 1st, 3 2nd, 2 3rd, 6 4th).
• 4. District 4 4 (1 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 1 4th).

Unlike 1A or 2A, the data’s a bit conflicting with regard to who “won” Region 1 in 3A. Looking at the medals, the depth of District 2 carried the day. But, looking at the points scored, the firepower up top of District 3 carried the day. One thing was for sure, with just two qualifiers, and 7.5 points, separating Districts 2 and 3, it was a good fight for the top.

I don’t know if I can get all 12 districts done before I go Friday morning to Osceola, in fact I’m pretty sure I can’t, but it’ll be interesting to see how the districts will fare at states next week!

JOIN us on Facebook at North Florida Matmen (you can also friend me on my personal page) or on Twitter at @NorthFLAMatmen, or on Instagram at nflamatmen. Please support our independent journalism! We’re on Venmo now: Shannon-Heaton-6. Or if you prefer PayPal, search me at Shannon Heaton (use the site email account to find the correct me).

We know who won 2A-Region 1 last week. Once again, Fleming Island is your reigning double-Region 1 champion.

But we also like to toss around ideas about the region tournament, that this district is the best, or no, that district is top-heavy but isn’t the best top-to-bottom.

And the little kid-baseball-stats-nerd-turned-wrestling-writer-stats-nerd loves these kinds of discussions.

So, which district “won” each of the four regions?

These numbers might help start the discussion, here’s first a breakdown of the state qualifiers, by numbers per district:

26: District 4.
11: (tie) District 1, District 3.
8: District 2..

My Iowa math tells me that’s 56 state qualifiers, which should track.

There’s two ways to evaluate which district “won” each region — points and qualifiers (with medals broken down). The breakdowns by each region follow.

Region 1

Points: 1. District 4 584.5. 2. District 3 365. 3. District 1 327.5 4. District 2 301.5.

Medals:

• 1. District 4 26 (9 1st, 8 2nd, 5 3rd, 4 4th).
• 2. (tie) District 3 11 (4 2nd, 3 3rd, 4 4th).
• 2. (tie) District 1 11 (2 1st, 2 2nd, 4 3rd, 3 4th).
• 4. District 2 8 (3 1st, 2 3rd, 3 4th).

The data tells me mostly what the standings did, that District 4 had the strongest district, but it was a pretty close fight for second, as both Districts 3 and 1 each had 11 medals. The 3s were only a little over two points per weight class ahead of ones when it came down to points, however.

I don’t know if I can get all 12 districts done before I go Friday morning to Osceola, in fact I’m pretty sure I can’t, but it’ll be interesting to see how the districts will fare at states next week!

JOIN us on Facebook at North Florida Matmen (you can also friend me on my personal page) or on Twitter at @NorthFLAMatmen, or on Instagram at nflamatmen. Please support our independent journalism! We’re on Venmo now: Shannon-Heaton-6. Or if you prefer PayPal, search me at Shannon Heaton (use the site email account to find the correct me).

We know who won 1A-Region 1 last week. Suwannee is your reigning double-Region 1 champion.

But we also like to toss around ideas about the region tournament, that this district is the best, or no, that district is top-heavy but isn’t the best top-to-bottom.

And the little kid-baseball-stats-nerd-turned-wrestling-writer-stats-nerd loves these kinds of discussions.

So, which district “won” each of the four regions?

These numbers might help start the discussion, here’s first a breakdown of the state qualifiers, by numbers per district:

25: District 2.
18: District 3.
10: District 1.
3: District 4.

My Iowa math tells me that’s 56 state qualifiers, which should track.

There’s two ways to evaluate which district “won” each region — points and qualifiers (with medals broken down). The breakdowns by each region follow.

Region 1

Points: 1. District 2 571. 2. District 3 508.5. 3. District 1 304. 4. District 4 244.5.

Medals:

• 1. District 2 25 (5 1st, 7 2nd, 7 3rd, 6 4th).
• 2. District 3 18 (6 1st, 4 2nd, 3 3rd, 5 4th).
• 3. District 1 10 (2 1st, 3 2nd, 2 3rd, 3 4th).
• 4. District 4 3 (1 1st, 2 3rd).

The data tells me mostly what the standings did, that District 2 had the strongest district, but District 3 made it closer than I would have thought. That’s either due to the top-heavy firepower of the first half of District 2, or the more consistent depth across 11 different teams in District 3.

I don’t know if I can get all 12 districts done before I go Friday morning to Osceola, in fact I’m pretty sure I can’t, but it’ll be interesting to see how the districts will fare at states next week!

JOIN us on Facebook at North Florida Matmen (you can also friend me on my personal page) or on Twitter at @NorthFLAMatmen, or on Instagram at nflamatmen. Please support our independent journalism! We’re on Venmo now: Shannon-Heaton-6. Or if you prefer PayPal, search me at Shannon Heaton (use the site email account to find the correct me).

By MATMEN, Sunday, 4:45 a.m.

DELAND — Defending the home gym is the goal of every wrestling program. Seeing a majority of teams in a state-qualifying tournament getting a wrestler in the state field is the goal of each tournament.

And both were accomplished Saturday, as DeLand “double regioned,” adding the 3A-Region 1 IBT title at home to its duals title won at Osceola last month.

The Volusia County Bulldogs built a 47-point margin of victory over runnerup Hagerty, 161.5-114.5, for the team’s first region IBT title. In so doing, DeLand qualified six wrestlers out for the 3A state tournament starting Thursday at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, the only team in the 31-team field to qualify more than five.

And that’s where the team balance came in with a little bit of something for almost everyone, as 24 teams — nearly 80% of the teams in the field (31 in all) have one or more state quallfiers. Ten teams won weight-class titles, ten won runnerup medals, ten won 3rd-place medals and 13 different teams won one 4th-place medal.

DeLand finished with one champion, two runners-up and three 3rds; runnerup Hagerty was one of two teams with five qualifiers, as the Huskies advanced two champions, two runners-up and one 3rd. Buchholz, with 111 points and five qualifiers (two champs, one runnerup and two 4ths), was third.

Timber Creek held off Bartram Trail and Winter Park for fourth through sixth places respectively, as the Wolfpack had 103 points to the Bears’ 101 and Wildcats’ 100. Timber Creek had two champions qualify out, while Bartram advanced three wrestlers (one champ, one 3rd and one 4th) and Winter Park took four out, including a region-high three champs and one runnerup.

Flagler Palm Coast, in seventh with 96 points, also advanced four wrestlers to states, on one runnerup, two 3rds and one 4th, while three teams — Oviedo (8th, 86.5 points), Fletcher (9th, 77) and Lake Mary (12th, 56) — each will move three wrestlers on. The Lions had two runnersup and one 3rd, while the Senators had two runners-up and one 4th and Rams had two 3rds and one 4th.

Among teams besides Timber Creek that had two state qualifiers, Creekside was 10th (63 points, one champ and one 4th), Lake Brantley 11th (60, one runnerup and one 3rd), Nease 13th (54.5 points, one champ & one 4th), and Sandalwood 17th (39.5 points, one 3rd & one 4th).

Ten more teams had one state qualifier, led by Forest’s 14th-place finish (44.5 points, one 3rd), followed by Ocoee (40.5 in 15th, one 4th), West Orange (40 in 16th, one runnerup), Evans (34 in 18th, one 3rd), Mandarin (32 in 19th, one runnerup), Apopka (25 in 20th, one champ), First Coast (24.5 points in 21st, one 4th), Windermere (24 points in 22nd, one 3rd), West Port (19 points in 24th, one 4th) and Wekiva (17 points in 25th, one 4th).

With 23 points in 23rd place, Olympia was the highest-finishing team not to have a state qualifier.

Below follows a summary of each weight class.

106
Final: Alexavier Panganiban (Creekside, 12th, rankings as ranked last week by Matmen-endorsed KabraWrestling.com) d. Jacob Rothman (Winter Park, 15th), 12-6.
3rd: Egehan Yilhan (Windermere, 20th) d. Mathew Pishotta (West Port), 9-4.
Finalists’ path: Panganiban pinned his way into the final with three first-period falls over Dr Phillips, Lake Brantley and over Yilhan in the semis, while Rothman bookended a quarterfinal tech over Ocoee with pins over Lake Mary and Forest.
Punching tickets: Yilhan (pin & decision on front) added two more wins in the consis, with a 14-2 major over Fletcher in the blood round, while Pishotta, who’d lost to Yilhan by a 14-8 count in the quarters on Friday, won three times in the consis to get the rematch, with pins over Oviedo, Lake Brantley and Forest in the consi semis.
Who else impressed us: Beyond the qualifiers, we were impressed with Forest’s Scott Smith, who needed just 71 seconds of mat time to get to the semis, with one of his two pins over a fellow blood-rounder.
How were our picks?: We had three of the four projecteds move on to states, with our fourth reaching the blood round. Pishotta was one we said watch for a deep run and that run will continue next week. Otherwise, we were a little fuzzy on the depth picks with this weight class.

