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Revised Keystone Duals Schedule

Saturday at Fleming Island. 9 a.m. start, with 11 teams in the mix. We’ll have full results on the site as soon as we can get them.

Pool 1: Fleming Island, St. Augustine, Ridgeview, Bishop Kenny, Pedro Menendez, Duval Charter.

Pool 2: Camden County (GA), Sandalwood, Forrest, Oakleaf, First Coast.

Round 1 — Fleming Island vs. Duval Charter; Bishop Kenny vs. St. Augustine; Camden vs. Forrest; Oakleaf vs. Sandalwood; Ridgeview vs. Menendez.

Round 2 — Fleming Island vs. Bishop Kenny; Duval Charter vs. Ridgeview; Camden vs. Oakleaf; Forrest vs. First Coast; St. Augustine vs. Menendez.

Round 3 — Fleming Island vs. St. Augustine; Bishop Kenny vs. Ridgeview; Camden vs. Sandalwood; Oakleaf vs. First Coast; Menendez vs. Duval Charter.

Round 4 — Fleming Island vs. Ridgeview; Duval Charter vs. St. Augustine; Camden vs. First Coast; Forrest vs. Sandalwood.

Round 5 — Bishop Kenny vs. Menendez; Forrest vs. Oakleaf; Sandalwood vs. First Coast.

Round 6 — Mat 1: Pool 1 1st vs. Pool 2 1st; Mat 2: Pool 1 2nd vs. Pool 2 2nd; Mat 3: Pool 1 3rd vs. Pool 2 3rd; Mat 4: Pool 1 4th vs. Pool 2 4th. 5th place teams in each pool also are scheduled to wrestle.

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November 21 Roundup Story

Something had to give in Callahan Thursday night, and ultimately it was host West Nassau who did most of the taking.

In a matchup of two wrestling sides both searching for a first dual victory in 2013-14, the Warriors rode three consecutive pins from their middle weights to create an overwhelming early edge and, eventually, a 58-24 victory over visiting Episcopal.

“It was a much closer match than the score indicates, but I was very pleased with our aggressiveness tonight,” West Nassau coach Forrest Wheeler said via email regarding his side’s effort.

Middles John Forehand (145 pounds), Trevor Higginbotham (152) and cody Kral (160) all got falls for West Nassau (1-5), and those were followed up by a battle of state-ranked wrestlers, as Michael Dudzinski (#11 at 152 in 1A) worked several takedowns to outlast Mac Weldon (#16 at 152 in 1A), 19-7. The dual ended with a fourth Warrior middle pin from Jacob Savage at 138.

After spotting the Warriors a 22-0, Episcopal (0-7) mostly stayed even the rest of the way, with falls coming from Connor Evans (120), Hayes Oken (195) and a new 220-pounder, Conor Chepenik.

Carpenter sidelined still: Surgery for a torn meniscus continued to keep Coker College freshman Shane Carpenter (Creekside ’13) on the sidelines Thursday night, as his Cobra teammates won the first dual meet in the school’s history, defeating Limestone by a 21-19 count. The wrestler competing at Carpenter’s weight of 184 pounds fell by a 6-3 decision to Limestone.

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November 20 Roundup Story

First-year coaches can often struggle to create a good fit with their new charges in any sport.

But after building a Stanton wrestling team that was solid enough to finish second in Class 2A District 2 a year ago, John Evans has taken his plan to Mandarin, and the results are paying off for the Mustangs.

Wednesday night, Northeast Florida Matmen honorable mention listed-Mandarin swept to convincing victories in its home opener, turning the spotlight on Lee and Englewood with 66-12 and 63-12 dual wins, respectively.

Eight Mustang wrestlers were double winners on the night, with Joshua Harris (113), Chase Mattox (120), Ian Winton (126), John Perrone (160), Samuel Hernandez (182) and Codie Miller (285) all recording two falls. Richard Gagnon (170) had one pin and one technical fall, while Camilo Calderon (138, in his first varsity matches) had one pin and one forfeit for Mandarin (7-3).

Englewood (3-2) opened the night with a 48-24 victory over Lee before running into the Mustang buzzsaw later. The Rams had two double winners on the evening, as Kevin Herrera (132) and Eric Hill (220) each had two pins.

Lee got its season underway Wednesday night, with Tony Belle (152) as the Generals’ lone unbeaten wrestler. Belle had a pair of pins on the night.

Bishop Kenny 54, Ponte Vedra 12: A second dose of home cooking proved as good as the first for the NEFLM HM-listed Crusaders, who improved to 7-1 with the victory.