113
Final: Marlo Clark (Timber Creek, 7th) md. Josh Sabbia (Oviedo), 18-5.
3rd: Tyler Bracero (DeLand, 20th) p. Santiago Carrion (Creekside), 1:53.
Finalists’ path: Clark had Friday pins over Fletcher and Buchholz before taking a 3-1 semifinal win over Bartram Trail, while Sabbia clinched the rematch of last week’s District 3 final with a rd-1 tech over Nease, quarterfinal pin over Bracero (3:17) and semifinal win over Carrion, 5-0.
Punching tickets: Bracero pinned his way through the consis, with pins over Fletcher, Forest and Bartram Trail before the medal round, while Carrion (pin & forfeit on front) added a second pin in the blood round over Lake Brantley.
Who else impressed us: As we saw a few times in the 1A and 2A brackets, it’s a tough thing to get a rematch in these tournaments, but that’s what Lake Brantley’s Clayton Willits got after a round-1 loss to Carrion. Willits bonus-pointed through three rounds of consis to get a rematch in the blood round, and while the outcome was the same, kudos for making it happen.
How were our picks?: Two of our projecteds made it out (one of them did not compete) and a third did get to the blood round, while Sabbia was one of our dark horses and Willits did in fact make a deep run as projected. Carrion won’t be as under the radar next week.

120
Final: Phoenix Krauth (DeLand, 11th) p. Finn Buchanan (Buchholz), 3:44.
3rd: Aydan Ruano (Forest) p. Adrian Pabon-Rivera (Lake Mary), 3:18.
Finalists’ path: Krauth bonus-pointed through the tournament, with a rd-1 pin over Lake Brantley, an 18-6 major over Nease and a semifinal tech over Pabon-Rivera (17-2 in 4:13), while Buchanan had Friday decisions over Hagerty and Creekside, with a 11-1 major in the semis over Oviedo.
Punching tickets: After a round-1 loss to Oviedo, Ruano wouldn’t lose again and later avenged that loss, with pins over Sandalwood and Oviedo, a decision over Nease and tech over Hagerty before the medal round. Pabon-Rivera (major & pin on front) won by injury default over Timber Creek in the consi semis.
Who else impressed us: Ruano definitely impressed me the most, going 5-1 to get back to states after winning a region title last year. That’s one of the hardest things for a wrestler to do, wrestle all the way back to third after a round-1 loss.
How were our picks?: We had two of our four projecteds make it out to state; one of our projecteds fell in the blood round, while the other didn’t get past Friday. Buchanan was a dark horse who went on to make final, and our deep-run pick also made the blood round, with Pabon-RIvera an under-the-radar wrestler who is now over the radar.

126
Final: Ethan Vugman (Bartram Trail, 1st) p. Raymond Cavey (West Orange, 11th), 5:35.
3rd: Dario Duany (Lake Brantley, 9th) md. Jedidiah Brown (Buchholz, 18th), 9-0.
Finalists’ path: Vugman pinned his way through the weekend, with preliminary pins over Hagerty, Olympia and Duany (:42) in the semis before getting to Cavey, who had a rd-1 major over Forest and decisions over Timber Creek and over Brown (5-2 in the semis).
Punching tickets: Duany (tech & decision on front) added a pair of majors in the consis, with a 15-1 blood-round win over Evans to secure his state space, while Brown (pin & decision on front) qualified out with a 6-3 decision over DeLand in the consi semis.
Who else impressed us: Evans’ Jaylen Clayton had a solid tournament and could be in the mix for states in 2024 with three wins this weekend, including a front-side pin and two consi-side decisions.
How were our picks?: We had three of the four projecteds, but Cavey was definitely a bracket-buster for us; we didn’t have him on our projections anywhere (more West Orange results would have helped). Our fourth projected qualifier reached the blood round and Clayton was a dark horse pick for us. Our deep-run pick got to Saturday’s wrestling, but our under-the-radar pick, after a nice start to the season, struggled more down the stretch.

132
Final: Cavarius Liddie (Buchholz, 5th) p. Nikolas Blake (Hagerty, 2nd), 3:50.
3rd: Kole Hannant (Flagler Palm Coast, 13th) d. Cole O’Brien (Fletcher, 6th), 8-3.
Finalists’ path: Like Vugman, Liddie pinned his way through the tournament, with first-period preliminary pins over Sandalwood, Olympia and O’Brien in the semis, while Blake had pins over Timber Creek and DeLand before downing Hannant, 8-4, in the semis.
Punching tickets: Hannant (2 pins on front) added a third with a blood-round fall over Aquino in 2:47, while O’Brien (2 pins on front) also added a third in the consi semis, with a pin over Windermere.
Who else impressed us: Timber Creek’s Ozy Aquino was an additional qualifier, placing fifth at districts; he also placed in the top six at regions; after being pinned in 10 seconds by Blake, Aquino stormed through three consi-side pins before it took a multiple-time state qualifier like Hannant to end his tournament in the blood round.
How were our picks?: We were 4-for-4 on our projecteds getting out, with the correct final and 3rd-place match. One of our two dark horses got to the blood round, and our deep-run pick got to Saturday’s wrestling. Aquino knocked out our under-the-radar pick and our other dark horse didn’t compete.

138
Final: Tamarion Kendrick (Apopka, 7th) tf. Kellen Chapman (DeLand, 15th), 15-0, 3:24.
3rd: Johnathan Dishman (Oviedo) d. John Hald (Flagler Palm Coast, 12th), 12-10, SV.
Finalists’ path: Kendrick had a pair of Friday majors over Seminole and Nease, then had his closest match of the tournament in a 10-7 semifinal win over Dishman. As for Chapman, he had Friday bonus-point wins over Olympia (pin) and Timber Creek (major), with an 8-6 win over Creekside in the semis.
Punching tickets: Dishman (pin & 13-11 win over Hald) took a pair of decisions in the consis, first with a 13-6 blood-round win over Seminole, while Hald had three consi-side victories over Sandalwood (major), Nease (decision) and Creekside (pin).
Who else impressed us: I thought Seminole’s Ryan Culbertson was better than a fourth-place region qualifier, and he showed it, rallying from a 12-3 loss to Kendrick in round 1 with three consi-side victories, on a pin over Hagerty and one-point wins over Buchholz and Timber Creek. Was a good way to rally back.
How were our picks?: We had three of the four projecteds correct, including the correct final, with our fourth projected making the blood round along with our deep-run pick, Culbertson. Both of our dark horses, as well, made it to Saturday, and our under-the-radar pick was Dishman. He’s over it now. Otherwise, a pretty good weight class.

145
Final: James Gonzalez (Winter Park, 13th) d. Giovanni Duany (Lake Brantley, 15th), 6-3.
3rd: Tyran Schanck (Evans, 14th) d. Seth Galvin (Wekiva), 5-4.
Finalists’ path: The District 3 party was led by Gonzalez, who had Friday pins over Apopka and Seminole before majoring Galvin, 10-0, in the semis. Duany bonus-pointed to wins over Olympia (major) and Mandarin (pin) before a 10-4 win over Schanck in the semis (they didn’t meet at districts, no rematch in play).
Punching tickets: Schanck (2 pins on front) added a third fall in the consi semis, securing his state position with a pin over Olympia, while Galvin (major & decision on front) took a 5-4 win over Bartram Trail in the blood round.
Who else impressed us: Olympia’s Madden Bourst rallied from an 8-0 loss in round 1 to win three times in the consis (forfeit, decision and pin) before taking a loss by fall against Schanck, a former district rival, in the semis.
How were our picks?: We had all four projecteds getting out, but we had Schanck in the final and Duany in the third-place match (shoulda looked at that district closer-like, but we did get them all out). Our deep-run pick did make a deep run, but our dark horses were a mixed bag (one didn’t compete, the other got to Saturday, but lost first match). Bourst knocked out our under-the-radar choice on Friday.

152
Final: Joey Parker (Winter Park, 5th) p. Luke Forsberg (Oviedo, 18th), 1:26.
3rd: Mathias Franz (DeLand, 12th) p. Justin St John (Hagerty), 5:54.
Finalists’ path: Another District 3 party and rematch of the final this time, Parker pinned or teched his way through, with pins over Seminole and over Franz in the preliminary rounds, as well as a quarterfinal tech over Olympia, while Forsberg bookended a 6-3 quarterfinal win over South Lake with pins over Lake Mary and St John in the semis.
Punching tickets: Franz (pin & major on the front) added two more falls in the consis, sealing his state space with a blood-round pin over Bartram Trail, while St John (two decisions on front) bagged a trip to Kissimmee with his consi-semi pin over Flagler Palm Coast.
Who else impressed me: Gotta go with St John here, who was 17-21 going in. Beat Flagler. Beat a district champ in double-overtime. Lost to his crosstown rival in the semis. Came back to pin again in the blood round (and shout out here to Flagler’s Carson Baert, who lost in round 1 to St John, then got all the way back to the blood round for a rematch).
How were our picks?: We got two of the four projects picked accurately; our other two reached the blood round and consi quarters, respectively. Forsberg was one of our two dark horses, but otherwise our depth picks were 2-6. Ugh. Not great.

160
Final: Kamdon Harrison (Hagerty, 3rd) p. Josh Daltro (Fletcher, 9th), 1:05.
3rd: Kelton Howard (Flagler Palm Coast) d. Jacob Lutz (Nease, 12), 11-9.
Finalists’ paths: Harrison had three first-period pins on the weekend, with Friday falls over Lake Mary and Mandarin, plus a semifinal third-period tech (18-3 in 5:36) over Lutz, while Daltro had Friday pins over Ocoee and Oviedo, plus a 7-1 semifinal win over Timber Creek.
Punching tickets: After a quarterfinal loss to Lutz, Howard won four times — the fourth being a rematch win — with additional consi-side pins over West Orange and Mandarin before a sudden-victory win over Timber Creek. Lutz (pin & decision on front) added a second pin in the blood round over Oviedo.
Who else impressed me?: I thought Oviedo’s Hudson McCandles had a good tournament; after a good first-round win and then loss in the quarters to Daltro, he came back with two consi-side pins, and was in trouble a couple of times against Lake Brantley in the consi quarters, but he held composure to advance. He should be back next year.
How were our picks?: We were 4-for-4 on qualifiers, with the correct final and 3rd-place matches, but one of our dark horses knocked out the other on Friday night. Our deep-run pick got to the blood round, and McCandles was our under-the-radar pick. So aside from the dark horses, huzzahs all round.

170
Final: Alan Rivera (Nease, 14th) d. Connor Gilliam (Hagerty, 19th), 7-5, SV.
3rd: Gavin Isaacs (Lake Mary, 9th) d. Max Szabo (Buchholz), 5-0.
Finalists’ paths: Rivera opened and closed the tournament with decisions, with pins Friday over Flagler Palm Coast and Saturday over Lake Brantley along with a rd-1 win over Oviedo, while Gilliam had pins over Sandalwood, Isaacs in the quarters and Ocoee in the semis.
Punching tickets: After his loss in the quarters to Gilliam, Isaacs won four times in the consis, with a major over Fletcher, decision over TImber Creek and pin over Lake Brantley before the medal round, while Szabo, who lost in the quarters to Lake Brantley by a 4-2 count, had three wins (decisions over Sandalwood and Flagler Palm Coast, pin over Ocoee).
Who else impressed us: He lost in the consi-quarters relatively early Saturday, but I liked the tournament of Timber Creek’s Juan Viera-Paulos. He pinned a higher-regarded wrestler in round 1, then hung in against a 4-year starter and blood-rounder in the quarters before taking a Friday night pin over one of West Orange’s top kids, then hung in against a top-10 ranked wrestler on Saturday. Quick shoutout to Rivera, here, too, for continuing to consistently surprise me.
How were our picks?: We had three of the four projecteds get out, but our projected final was actually the 3rd-place match. We had Rivera as a dark horse and our other one reached the blood round. After that…our District 1 depth kids both did not get out of Friday’s wrestling.

182
Final: Hunter Tate (Hagerty, 11th) d. Gavin Rodriguez-Cayro (DeLand, 12th), 8-5.
3rd: John McNames (Bartram Trail, 8th) p. Malachi Mista (Sandalwood, 14th), 2:34.
Finalists’ path: After a rd-1 pin over Creekside, Tate took decisions over Buchholz (4-2 in sudden victory) and McNames (9-5 in semis) prior to the final, while Rodriguez-Cayro bonus-pointed through the preliminary rounds, bookending a 9-1 major over Oviedo with pins over Windermere and over Mista (:57) in the semis.
Punching tickets: McNames (2 front-side pins) added two more falls on the back, with a 48-second blood-round fall over Creekside, while Mista (major & tech on front) trailed for too long in the consi semis before pushing through to a 10-9 decision.
Who else impressed us: Definitely the tournament of Creekside’s Tristen Darling, who rallied from his loss by pin in round 1 with three consi-side wins (pin over Ocoee, decisions over Oviedo and Timber Creek) before a loss by fall to a district rival in the blood round.
How were our picks?: We had the right four kids getting out, but we had McNames and Tate in the wrong spots. The more the merrier for next week. One of our dark horses got to the blood round, the other didn’t get past Friday, and our deep-run wrestler lost twice by pin. No bueno.

195
Final: Kason Nichols (Buchholz, 4th) d. Dalton Schell (Flagler Palm Coast, 8th), 4-2.
3rd: Duffy Mista (Sandalwood, 9th) p. Dean Marshall (First Coast), 3:59.
Finalists’ path: After Friday max-point wins over Bartram Trail (DQ) and Timber Creek (pin), Nichols reached the final behind a 5-1 win over Mista, whilke Schell bonus-pointed through the tournament; after opening with an 8-0 major over Marshall, Schell then took pins over Wekiva and Oviedo to reach the final.
Punching tickets: Mista (pin & decision on front) secured his state space for the second time with a blood-round fall (1:04) over DeLand, while Marshall rallied from his 8-0 loss to Schell with four bonus-point wins to qualify out, on pins over Dr Phillips, Ocoee and Oviedo, plus a tech over Timber Creek.
Who else impressed us: Gotta start with Marshall, whose season last year didn’t really foreshadow a state run this year, but here we are after a 4-2 tournament this weekend, including wins over both the District 3 and 4 champions.
How were our picks?: We had three of our four projected qualifiers get out, including the correct final, and our fourth projected reached the blood round. One of our dark horses was the other blood rounder, and we said don’t be surprised if Marshall made a deep run. He did. Our other dark horse, though, didn’t compete, and the under-the-radar pick, a district champ, was 0-2.

220
Final: Liam Glassmeyer (Winter Park, 17th) p. Jaelen Simmons (Mandarin, 10th), 2:31.
3rd: Michael Frederick (Lake Mary, 16th) d. Shane Armstrong (Bartram Trail, 5th), 2-1, UTB.
Finalists’ path: Aside from a quarterfinal win over Armstrong in which Glassmeyer rode him out in ultimate tiebreaker to secure the win, Glassmeyer dominated the bracket, with pins over University (Orange City) on Friday and Frederick (semis) before the medal round, while Simmons had a round-1 pin over DeLand and then wins over Timber Creek (5-1, quarters) and Flagler Palm Coast (11-1, semis).
Punching tickets: Frederick (2 front-side pins) added a pair of decisions in the consis, securing his state space with a 4-2 win over Ocoee, while Armstrong won three times off the back, bookending a 2-1 win over Hagerty with pins over Oviedo on Friday and Flagler in the blood round.
Who else impressed us: Here was another weight where Flagler impressed us, as Ethaniel Laupepa reached the semis behind decisions over Creekside and Ocoee (can’t say for sure I would have picked him for either one) and then battled it up against a top-five ranked wrestler in the blood round. Could see Laupepa in #TheShow in 2024.
How were our picks?: We had three of the four projected wrestlers make it to state, with the correct 3rd-place match (I really thought Glassmeyer would win this, he’s an excellent 220 and could place). Simmons was a dark-horse pick and I believe he’s better than some moments he’s had this season; our other dark horse did get to Saturday, but our depth picks were 1-4 as a pair.

285
Final: Peter Nesheiwat (Timber Creek, 4th) d. Toby Matson (Fletcher, 8th), 8-4.
3rd: Marion Smokes (DeLand, 6th) p. Deandre Scott (Ocoee, 5th), 1:29.
Finalists’ path: Nesheiwat began with Friday pins over University (Orange City) and Bartram Trail, adding a 9-3 decision in the semis over Smokes, while Matson also had Friday pins, over Olympia and Hagerty, before pushing past Scott, 4-3, in the semis.
Punching tickets: Smokes (2 front-side pins) added two more in the consis, with a blood-round fall over Evans, while Scott (2 front-side pins) earned his third pin of the tournament with a blood-round fall over Bartram Trail.
Who else impressed us: Even though under-sized, Bartram Trail’s Jacob George still got to the blood round with three victories this weekend, with a front-side pin over South Lake and consi-side decisions over Seminole and district rival First Coast. It’s always impressive to me that he does that.
How were our picks?: We were 4-for-4 on projected picks actually getting out, with both the correct final and 3rd-place match. One of our dark horse picks got to the blood round; however, our other three depth picks were 2-6 as a group, so it wasn’t perfectly done, just merely good enough.

Complete results from all four 3A regions can be found HERE.

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By MATMEN, Sunday, 1:55 a.m.

TALLAHASSEE — Eight will definitely not be enough for Fleming Island.

But for now this year, eight region titles in a row will certainly suffice, as the Golden Eagles put it to the rest of the field this weekend in the 2A-Region 1 IBT tournament at Chiles HS, with Chiles and Lincoln serving as co-hosts.

Fleming Island ran away from the rest of the field early Saturday morning, pushing 11 wrestlers into the finals; of those, eight would win weight-class titles, with all 11 qualifying for the 2A state championship, which starts Thursday at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.

That large number of finalists would allow the Golden Eagles to nearly double up runnerup Lincoln in the point standings, as Fleming posted 265 points to the Trojans’ 134.5.

Lincoln picked up that point total behind six state qualifiers (two champs, two 3rds and two 4ths), providing the Trojans a 15.5-point cushion over third-place Clay. The Blue Devils matched Lincoln’s total of qualifiers, with six on one champ, two runners-up, one 3rd and two 4ths.

In the battle of the Beaches, Ft Walton pushed past New Smyrna for fourth, 110-100. The Vikings qualified four wrestlers out (one of each qualifying place), while the Barracudas moved five out (three runners-up, one 3rd and one 4th).

Co-host Chiles edged Middleburg by a half-point, 93-92.5, for sixth and seventh, respectively. The Timberwolves qualified two wrestlers out (one champ & one 4th), while the Broncos will take four (two 2nds and two 3rds).