Ryan Timmons (106), Christian Barakat (120), Nick Toney (132), Logan Bote (145) and Kuba Kaszuba (170) all recorded pins for Bishop Kenny, which also secured four additional forfeit victories against a shorter-handed Sharks side.

Ponte Vedra (1-7) did pick up falls from Anthony Giordano (113) and Colin Peaks (152) for its dual points.

Next Level note: Speaking of Ponte Vedra, Sharks coach Mike Ostlund noted earlier this week that Class of 2013 team member Frank Giordano is still practicing with Bacone College (Okla.) after getting hurt during wrestleoffs.

Also, Iowa Western CC first-year wrestler Jamarius Jackson (Ridgeview ’13) has yet to appear for the Reivers after not cracking the lineup in Iowa Western’s 25-15 victory over Iowa Lakes CC Wednesday night.

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North Florida Duals II Schedule

Here is the rundown on the North Florida Duals II event at Bishop Snyder. It was gratifying to see our rankings already included on the list as posted by the Cardinals! Remember that rankings are based strictly on the 39 teams in the immediate five-county area, and are not intended to reflect a statewide ranking.

Round 1: #9 Bishop Snyder vs. #8 Fernandina Beach; Bartram Trail vs. Nease; HM Middleburg vs. Brunswick (GA); #10 Creekside vs. Buchholz; #7 Fletcher vs. #2 Clay.

Round 2: Bishop Snyder vs. Bartram Trail; Fernandina Beach vs. Nease; Middleburg vs. Buchholz; Brunswick vs. Fletcher; Creekside vs. Clay.

Round 3: Bishop Snyder v. Nease; Bartram Trail vs. Buchholz; Fernandina Beach vs. Clay; Middleburg vs. Fletcher; Brunswick vs. Creekside.

Round 4: Bishop Snyder vs. Middleburg; Fernandina Beach vs. Fletcher; Bartram Trail vs. Brunswick; Nease vs. Creekside; Buchholz vs. Clay.

Round 5: Bishop Snyder vs. Brunswick; Fernandina Beach vs. Creekside; Bartram Trail vs. Middleburg; Buchholz vs. Fletcher; Nease vs. Clay.

Wrestling starts at 10 a.m. So much to offer Saturday!

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Terry Parker Quad

By Shannon Heaton, Northeast Florida Matmen

It doesn’t happen often, but there are times that all four teams in a wrestling quadrangular can take away something good from that event.

Take Tuesday night’s Terry Parker quad, for example.

  • The host Braves did enough to sweep the quad, overcoming deficits against both Englewood and Stanton to win both duals (42-33 and 48-24, respectively) and got younger wrestlers with fresh lungs in to take care of business in a 54-30 victory over Duval Charter (Baymeadows).
  • For its part, Englewood kicked off competition with a solid 2-1 start, going all the way to the 8th criterion in the National Federation of High Schools rulebook to defeat Duval Charter in what otherwise appeared in the scorebook as a 42-42 tie, then staved off Stanton’s ability to secure bonus points for a 48-30 victory over the Blue Devils.
  • First-year program Duval Charter continued to progress, taking Englewood to the absolute limit, forcing an initial tie with a comeback pin at 220 pounds from sophomore Michael Booker and opening the night with a solid win, 42-30, over Stanton.
  • And, despite forfeits at eight weights that made team victory all but impossible for Stanton, the Blue Devils won 13 of the 17 individual matches that they wrestled, collecting 13 pins along the way.

So, everyone had something to gain — which is critical for four emerging programs, three of which were part of the crippling decision three years ago that nearly killed wrestling as a sport in Duval County.

“Having success on a night like tonight, it’s absolutely huge for us and for the kids,” Terry Parker coach John Dunn said. “We had all our kids (that wrestled Tuesday) getting mat time over the weekend, whether it was the kids that were with me at (Saturday’s duals at) Bishop Snyder, or those who went to went to Ridgeview for a JV tournament. It was definitely a really good night.”

Senior Jessie Pafford led the way for the Braves (5-3 in duals) with three wins, racking up first-period falls against Stanton and Duval Charter, where he bumped up to 182, and a forfeit over Englewood.

The Rams (2-1) got three individual wins from Kevin Herrera, an Orlando-area transfer wrestling at 132, Liam Santry at 138 and Xavier Nieves at 195. Like Pafford, the Englewood trio each recorded two pins and forfeit.