Oakleaf and Pace tied for eighth with 88 points, with Gulf Breeze rounding out the top 10 at 70.5 points. The Clay County Knights will move three on to states (one runnerup, one 3rd and one 4th), while the Patriots qualified four out (one runnerup & three 3rds). As for the Dolphins, Gulf Breeze had one champion and a pair of 4ths.

Matanzas, in 11th place with 51 points, will take two 3rds and one 4th to Kissimmee, while Riverside was 14th with 35.5 points and two qualifiers (one 3rd and one 4th). Two additional teams, Westside (15th, 33 points, one 4th) and Ed White (T-16th, 31 points, one runnerup), each had one qualifier.

Mosley and Ridgeview, both of whom were T-12th with 44 points, were the highest-finishing teams in the field with no state qualifiers.

Below follows a summary of each weight class.

106
Final: Jacob Bucci (Clay, 3rd; all rankings as of Saturday night update from KabraWrestling.com) d. Matthew Newman (Fleming Island, 5th), 2-1, TB-1.
3rd: Timothy McLean (Matanzas, 8th) d. Garrett Ferguson (Gulf Breeze, 9th), 7-2.
Finalists’ path: Bucci bonus-pointed his way into the final, with a forfeit and pin over Ridgeview before majoring McLean, 8-0, in the semis, while Newman had Friday pins over Niceville and Westside befroe decisioning Ferguson, 8-1, in the semis.
Punching tickets: McLean (tech & major on front) added a blood-round pin over Westside to secure his Kissimmee space, while Ferguson (pin & tech on front) picked up a second pin in the consi semis over Ridgeview.
Who else impressed us: Westside’s Jacob Jackson proved his capability in a bigger event like this, with a front-side win and then two pins in the consis to get to the blood round.
How were our picks?: We had three of our projecteds qualify out, including the correct final, with our fourth projected getting to Saturday. Ferguson and Ridgeview’s Jason Barrett were our dark horses, and Barrett made it to the blood round. Oakleaf’s Connor Barnes was a second-day qualifier after we listed him as under the radar.

113
Final: Vaniel Caceres (Lincoln, 6th) d. Shane Duhaylungsod (Fleming Island, 7th), 2-1.
3rd: Santiago Mayic (Ft Walton Beach) p. Drew Holmquist (Clay), 4:45.
Finalists’ path: Caceres pinned his way into the final, with falls over St Augustine, ORange Park and Mayic in the semis, to get to Duhaylungsod, who had a 2-0 quarterfinal win over Gulf Breeze bookended by pins over Chiles and Terry Parker.
Punching tickets: Mayic (2 pins on front) added two more falls in the consis, with a blood-round pin over Arnold to set his place at state, while Holmquist had lost by fall in round 1 and had to win four times off the back to get out, with a forfeit, a decision over Orange Park and pins over Chiles and Terry Parker.
Who else impressed us: Arnold freshman James Oliver was under the radar (we slotted him there), but he had a front-side pin and added two more bonus-point wins in the consis to get to the blood round.
How were our picks?: We had three of four projecteds get out (the fourth didn’t compete), and while we said Mayic shouldn’t surprise if he made a deep run, I didn’t think it’d be third deep. So on the surface it doesn’t look bad, but it wasn’t a great weight for us.

120
Final: Coby Shields (Gulf Breeze, 9th) d. Grady Woodard (Middleburg, 10th), 4-2.
3rd: Jashawn Washington (Lincoln) p. Ion Hortinela (Oakleaf), 1:06.
Finalists’ path: Shields had a rd-1 pin over Pedro Menendez before decisions over Chiles and Hortinela to get to the championship round, while Woodard pinned his way into the final, with falls over Columbia, Niceville and over Washington in the semis.
Punching tickets: Washington (pin & major on front) added a 9-6 blood-round win over crosstown and district rival Chiles, while Hortinela (2 pins on front) added a third fall over Ft Walton Beach in the consi semis.
Who else impressed us: Ft Walton Beach’s Zak Vosburgh had three pins in getting to the blood round, with one on the front and two on the back, taking losses against both the 3rd and 4th.
How were our picks?: We had three of the four projecteds make it out, and our projected third-place match happened one round earlier. Hortinela and Vosburgh were our dark horses, so them going deep was good for the picks. Got somewhat squirrelier after that.

126
Final: Laird Duhaylungsod (Fleming Island, 4th) d. Brady Glavin (Clay, 9th), 4-1.
3rd: Sebastian Bonochea (Oakleaf, 10th) md. Zakary Jurado (Lincoln), 9-1.
Finalists’ path: Duhaylungsod bonus-pointed through the first three rounds; after a forfeit, he teched Ft Walton Beach and then pinned Jurado in the semis, while Glavin had a rd-1 pin over Arnold and decisions over Pace (sudden victory) and Bonochea to get to his #Uncivil rival.
Punching tickets: Bonochea (pin & decision on front) advanced out with an 8-1 decision in the consi semis over Ft Walton Beach, while Jurdado (pin & decision on front) added a second decision (11-6) in the blood round over Pace.
Who else impressed us: After getting teched by Duhaylungsod in the quarters, Ft Walton Beach’s Landon Burbidge — a former state qualifier — kept things together to get to the blood round, with a pin and a 4-0 win over a very good Chiles wrestler.
How were our picks?: We had two of four projecteds get out, but the correct final; both our others fell in the blood round, and our dark horses got out. Our deep run pick got to the second day, so we were pretty close, all things considered, if you go past just the number of qualifiers.

132
Final: Jayce Paridon (Fleming Island, 1st) d. Jonathan Bruner (New Smyrna Beach, 9th), 7-0.
3rd: Wyatt Leduc (Middleburg, 4th) medfft over Keon Barrientos (Oakleaf).
Finalists’ path: Paridon didn’t give up a point all weekend, with preliminary pins over Ponte Vedra and Leduc (semis), plus a quarterfinal tech, while Bruner powered through three six-minute decisions over Ridgeview, Columbia and Barrientos in the semis.
Punching tickets: Leduc (2 pins on front) secured his state space with a third-period tech over Columbia in the consi semis, while Barrientos (tech & decision on front) advanced on to Silver Spurs with a 2-0 win over Gulf Breeze.
Who else impressed us: In their final high school tournaments, Columbia’s Jayden Thomas and Gulf Breeze’s Nate Weber had six max-point wins (five of them by pin).
How were our picks?: We had three projecteds make it out, with our fourth projected getting to Saturday, while Weber was one of our dark horses and Thomas was our deep-run pick and Barrientos was our under-the-radar pick. So we were pretty solid here.

138
Final: Garrett Marschka (Chiles, 2nd) d. Maeson Otwell (Pace, 9th), 7-3.
3rd: Aidan Sutton (New Smyrna Beach) p. Michael Mancuso (Gulf Breeze), 3:43.
Finalists’ path: Marschka followed the pin/decision path on both days, with falls over Matanzas and Mancuso, both in the first period, along with a 1-0 win over Middleburg in the quarters. Otwell had six-minute wins over Westside, Columbia (major) and Ridgeview, all seniors, to get to Marschka.
Punching tickets: Sutton, who lost by a 3-2 count on Friday to Mancuso, won twice by decision (Westside & Lincoln) and twice by pin (Ridgeview as well as Mancuso) in the consis, while Mancuso (2 decisions on front) added a one-point decision win over Clay on the back.
Who else impressed us: We didn’t have Sutton anywhere in our preview. ANYWHERE. He’d struggled last year with a higher weight and had flown WAY under our radar, apparently, this year. To lose once, by one point, and get that loss back in the medal round is a very good tournament. Shoutout, also, to Clay’s Landen Solomon, who also wasn’t anywhere in our preview and made the blood round.
How were our picks?: Well, we had the right final, so that counts, right? A mess after that. Our dark horses did get to Saturday, but both lost in the consi quarters; our deep run pick did get to the blood round, and Mancuso did get out.

145
Final: Kaden Schaefer (Fleming Island, 2nd) md. Steven Banfield (Ft Walton Beach), 14-3.
3rd: Logan Moore (Middleburg, 7th) d. Cooper Hill (Chiles), 6-0.
Finalists’ path: Schaefer bonus-pointed through all rounds of the weekend, with Friday pins over Oakleaf and Lincoln before teching Moore, 16-0 in 3:40, in the semis, while Banfield had Friday pins over Mosley and Westside before decisioning Hill, 7-1.
Punching tickets: Moore (pin & decision on front) secured his space at state with a blood-round 4-2 decision over Terry Parker, while Hill (2 pins on front) advanced on to Kissimmee with a 3-1 consi-semi win over Niceville.
Who else impressed us: After time away from the sport, and after transferring to a new environment, Terry Parker’s Ben Helton got to the blood round. He proved our best rd-1 match correct in an 11-10 win in that round, then took two pins to take a shot at another senior.
How were our picks?: We had all four picks correct, with the correct wrestlers in each slot (finals vs 3rd), one of our dark horses made the blood round, Helton made a deep run by getting to the blood round, and our other dark horse did get to Saturday. So, they were very good picks.

152
Final: Connor Edwards (Lincoln, 5th) d. Matthew Kotler (Fleming Island, 7th), 5-3.
3rd: Dylan Parkinson (Matanzas, 10th) d. Nathan Williams (Westside), 9-4.
Finalists’ path: Edwards had Friday pins over Riverside and Tate, plus a 10-8 semifinal win over Parkinson, to get to a rematch with Kotler going back to January’s Keystone Memorial. Kotler, for his part, pinned his way in, with falls over Niceville, Middleburg and Ft Walton Beach in succession.
Punching tickets: Parkinson (pin & major on front) had a third-period tech (19-3 in 4:22) over Middleburg to get out to states once again, while Williams, who’d lost on Friday to Parkinson (12-0), had three consi-side wins over Pedro Menendez (pin), Chiles (major) and Ft Walton Beach (6-2 win) to get a rematch.
Who else impressed us: Freshman Daniel Raines of Middleburg was not listed anywhere in our preview, but he knocked off a senior in round 1, then pushed past two wrestlers with more starting experience in his two consi victories before running into a buzzsaw in Parkinson. Raines will be back.
How were our picks?: We had three of the top four projecteds make it out, including the corrrect final, and our fourth projected reached the blood round, while Williams was a dark horse. Aside from that, well, the rest was not so great.

160
Final: Christopher Chop (Fleming Island, 4th) p. Benny Lewis (Ed White), 5:00.
3rd: Jordan Baxter (Pace, 10th) p. Landon Wright (Matanzas), 2:29.
Finalists’ path: Chop bonus-pointed through the weekend, with a rd-1 pin over Gulf Breeze and majors over Oakleaf (10-0, quarters) and Baxter (10-2, semis), while Lewis bookended a quarterfinal win over Pedro Menendez with pins over Arnold (rd 1) and over Ft Walton Beach (semis).
Punching tickets: Baxter (pin & decision on front) overcame Mosley by an 8-6 count in the blood round before his pin over Wright, who had to overcome a round-1 loss with four bonus-point wins in the consis (pins over Terry Parker, Chiles and Ft Walton Beach, avenging that earlier 13-7 loss, along with a major over Oakleaf.
Who else impressed us: Wright. It’s hard enough to even get a shot at a rematch in this tournament — there’s only two ways to do it, one is to meet in the quarters and then again for 3rd, and the other is to meet in round 1 and then again in the blood round. It’s even harder to get a revenge win in that scenario after fighting for life every round. Wright did it. Shout out also to Mosley’s Andrew Yeats, a district champ and blood-rounder.
How were our picks?: We got three out of four projecteds to advance, and our fourth projected got to the blood round, while Lewis was a dark horse choice. Yeats was our under-the-radar wrestler and our deep-run choice got to Saturday. Pretty OK, but some mistakes.

170
Final: Ronan Bozeman (Fleming Island, 6th) d. Dominic Martin (Clay, 7th), 10-5.
3rd: Ty Morgan (Pace, 8th) p. Anthony Kearney (Riverside), 1:50.
Finalists’ path: Bozeman needed just 1:41 of mat time to pin his way into the final, with falls over Chiles, Niceville and Ponte Vedra, while Martin forged an #Uncivil rematch with pins over Arnold and Kearney (semis), plus an 8-7 win over Morgan in the quarters.
Punching tickets: Morgan had to win at least three to get out, taking four consi-side wins on pins over Ridgeview and Ponte Vedra as well as Riverside, plus a 4-3 win over district rival Crestview. Kearney (decision & tech on front) added a 5-3 blood-round win over Milton.
Who else impressed us: Freshman Talan Babin of Ponte Vedra proved he’ll be a force to remember up top, after two front-side wins to get to the semis. It’s not that easy for freshman 170s to do that.
How were our picks?: We got three of four projecteds to move on, including the correct final, and Kearney was one of our dark horses, with the other one reaching Saturday. Babin was our under-the-radar competitor.

182
Final: Joshua Sandoval (Fleming Island, 3rd) d. Sawyer VanRider (New Smyrna Beach, 9th), 9-3.
3rd: Isaac Waters (Pace, 10th) medfft over Connor Roberts (Ft Walton Beach).
Finalists’ path: Before winning the Golden Eagles’ third straight weight class, Sandoval bonus-pointed through to the final, with a rd-1 pin over Lincoln and majors over Roberts (15-5, quarters) and Chiles (12-1, semis). VanRider bookended an 8-2 quarterfinal win over Waters with pins over Leon (rd 1) and Mosley (semis).
Punching tickets: Waters max-pointed through four rounds of consis, with pins over Riverside, Ridgeview and Chiles, while Roberts had three bonus-point consi wins, with pins over Leon and Mainland before majoring Mosley in the blood round.
Who else impressed us: We’ll see more of Mosley’s John Mengel in future years, as he won twice on the front to get to the semis (pin and major) and then took losses to state qualifiers the rest of the way. But he’ll be back.
How were our picks?: We had all four projecteds get out, and in the correct order for each. Both of our dark-horse picks made the blood round, but our deep-run choice did not compete and our under-the-radar pick probably needs another year to make more noise.

195
Final: Darius Brundidge (Ft Walton Beach, 3rd) d. Isaiah Shevchook (Oakleaf, 5th), 8-3, SV.
3rd: Jakob Nowak (Lincoln, 4th) p. Derek King (New Smyrna Beach, 10th), 4:00.
Finalists’ path: Brundidge bonus-pointed into the final, with Friday pins over Leon and Clay before majoring King, 11-2, in the semis, while Shevchook had Friday pins over Seabreeze and Mosley before a 5-3 semifinal win over Chiles.
Punching tickets: After a quarterfinal loss by pin to King on Friday, Nowak bonused through the consis with a tech over Seabreeze and pins over Fleming Island and Chiles to get the shot at a rematch for third. King (2 pins on front), added a third pin in the blood round, with a fall over Mosley.
Who else impressed us: Have to give credit to Nowak here. He was probably the pre-tournament favorite coming into this weekend, and it had to be a shock, but he just leveled the back half of the bracket, rather than losing composure after essentially a home loss in the quarters.
How were our picks?: We got three of four projecteds out, but we had Brundidge and Nowak flipped. Our fourth projected reached the blood round, and our deep-run choice also got to the blood round. King definitely was a bracket-buster, at least for us; our dark horses were 1-2 and 2-2, respectively. So there were some hits we took here.

220
Final: Jhoel Robinson (Fleming Island, 1st) d. Dylon York (New Smyrna Beach, 3rd), 4-1, TB-1.
3rd: Thomas Jones (Riverside, 4th) d. Kedtric Wilbourn (Clay, 5th), 4-3.
Finalists’ path: Robinson had Friday pins over Middleburg and Mosley before a 5-3 win in the semis over Jones, while York had Friday pins over Oakleaf and Lincoln before turning back Wilbourn, 6-4, in the semis.
Punching tickets: Jones (2 pins on front) added a third in the blood round over Lincoln, while Wilbourn (major and pin on front) earned a third bonus-point victory with a fall over Ridgeview.
Who else impressed us: Ridgeview’s Raymond Goforth was another wrestler that got to the blood round after a round-1 loss (14-2 to Wilbourn), in order to get a rematch against the wrestler that earlier beat him. It went largely the same way as round 1, but Goforth could be in the state mix next year.
How were our picks?: 4-for-4 on projecteds, with the correct final and third-place match. Goforth was a darkhorse and made the blood round, and our under-the-radar choice was the other blood-rounder, so that added some depth to the top-four choices, which were fairly clear.

285
Final: Ethan Hoffstetter (Fleming Island) d. Tucker Cody (Middleburg), 4-3, SV.
3rd: Will Kelly (Clay) medfft over Ryder Luck (Lincoln).
Finalists’ path: After a rd-1 pin over Choctaw, Hoffstetter powered through three decisions to the title, with a 5-1 win over Englewood and a 2-1 semifinal win over Ed White. As for Cody, he had pins over Ridgeview and Mainland on Friday, with a 4-3 semifinal win over Kelly in the semis.
Punching tickets: Kelly (pin & 6-2 decision over Luck) cleared his calendar for states next weekend with a 5-2 blood-round win over Englewood, while Luck won three times in the consis, with a pin over Choctaw and decisions over Mainland and Ed White to qualify out.
Who else impressed us: The Gateway Conference has been needing a good heavyweight rivalry and the one that could start between Ed White’s Alex Benitez and Englewood’s Keith Forbes (plus another heavy in 3A) could jumpstart that, as both Benitez and Forbes reached the blood round.
How were our picks?: We had three of our four projecteds get out, including the correct final; our fourth projected was Benitez and Kelly was a dark horse, with Forbes being the other one. So we had a line on the top six. Was kind of a swing and a miss further down the depth chart, though.

Complete results from all four 2A regions can be found HERE.

JOIN us on Facebook at North Florida Matmen (you can also friend me on my personal page) or on Twitter at @NorthFLAMatmen, or on Instagram at nflamatmen. Please support our independent journalism! We’re on Venmo now: Shannon-Heaton-6. Or if you prefer PayPal, search me at Shannon Heaton (use the site email account to find the correct me).

By MATMEN, Saturday, 11:30 p.m.

WEWAHITCHKA — We thought this weekend’s 1A-Region 1 IBT would have a decidedly District 2 flavor to it.