It was the win in criteria that seemed to please Englewood coach Jacob Scott the most. DUals nationwide cannot end in ties under NFHS rules.

“I’m pretty happy about that second win,” Scott said of his team’s introduction to the 2013-14 season. “My kids are still learning, and we have a young staff, too. We want to see what we can do with these kids.”

Duval Charter (3-5) had one wrestler go 3-0 on the night, as freshman Hunter Lawson got a fall in the Englewood dual to go with two forfeits at 120, while 8th-grader Daniel Porter was 2-0 in his two appearances, with a fall against Englewood.

“We’re hoping that by districts we’ll be able to make a statement. Right now, we’ll just keep working hard,” Panthers coach Brian Adkins said. “We are practicing in our cafeteria right now, so we just have to work around scheduling. We’ve come a long way since we’ve started this.”

Stanton (1-7) had a talented trio of middleweights — Nicholas Stiles (145), Sothea Nou (152) and John Blizzard (160) — all go 3-0 with three pins on the night, and the Blue Devils walked away with a higher individual win percentage than their three opponents. Still, though, it was a tough night from a team perspective.

“I think the kids did pretty well, but we’re looking to field more than six wrestlers next time out,” Blue Devils coach Emarlos Leroy said. “We’ve encouraged the kids to want more; we look for these guys to go out and perform. People think this is easy, but it’s not.”

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#NextLevel notebook — November 18

North Central (IL) freshman Coll Robertson (Ridgeview ’13) is still getting used to calling the western suburbs of Chicago a “sweet home.”

It got a little sweeter for Robertson, however, at Saturday’s Trine University Open, where Robertson picked up his first intercollegiate victories at 149 pounds while wrestling unattached for the Cardinals.

Robertson defeated wrestlers from Alma and Olivet, both Michigan colleges, to reach the quarterfinals at 149, where his path to advancement came to an end. Robertson went 2-2 on the day, two matches short of a place finish.

Robertson and the Cardinals will swing into action next this coming Saturday at the Concordia Open in Mequon, Wis.

Coker College freshman Robert Parland (University Christian ’13) picked up his third win of 2013-14 on Sunday at the North Carolina State Open, knocking off a Division I wrestler from Davidson in sudden victory, 3-1, at 197 pounds. Parland went 1-2 on the day, facing three D1 wrestlers.

Other than Robertson and Parland, it was a quiet week for @NEFloridaMatmen #NextLevel wrestlers. Coker freshman Shane Carpenter (Creekside ’13) sustained a torn meniscus and is hoping to compete in the Cobras’ home dual, along with Parland, on Thursday against Limestone. Washington & Lee senior Daniel Igel (Bolles ’10) missed Saturday’s dual against Manchester. The Generals’ next match is this coming Saturday with a home date against George Mason. Indiana Tech freshman Ben Galloway (Fleming Island ’13) did not compete in Saturday’s Eastern Michigan Open in either the duals or open competitions. Tech next competes in the Comet Duals at Olivet College this coming Saturday. Iowa Western CC first-year Jamarius Jackson (Ridgeview ’13) did not compete at the Harold Nichols Open, hosted by Iowa State, on Saturday, but Jackson could see action in the Reivers’ duals Wednesday against Iowa Lakes CC and Sunday against Pratt. Hannibal-LaGrange was idle this weekend, but freshman Kyle McClinton (Middleburg ’13) and the Trojans will be at the Joe Parisi Open this coming Saturday.

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November 16 Roundup Story

Bishop Snyder showed a lot of promise in 2012-13 as a wrestling team that was young, struggling at times, but on the move in a positive direction.

This year, the HM-listed Cardinals are moving not just in the right direction, but also toward a position of strength up and down the lineup. On Saturday, at the first of two North Florida Duals events that Bishop Snyder hosts, the Cardinals ran the table, going 5-0 with convincing victories in each round to share top honors with Class 3A Gainesville Buchholz.

The Cardinals had an average margin of victory of 35.4 points in hammering five fellow Class 1A opponents, rolling past Duval Charter (60-24), West Nassau (54-21), Baker County (54-24), Episcopal (60-6) and Terry Parker (48-24).

Big moves were the order of the day for the Cardinals. With one exception — against short-handed Episcopal, against which Bishop Snyder recorded six forfeit wins — the team secured at least six falls in every dual, and seven against both Duval Charter and West Nassau to open the five-round tournament.

Putting together solid 4-1 efforts were Mandarin and HM-listed Bishop Kenny, both of which lost only to Buchholz during the course of the afternoon.