And that might have been our most correct prediction of the weekend, as District 2 teams went 1-2-3 on Saturday in the second day of competition at Wewahitchka HS.

As they have all season, Suwannee led the way, finishing the tournament with 203.5 points to win the team title, giving the Bulldogs the “double region” championship, with an IBT version along with the duals version won last month. Suwannee led the field with nine state qualifiers for Thursday’s 1A state event at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, with two champs, three runners-up, three 3rds and one 4th.

Last week, Florida High was second and Wakulla third at districts; this weekend, the order was flipped, with the War Eagles outpointing the Seminoles, 168-140, for second place.

Wakulla advanced eight to states, with one champion, four runners-up, two 3rds and one 4th, while Florida High will take six (one champ, two 3rds and three 4ths).

District 3 teams controlled the next three spots, as Yulee was fourth with 123 points, Fernandina Beach fifth at 113 and Bishop Kenny sixth with 82.5. The Hornets had more region champs than any other team in the field (three), with one runnerup and one fourth, while the Pirates moved four wrestlers through (two champs, one runnerup and one 4th) and the Crusaders also moved four through (one runnerup, one 3rd and two 4ths).

Bay was seventh as District 1’s top team, with 69 points on one champ and one 4th qualifying out, while Union County, with 66 points, was eighth and first among teams with one qualifier (one 3rd). South Walton, with 61.5 points on three qualifiers (two runners-up and one 4th), was ninth, while Episcopal completed the top 10 with 61 points and two qualifers (one runnerup and one 4th).

North Bay Haven, with one champion, was 11th on 56.5 points, while Liberty County (one champ & one 4th) was 12th with 51 points. Palatka, with one champ and one 3rd, was 13th with 49.5 points, while host Wewahitchka (one runnerup and one 3rd) was 14th at 48. Rutherford, with one 3rd and one 4th, was 15th on 46 points, while West Nassau was 16th, with one champ and one 3rd for 43 points. Raines, with one 3rd, finished 18th for 36 points.

The top team that did not have any state qualifiers was Tocoi Creek, which was in 17th place with 42 points.

Below follows a summary of each weight class.

106
Final: Jasper Croom (Florida High, 1st; all rankings as of Saturday night update from KabraWrestling.com) d. Connor Brown (Wakulla, 6th), 10-7.
3rd: Eli Jolicoeur (Suwannee, 7th) d. Nathan Lyttle (South Walton), 7-0.
Finalists’ path: Croom had three bonus-point wins, with techs over Keystone Heights in round 1 and Wolfson in the semis, plus a quarterfinal pin over Rutherford. Brown took Friday pins over Episcopal and Tocoi Creek, shutting out Jolicoeur, 1-0, in the semi.
Punching tickets: Jolicoeur (pin & decision on front), bounced back with a 14-1 consi-semi win, while Lyttle, who lost by a 7-0 score to Jolicoeur on Friday, won 3x by pin in the consis.
Who else impressed us: Our under-the-radar pick, Rocky Bayou’s Thomas Pluhar, reached the blood round with three wins on the weekend, avenging a loss by pin in the District 1 semis along the way.
How were our picks?: Pretty good, 4-for-4 on qualifiers out, we only had a switch in the semis today, with Brown getting the win ahead of my projection. Our deep-run pick did in fact make a deep run, but our dark horses were a little bit of a mixed bag.

113
Final: Derrick Williams (Bay, 1st) d. Justin Contreras (Suwannee, 5th), 9-2.
3rd: Anthony Fondo (Wakulla) p. Dewan Richardson (Florida High), 3:36.
Finalists’ path: Williams had three first-period pins over Wolfson, Richardson and Fondo en route to the final, defeating all of his fellow state qualifiers. Contreras won by fall over Tocoi Creek and Rocky Bayou Christian on Friday, but had to go double-OT to turn back Baker County, 10-8.
Punching tickets: Fondo (pin & decision on front) rallied back from the loss to Williams with a 9-5 consi-semi win over North Bay Haven, while Richardson won three times in the consis, with decisions over Bishop Kenny and Baker County, along with a fall over Fernandina Beach.
Who else impressed us: North Bay Haven’s Nathan Mercado had three bonus-point wins in the tournament, reaching the blood round and announcing that he’ll be around like older brother David for some while yet.
How were our picks?: Three projected picks, including the correct final, qualified out for states; Richardson’s one-point blood-round win was the one miss we had, but he was in the deep-run category and our under-the-radar pick made it to Saturday. Both of our dark horses did not get that far.

120
Final: Jay Brown (Liberty County, 5th) d. Topher Pearson (Suwannee, 6th), 3-2.
3rd: Jake Parker (Wewahitchka, 7th) p. David Drake (Bay, 9th), 4:48.
Finalists’ path: Brown won by fall over Stanton (rd 1) but had to go into sudden victory to defeat Parker (8-6) in the quarters before a 9-1 semifinal major over Bishop Kenny. Pearson had a forfeit and quarterfinal pin over Drake before majoring Paxon, 12-4, in the semis.
Punching tickets: Parker won four times in the consis, three by pin (Wakulla, Baker County and in the medal round), with a 10-5 win over Paxon in the consi semis, while Drake had three pins to secure his space (Florida High, Union County and Bishop Kenny).
Who else impressed us: Baker County’s Taz Kinghorn was a Saturday qualifier, with two bonus-point wins (one on each side of the bracket).
How were our picks?: We had three out of four, and bottom-half dark horse Parker “held serve” in reaching the blood round, and our deep run pick also got that far, although from the semis. Our under-the-radar pick got to Saturday.

126
Final: Brody Boehm (Suwannee, 4th) p. David Culley (Wakulla), 5:41.
3rd: Blayden Tharpe (West Nassau) d. Hunter Stanley (Florida High), 7-2.
Finalists’ path: Boehm pinned or teched his way through, with Friday pins over Union County and Fernandina Beach, with a third-period semifinal tech over Episcopal. Culley also pinned his way into the final, with falls over Palatka, Stanton and Tharpe in the semis.
Punching tickets: Tharpe (2 Friday pins) added a 6-4 decision over a district rival from Fernandina in the consi semis, while Stanley, who lost by pin to Tharpe in the quarters on Friday, won three times in the consis, with decisions over North Bay Haven, Stanton and Episcopal.
Who else impressed us: We had Stanley on our mind even before the weekend, but after getting quickly pinned in the quarters, he was able to hold his composure in the wrestlebacks to punch his way out.
How were our picks?: So far, this wasn’t our best weight, with two projecteds making it out (the other two both made the blood round. Culley, the runnerup, was a dark horse pick, so we saw him as a top-six, and our under-the-radar competitor got into Saturday’s rounds, knocking out our other dark horse pick.

132
Final: Cael Kubatzke (Fernandina Beach, 10th) p. Gibson Moore (South Walton), 2:43.
3rd: Ishmael Foster (Palatka) p. Caleb Orr (Wakulla), 3:47.
Finalists’ path: Kubatzke pinned his way through the draw, never going past the second period, with Friday pins over Baker County and Liberty County, plus a semifinal fall over Orr. Moore pinned or teched to the final, with pins over Marianna and Foster, plus a quarterfinal tech over Tocoi Creek.
Punching tickets: Foster (forfeit and decision on front) falled Yulee in the third period to secure his Silver Spurs space, while Orr (2 decisions on front) added a third over district rival Florida High to get out.
Who else impressed us: Yulee’s Logan Pugh won three times in the consis after dropping an opening-round match, getting all the way back to the blood round.
How were our picks?: We had the right final, but neither of our consi-side medalists made it (blood round and 1-2, respectively). Our dark horses showed that maybe they had some more to offer than I had predicted, but our deep-run pick didn’t compete.

138
Final: Mikade Harvey (Palatka, 2nd) tf. Austin Adamson (Yulee), 19-3, 4:00.
3rd: Brady Jackson (Wakulla) d. Ayden Kirby (Suwannee), 10-5.
Finalists’ path: Harvey pinned his way into the final, with falls over Godby, Bishop Kenny and Jackson in the semis, while Adamson had Friday pins over Freeport and Union County, taking a decision over Bay in the semis.
Punching tickets: Jackson, who had a pin & tech on the front, took two decisions in the consis, downing Tocoi Creek to secure his state spot. Kirby, who lost by forfeit to Union County in round 1, roared through four consi-side wins (pins over Freeport and Bishop Kenny, major over Episcopal and blood-round win over Bay).
Who else impressed us: You mean besides Kirby, where I’m not sure about why the forfeit in round 1 (which I tabbed as the best round-1 match, guess not)? That’s what I’m going with. It’s tough to win four times in the consis, one of them over a 2022 state qualifier, and not have any margin for error.
How were our picks?: We had three projecteds get out, with the correct final, and our fourth projected got to the blood round (and he’ll be in #TheShow before he’s done). Our deep-run pick also made it to the blood round. So overall not too bad.