The Mustangs, just hours after a solid effort that brought just one win at Fletcher Friday night, won three in a row to start the day Saturday.

Mandarin opened with a win over coach John Evans’ old squad, Stanton, taking a 51-18 win over the Blue Devils. Oakleaf gave fits before falling to the Mustangs, 42-26, and the Mustangs rolled past Episcopal, 57-12, before taking it on the chin against Buchholz in a 52-24 loss. Mandarin righted the ship with a 65-18 victory over Duval Charter.

Bishop Kenny opened with two wins over Providence (60-12) and Terry Parker (54-24) before Buchholz hammered the Crusaders in a 59-16 rout.

Kenny did rally against a gritty Sandalwood side, taking a 48-27 victory and closing out the day with a 51-21 victory over Oakleaf.

For their part, Oakleaf and Sandalwood boasted plus-.500 records in their season-opening competition, as both teams went 3-2, as did Baker County.

Terry Parker, Providence and Ed White each finished 2-3 for the day, with Duval Charter and Stanton both going 1-4. Episcopal and HM-listed West Nassau, both of whom faced significant manpower shortages Saturday, were both 0-5.

Clay takes 2nd at Border Wars: Led by a title at 145 pounds from junior Adam Breindel, Clay took second in Saturday’s Border Wars, a 23-team event hosted by South Walton Beach Friday and Saturday. Breindel knocked off three-time Louisiana state champion Trevor Schermer to win the title at 145, going 7-0 on the weekend.

Two other Blue Devil wrestlers finished second in their weight classes. Freshman Cody Taylor brought home a runnerup effort at 113 after a 6-1 weekend, and senior Caleb Loyd reached the final of a varsity tournament for the first time in his HS career after going 5-1 at 160.

Seniors Dylan Martin (132) and Imier Almanzer (152) each took thirds in their weights, with Martin going 6-1 and Almanzer 7-1. Almanzer’s lone loss was to 2A state placewinner Forrest Lang of Mosley, in the semis by a 4-2 count.

Matanzas Duals: #3 Orange Park put together a dominating performance Saturday in Matanzas, as the Raiders swept to a 7-0 day to win the Matanzas Duals. Other than a tight 41-33 win over the hosts in the final round of the day, Orange Park was never seriously tested, winning its six other duals by an average of 58.7 points. The Raiders shut out Ponte Vedra (82-0) and Palatka (84-0) and rolled past Pedro Menendez (57-18), Nease (60-15), St. Augustine (64-14) and Satellite (66-14).

Ponte Vedra picked up one dual-meet win on Saturday, defeating Palatka by a 42-28 decision. The Sharks were also competitive with HM-listed St. Augustine (falling 54-30) and Satellite (42-36), but struggled against the hosts (78-6), #3 Orange Park and Nease (55-7).

Editor’s Note: Other teams competing in the Matanzas Duals have until 5 p.m. Monday to submit results and/or information so that they may be included in this first Saturday roundup story.

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#7 Fletcher Runs Table At Home Quad

By Shannon Heaton, Northeast Florida Matmen

NEPTUNE BEACH – Tradition paints a wide target on a young wrestler’s back.

#7 Fletcher faced that in its season-opening quadrangular meet at home Friday night. The Senators had some heavy graduation losses from last year’s Gateway Conference championship side, and that forced several inexperienced wrestlers into unfamiliar territory – starting and scoring big — this year.

Though there were a few anxious moments in the Senators’ duals against unranked Mandarin and #8 Fernandina Beach – in both, Fletcher trailed by 9 points with either two (Mandarin) or three (Fernandina) matches to go – both resulted in victories, as the Senators finished 3-0 on the night.

“We did put a lot of kids in to get experience. It was a calculated risk, but overall we came out well,” Fletcher coach Roy Fallon said. “We really weren’t trying to sweep as a goal, just get kids on the mat. I do think we need a lot of work in the upper weights.”

The Senators trailed a determined Mustang team, 27-15, with six matches left in the dual, which turned into a 39-36 Fletcher victory. Then, the hosts spotted the Pirates two 9-point deficits before rallying for a 45-36 victory. It was a bit of an easier go against Atlantic Coast, which gave up five forfeits Friday night, as the Senators never trailed en route to a 57-24 decision.

“One thing that has been killing us now is that a few years ago, when wrestling was going to be cut (in Duval County), a lot of kids just didn’t come back (after the sport was reinstated),” Fallon said. “That cost us a lot of depth. But I think we are starting to come back well.”