145
Final: Jae T Thaxton (Wakulla, 6th) md. Cole Misciagna (Fernandina Beach, 10th), 9-0.
3rd: Marshall White (Suwannee) md. Jack Raynor (Bishop Kenny), 11-1.
Finalists’ path: Thaxton wasn’t scored upon all weekend, outscoring his opponents 39-0 after Friday pins over Freeport and Union County, with a 10-0 major over Raynor in the semi, while Misciagna bookended an 11-6 win over Rutherford with pins over Tocoi Creek and over White.
Punching tickets: White (2 pins on front) added two more bonus-point wins on the back, with a consi-semi pin over North Bay Haven, while Raynor (pin & decision on front) edged Beachside, 5-4, to secure his Kissimmee space in the blood round.
Who else impressed us: Beachside’s Grady Smith had a solid first post-season in Florida after moving from Michingan, with a district title and then three wins by fall at regions.
How were our picks?: We only had two out of four projecteds make it out, although the other two were our dark horse picks; Smith made the deep run we projected for him, so we had something of an idea, even if the execution wasn’t so great.

152
Final: Austin McKinney (Suwannee, 2nd) p. Nate Jacobs (Wakulla), 3:36.
3rd: Roberto Cuartero (Bishop Kenny, 3rd) tf. Chance Wolffe (Episcopal), 16-0, 2:41.
Finalists’ path: McKinney pinned his way through the bracket, with Friday pins over Paxon and Union County before falling Cuartero for his first loss of the season in the semis, while Jacobs — who was third at District 2 — bookended a quarterfinal pin over Baker County with decisions over Wolffe and Bay in the semis.
Punching tickets: Cuartero (2 pins on front) bonus-pointed to third, with a blood-round pin over Florida High after his loss, while Wolffe won four times on the back after his loss to Jacobs, with pins over Union County and Bay, a major over Bozeman and decision over FSDB.
Who else impressed us: Gotta go with Wolffe here; he’s had moments where he’s shone, but there’ve been other moments that weren’t so great. This weekend was a pretty great one.
How were our picks?: We had three projecteds get out, but not in the order that I would have thought, as our third-place match was the actual final. Wolffe was our deep-run pick, and, well, his run is still going. Our dark horse picks both made it to Saturday’s rounds.

160
Final: Enzo Gamba (Fernandina Beach, 2nd) d. Conner Roberts (Wewahitchka, 6th), 7-0.
3rd: Austin Howard (Suwannee, 3rd) p. Keaton Schirmer (Rutherford), 4:43.
Finalists’ path: After a forfeit into the quarters, Gamba bookended a semifinal pin over Howard with decisions over Tocoi Creek and Roberts, while Roberts had pins over Interlachen, Florida High and Episcopal to get to Gamba.
Punching tickets: Howard (2 pins on front) added two more in the consis, pinning district rival Florida High in the semis, while Schirmer set up a rematch with Howard (lost by fall in the quarters) with consecutive majors over Wakulla, Tocoi Creek and Episcopal in qualifying out.
Who else impressed us: I really wasn’t sure what to expect from either Dylan Danson (Tocoi Creek) or John Slade (Bishop Kenny) in this event, but both got to Saturday’s rounds, Slade winning twice (the second one I would have considerd an “upset”).
How were our picks?: Not too bad, we had three out of four selected correctly, including both finalists. Schirmer was a dark horse pick and our other one made the blood round, and our deep run pick did, in fact, make a deep run.

170
Final: Dylan Johns (Yulee, 4th) p. Dustin Wood (Suwannee), 2:39.
3rd: Jordan Haigler (Florida High) p. Luke Ghannam (Bishop Kenny), 5:44.
Finalists’ path: Johns had Friday pins over South Walton and Haigler before decisioning Ghannam, a district rival, by an 11-4 count in the semis, whilke Wood bookended a key 7-6 win over Episcopal with pins over Bay and Fernandina Beach.
Punching tickets: Haigler won four on the back after his quarterfinal loss to Johns, with a pin over Bay and decisions over Wewahitchka and Fernandina Beach before the medal round, while Ghannam (2 front-side pins) added a third with his blood-round fall over Union County.
Who else impressed us: It’s pretty difficult for a fourth-place finisher at districts to make it out to state, but Ghannam pulled that off. He’s had struggles this year, but seemed to overcome them, giving Johns the closest match he had all tournament.
How were our picks?: Well, we got the final right, but neither of our third-place medalists got past Friday. We did have Ghannam as a dark-horse pick and our other one made the blood round, as did our deep-run pick. Haigler maybe should have been more over, rather than under, the radar.

182
Final: Nolan McKelvy (West Nassau, 4th) d. Collin Hearn (Bishop Kenny, 5th), 7-0.
3rd: Bryson Schirmer (Rutherford) p. Xander Hawkes (Florida High), 3:15.
Finalists’ path: McKelvy bonus-pointed to the final, with a pin in rd 1 over Rocky Bayou and majors over Suwannee and Union County, while Hearn also opened with a pin (over North Bay Haven), followed by decisions over Hawkes in the quarters and Yulee in the semis.
Punching tickets: After losing by fall to Union in the quarters, Schirmer won four times in the consis, with a pin over Wakulla and decisions over Suwannee and Yulee befor the medal round. Hawkes came back from the loss to Hearn with a pin over Tocoi Creek and wins over Beachside and Union County to qualify out.
Who else impressed us: Normally I don’t give this space to the champ, but when I consider how much McKelvy’s improved over the last two years (he was third at district last year after losing in round 1), I can’t help but give him due credit. This region didn’t push him that hard and there are kids who I would have expected to push him.
How were our picks?: We had three of our projecteds make it out, but in differing order, our fourth projected made the blood round and Schirmer was a dark horse, so we were close. Our other dark horse got to Saturday and our deep run pick made the blood round, with our under-the-radar pick also getting to Saturday. So we were close.

195
Final: Alex Smith (Yulee, 2nd) p. Christian McGarity (Episcopal, 8th), 4:20.
3rd: Danny Thornton (Union County) p. Gauge Housely (Fernandina Beach), 2:34.
Finalists’ path: Smith needed only 1:41 of mat time to get to the final and District 3-final rematch, with falls over Beachside, Wakulla and Thornton to get there, while McGarity had Friday pins over Baker County and Bishop Snyder before decisioning Housely, 8-1, in the semis, a match of district rivals.
Punching tickets: Thornton (decision and pin on front) won by fall over Raines in the blood round in a rematch of round 1 en route to third, while Housely (pin & decision on front) secured his Silver Spurs space with a decision over Baldwin in the consi semis.
Who else impressed us: Both wrestlers who fell in the blood round, Baldwin’s Taylor Davenport and Raines’ Jhalill Richardson, both lost in round 1 to the wrestlers that would eventually keep them out of the state tournament. That’s not easy to do, particularly coming from programs that sometimes struggle a bit more just to find matches.
How were our picks?: We were 4-for-4 on wrestlers getting out, and had them slotted into the correct matches. Richardson was a dark horse, Davenport was under-the-radar (he’s from Baldwin and they’ve lacked matches this year) and our deep-run pick got to Saturday. Our other dark horse pick didn’t compete. So…pretty good.

220
Final: David Mercado (North Bay Haven, 2nd) p. Kohl Pippin (Wakulla), 2:37.
3rd: Collin Bishop (Florida High, 10th) p. Cayden Ricks (Yulee), :22.
Finalists’ path: Aside from a 3-0 semifinal win over Bishop, Mercado pinned his way through, with Friday pins over Liberty County and Raines, while Pippin had pins over Wewahitchka, Tocoi Creek and Ricks in succession in order to get to Mercado.
Punching tickets: Bishop (pin & major on the front) added two more pins on the back, pinning Tocoi Creek in the blood round, while Ricks (2 pins on front) added a third pin over Raines to secure his spot in the state field.
Who else impressed us: Raines’ D’Cari Wilson we saw as under the radar, because he was a preseason-ranked pick and then kind of hit some snags during the regular season, but clearly righted the ship, as he had three wins this weekend in order to get to the blood round.
How were our picks?: We had three of four projecteds get out, including the correct final, and Ricks was one of our dark horses. Our deep-run pick did get to Saturday, but our other dark horse did not get to Saturday’s competition.

285
Final: Braylen Ricks (Yulee, 4th) p. Carlos Sanchez (South Walton, 8th), 1:56.
3rd: Gregory Townsend (Raines, 9th) p. Scout Harr (Liberty County), :53.
Finalists’ path: Ricks max-pointed through the weekend, never going past the second period, with preliminary pins over Palatine and Wakulla prior to reaching the final, while Sanchez had Friday pins over FSDB and Harr before turning back Townsend, 4-2, in the top-half semi.
Punching tickets: Townsend (two front-half pins) would added two more, winning by fall over Florida High in the blood round, while Harr won three times by pin in the consis, with falls over Bay, Episcopal and Wakulla to get to state.
Who else impressed us: Florida High freshman Christian Ajose-Adeogun got to the blood round after losing to Townsend in round 1, with two pins and a decision before his rematch to Townsend in the consi semis. One to watch in the coming years.
How were our picks?: We had three of our four projecteds make it out, with the correct final, and Harr was a dark horse, while our fourth projected made it to the blood round. Things got a little squirrelier aftrer that, but it’s the heavies; it’s part of the deal.

Complete results from all four 1A regions can be found HERE.

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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.

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By MATMEN, Friday, 11:20 p.m.