That’s what Fernandina Beach did in its last dual of the night, after fighting hard against the Senators only to come up short. The Pirates, which opened with a 57-15 performance against Atlantic Coast, nearly put the same hurt on the Mustangs in the finale, rolling to a 58-13 win.

“We feel like the night went very well,” Fernandina coach Joseph Monaghan said. “I think these boys have some real heart. They give it everything they have every time they step on the mat. We have some warriors on our wrestling team.”

The Mustangs demonstrated that too, particularly against Fletcher in the first dual, but seemed to start to flag physically by the third dual of the night.

“Part of it is them being a little bit tired, especially because guys have just come in from football and they’re in football shape, but give all props to Fernandina – they do the basics and they do them well,” Mandarin coach John Evans said. “The first duals, we fought pretty strong, and that gives us something to work on.”

The Mustangs took care of Atlantic Coast 52-20 in the middle dual, and though the Stingrays didn’t have a lot to cheer about – particularly with state-ranked wrestlers Ollie Dixon and Travis Hutchinson not in the lineup Friday night – they were able to get some much-needed experience.”

“The kids fought well, but we’ve got some work to do,” AC coach Mike Schmelz said. “We’ve got to work on our young guys.”

The four schools take some pretty divergent paths to their next competitions.

Mandarin will be at Bishop Snyder first thing Saturday morning for the North Florida Duals I event at 10 a.m., while both Fletcher and Fernandina Beach will next be up at North Florida Duals II at Bishop Snyder on November 23, though Fallon said the Senators may have a dual with University Christian on Wednesday. Atlantic Coast will return to competition on December 7 at the Columbia Tiger Invitational in Lake City.

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Schedule for Bishop Snyder’s North Florida Duals I on Saturday

Wrestling to start Saturday at 10 a.m. I have been given permission by @BJSWrestling head coach Rusty Kellum to publish this list, with the disclaimer that it is subject to change at the administrator’s (that is, Kellum’s) discretion:

Round 1 — Bishop Snyder v. Duval Charter; West Nassau v. Baker County; Episcopal v. Terry Parker; Providence v. Bishop Kenny; Sandalwood v. Buchholz; Ed White v. Oakleaf; Mandarin v. Stanton.
Round 2 — Bishop Snyder v. West Nassau; Duval Charter v. Baker County; Episcopal v. Providence; Terry Parker v. Bishop Kenny; Sandalwood v. Stanton; Buchholz v. Ed White; Oakleaf v. Mandarin
Round 3 — Bishop Snyder v. Baker County; Duval Charter v. West Nassau; Episcopal v. Mandarin; Terry Parker v. Providence; Oakleaf v. Stanton; Buchholz v. Bishop Kenny; Sandalwood v. Ed White

Round 4 — Bishop Snyder v. Episcopal; Duval Charter v. Ed White; West Nassau v. Oakleaf; Bishop Kenny v. Sandalwood; Baker County v. Terry Parker; Providence v. Stanton; Buchholz v. Mandarin
Round 5 — Bishop Snyder v. Terry Parker; Duval Charter v. Mandarin; West Nassau v. Sandalwood; Baker County v. Providence; Episcopal v. Ed White; Bishop Kenny v. Oakleaf; Buchholz v. Stanton.

Boy oh boy. That ought to be fun. Mark it down, store it away: IF I get all 35 duals from this event, I will post them all. I have to think I will not be able to keep up with all 35 myself, so I will need coach assistance. But should I get them all, you will see them all. Plus all of the local duals from Matanzas. That will probably be another 20 at least. Yeah, that’s 55 duals.

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Early signing day story & #NextLevel note

Early signing day story & #NextLevel note

Yes, I will post to Times-Union things. No, I don’t see them as competition. When they only get to the regional tournament (2nd day only and at just one site), and string the state meet, that’s not competition. Not the way I view competition, anyway. I wish they would get out more.

But, to the larger point. I admit I’m using Northern math and Northern reading skills, which certainly can be called into question, but I didn’t see a single wrestling signee on Justin Barney’s list. I think if everyone in the community starts committing TODAY to fix that situation, it would be much better for everyone. This website is my contribution.

A #NextLevel update: Wednesday night, Washington & Lee senior Daniel Igel (Bolles ’10) got his first action this season against Ferrum, losing by fall late in the match. Igel was pinned in 6:54 as the Generals dropped a 33-15 dual decision.