Second-day pairings for 2A-Region 1 at Chiles. (NOTE: Per Chiles head coach, Rd 2 of consis did NOT finish. It will begin the action on Saturday morning):

106
Semis: Garrett Ferguson (Gulf Breeze, 9th) v Matthew Newman (Fleming Island, 5th); Timothy McLean (Matanzas, 8th) v Jacob Bucci (Clay, 6th).
Consi qtrs: Jason Barrett (Ridgeview, 18th) v Joe Tucker (Lincoln, 10th); Jacob Jackson (Westside) v Connor Barnes (Oakleaf).
Picks still OK?: Not too bad. Three projecteds still in the front half and all four in the mix (I expected one to be in the consis). More issues in the margins as compared to the overall picture.

113
Semis: Shane Duhaylungsod (Fleming Island, 7th) v Shamar Jones (Terry Parker, 15th); Vaniel Caceres (Lincoln, 10th) v Santiago Mayic (Ft Walton Beach).
Consi qtrs: Patrick Brooks (Chiles) v Drew Holmquist (Clay); James Oliver (Arnold) v Aiden Macken (Gulf Breeze, 9th).
Picks still OK?: Not wonderful, with the highest-ranked area wrestler not competing, but that does happen from time to time. A couple of misses in the depth of the weight, but two projecteds in semis and a third in consi though.

120
Semis: Coby Shields (Gulf Breeze, 11th) v Ion Hortinela (Oakleaf, 20th); Jashawn Washington (Lincoln, 13th) v Grady Woodard (Middleburg, 18th).
Consi qtrs: Collver Hipp (Niceville) v Zak Vosburgh (Ft Walton Beach); William Sites (Seabreeze) v Sam Tolomeo (Chiles, 19th).
Picks still OK?: Three projecteds in the front-half and I expected a fourth in the consis, so that holds serve. Pretty good. A couple of depth picks were misses, due in part to a non-competing wrestler.

126
Semis: Brady Glavin (Clay, 11th) v Sebastian Bonochea (Oakleaf, 10th); Zakary Jurado (Lncoln, 20th) v Laird Duhaylungsod (Fleming Island, 6th).
Consi qtrs: Landon Burbidge (Ft Walton Beach) v Ethan Jackson (Chiles); Merrick Miller (New Smyrna Beach) v Alexander Mendez (Pace).
Picks still OK?: For nowwwww, yes, with all four projecteds still in it, but two are going to need to win twice off the back tomorrow; not an impossible task, but by no means an easy one.

132
Semis: Keon Barrientos (Oakleaf, 20th) v Jonathan Bruner (New Smyrna Beach, 12th); Wyatt Leduc (Middleburg, 4th) v Jayce Paridon (Fleming Island, 1st).
Consi qtrs: Jacob Johnston (Chiles) v Nate Weber (Gulf Breeze, 18th); Jayden Thomas (Columbia) v Garrett Jarvis (Niceville).
Picks still OK?: Three projecteds in the front half and all four still alive; my dark horses met in consi rd 2; that’s not a bad overall look for this weight class.

138
Semis: Maeson Otwell (Pace, 9th) v Christian Garcia (Ridgeview); Garrett Marschka (Chiles, 4th) v Michael Mancuso (Gulf Breeze, 14th).
Consi qtrs: Aidan Sutton (New Smyrna Beach) v Zaire Fernanders-Jackson (Lincoln); Landen Solomon (Clay) v Caleb Pope (Oakleaf).
Picks still OK?: Really the first weight where I truly missed on a projected (none of us, no matter how good, can project non-competing kids), but some of my depth picks have performed at or a little above expectation so far.

145
Semis: Steven Banfield (Ft Walton Beach, 13th) v Cooper Hill (Chiles); Logan Moore (Middleburg, 8th) v Kaden Schaefer (Fleming Island, 2nd).
Consi qtrs: Gha-is Cooper (Westside, 20th) v JJ Martinez (Niceville); Ben Helton (Terry Parker) v Sam Ayodele (Mainland).
Picks still OK?: All four projecteds in the front half, which is ideal for a first day; Ayodele making a nice run and has performed above expectations, leaving me with one depth pick not predicted.

152
Semis: Matthew Sinclair (Ft Walton Beach, 20th) v Matthew Kotler (Fleming Island, 7th); Connor Edwards (Lincoln, 5th) v Dylan Parkinson (Matanzas, 16th).
Consi qtrs: Nathan Williams (Westside, 10th) v Scott Greenwald (Chiles); Daniel Raines (Middleburg) v Jerimiah Baker (Oakleaf).
Picks still OK?: Like 145, all four projecteds in the front half, which went against the rankings somewhat, but I had a feeling that my instinct would be correct, and it was. A couple of unexpected surprises still in the bottom half of the consis, mainly due to round-1 wins I didn’t project.

160
Semis: Jordan Baxter (Pace, 10th) v Christopher Chop (Fleming Island, 4th); Alexander Davidson (Ft Walton Beach, 12th) v Benny Lewis (Ed White, 17th).
Consi qtrs: Bryce Alli (Pedro Menendez) v Andrew Yeats (Mosley); Landon Wright (Matanzas) v Luke Pickels (Chiles).
Picks still OK?: Some hits here with a projected finalist going down in round 1 (but still alive), I did say that would be the best first-rounder, I think that was borne out.

170
Semis: Dominic Martin (Clay, 11th) v Anthony Kearney (Riverside); Talan Babin (Ponte Vedra) v Ronan Bozeman (Fleming Island, 6th).
Consi rd 2: Malachi Lewis (Niceville) v Damion Stoller (Terry Parker); Maddox Lehman (Pedro Menendez) v Julian Fuentes (Milton); Lance Sanders (Crestview) by medfft; Tanner Tague (Ridgeview) v Ty Morgan (Pace, 7th).
Picks still OK?: Our finals picks are still on the front side, and all four projecteds are still alive, but with 12 still in competition, it’s tough to tell much.

182
Semis: Sawyer VanRider (New Smyrna Beach, 12th) v John Mengel (Mosley, 18th); Cody Elliott (Chiles, 16th) v Joshua Sandoval (Fleming Island, 3rd).
Consi rd 2: Connor Roberts (Ft Walton Beach, 14th) v Santana Harris (Leon); Jacob Dewald (Oakleaf) v Malik Daniels (Mainland); Brock White (Milton) v James Laycock (Ridgeview); Donald Reed (Riverside) v Isaac Waters (Pace, 7th).
Picks still OK?: As at 170, our finals picks are still on the front and our other projecteds are still in it, but (this is a recording) with 12 still in competition, it’s tough to tell much.

195
Semis: Darius Brundidge (Ft Walton Beach, 14th) v Derek King (New Smyrna Beach, 15th); Isaiah Shevchook (Oakleaf, 4th) v Dillon Elliott (Chiles, 5th).
Consi rd 2: Rayhn Hutchinson (Ridgeview) v Elijah Williams (Westside); Marshall Dixon (Mosley) v Jordan Jackson (Ed White); Jackson Pruett (Seabreeze) v Jakob Nowak (Lincoln, 3rd); Walter Poe (Fleming Island, 9th) v Aaron Stacey (Clay).
Picks still OK?: Not so great; lost a projected finalist (whom I would have picked to win had I been pressed for it), but all four are still alive; with 12 still in competition, it’s tough to tell much more.

220
Semis: Kedtric Wilbourn (Clay, 6th) v Dylon York (New Smyrna Beach, 5th); Thomas Jones (Riverside, 4th) v Jhoel Robinson (Fleming Island, 1st).
Consi qtrs: Andre Trice (Mosley) v Raymond Goforth (Ridgeview); Noah Summerlin (Leon) v Evan Brown (Oakleaf); Tyler Thomas (Matanzas) v Kendrick Scott (Lincoln); Bryce Meldrum (Middleburg) v Tyler Green (Milton).
Picks still OK?: Having 4 of 4 projecteds still in the front half of the bracket is never a bad thing, and this was one of the clearer-cut cases as to who would be the semifinalists/projecteds.

285
Semis: Alex Benitez (Ed White) v Ethan Hoffstetter (Fleming Island, 16th); Will Kelly (Clay) v Tucker Cody (Middleburg, 18th).
Consi qtrs: Christian Singleton-Hudson (Mainland) v Nicolas Bacot (Mosley); Ryder Luck (Lincoln, 17th); Demontra Burnett (Riverside) v Keith Forbes (Englewood); Trenton Manis (Ridgeview) v London Taylor (Gulf Breeze).
Picks still OK?: Three projecteds in the front half and a fourth still alive, so that’s not bad, but even at this early point with 12 still in competition, we did take some small hits, so more could be forthcoming Saturday.

Team: At the conclusion of the night’s wrestling, Fleming Island held a 16.5-point lead over co-host Chiles, 83.5-67, with co-host Lincoln in third with 58. Ft Walton Beach (53) and Oakleaf (52) rounded out the top five, with Clay (47), Middleburg (43), New Smyrna Beach (42), Gulf Breeze (39.5.) and Mosley (35) rounding out the top 10 teams.

First-day brackets for Region 1 (and Region 2) can be found HERE.

JOIN us on Facebook at North Florida Matmen (you can also friend me on my personal page) or on Twitter at @NorthFLAMatmen, or on Instagram at nflamatmen. Please support our independent journalism! We’re on Venmo now: Shannon-Heaton-6. Or if you prefer PayPal, search me at Shannon Heaton (use the site email account to find the correct me).