Florida State Duals Finals
1A FINALS: SOMERSET ACADEMY 33, PALM BAY 28
Palm Bay hammered Wakulla to make the finals and Somerset did the same to Lemon Bay on the other side of the bracket. The dual began at 170 with Cam Komat (PB) vs. Andrews Fuster (Somerset).
Komat came out and Palm Bay in control with a 1st period fall. Alexzander Owens followed that up with a superb 5-3 decision of returning 1A State Champ Sean Concepcion and the Pirates of Palm Bay wee rolling 9-0 after the first two matches. Joshua Oyeneye slowed everything down with a solid 5-1 win over Octavion Osby to pull Somerset back to with 6 (9-3 Palm Bay leads). Palm Bay got a huge fall at 220 with Ozkan Aydin and then lost a close 4-2 decision at 285 to extrend theur lead to 12-6 after 5 matches. The first 5 matches went exactly the way Palm Bay needed them to if they were going to beat Somerset.
Christian Fretwell tied the dual at 12 with a 2nd period fall of Logan DeLos Santos at 106. #1 ranked Tyler Perrow then put Palm Bay back in front with a 5-0 decision of Matthe Velasco at 113 (15-12 Palm Bay). Somerset got a huge 5 points after Elvis Solis teched Shaver Jackson 24-7 at 120 - putting Somerset up 17-15 after 8 matches. Rocco Senia then got a major decision over Raymond Greene to put Palm Bay back in front 19-17 heading into the last 5 matches.
The next 4 matches would determine the outcome. Skyler Caban (Somerset) vs. Ronald Theilacker (Palm Bay) at 132. Theilacker took the lead with a takedown to end the first and put on a tough ride for the 1st minute of the 2nd period before Caban got the escape to make the score 2-1. Caban’s takedown with 14 seconds left in the period put him up 3-2 heading into the 3rd. Theilacker started down and Caban put on a tough ride before Theilacker got the escape with a minute left to tie the score at 3. And then we got a wild scramble that ended up with a Caban fall at the end - 6 huge points for Somerset. Gillis added another 3 with a 7-3 decision of Braden Baxter at 138 and Somerset was in the lead 26-19. Defending State Champ Bas Diaz got a narrow 4-3 decision of Nathan Furman to put the dual nearly out of reach 29-19. Darian Estevez put the stamp on a dual state title with a 12-2 decision of Jack Dinberg and Somerset won 33-28 (Somerset forfeited 160 as it didn’t matter in the outcome).
2A FINALS: LAKE GIBSON 39, PALMETTO RIDGE 32
Lake Gibson edged Jesuit and then hammered New Smyrna Beach to get to the finals. Palmetto Ridge beat Charlotte 37-34 and then beat Southridge 52-22 to advance. 2A Finals began at 170 with Frank Solorzano of Lake Gibson and Jacob Damas of Palmetto Ridge.
Solorzano and Raul Soto got things started for the Braves as they each got falls to put LG up 12-0 after 2 matches. Gregorio Herrera got Palmetto Ridge on the board with a 17-7 major of Jayvian Holmes at 195 to make it 12-4. Tristan Middlebrook then stepped in LG and came up big with a fall at 220 to put LG up 18-4. Palmetto Ridge’s Austin Foye answered Middlebrook’s fall with one of his own and the score was back to within 8 - 18-10 after the first 5 matches.
Tyler Washburn got a forfeit for Palmetto Ridge at 106 and Bernardo Barnhart added a fall at 113 and Palmetto Ridge roared into the lead 22-18 at the halfway point of the dual. Alex Walker, Hayden Whidden, and Blake Walker came up huge for Lake Gibson - Alex Walker and Whidden each got falls and then Blake Walker earned a tough 8-6 win over Demetri Zertopoulis 8-6 to put LG up 33-22. Walker’s win over Zertopoulis was a match that both teams needed as we headed into the final 4 matches.
Palmetto Ridge hammer Brennan Van Hoecke got a fall at 138 and Carson Miller downed Jace Brownlow 11-3 to pull PR within 1 (33-32 with 2 matches remaining). Defending State Champ Brendon Abdon got an 8-4 win over Roman Garcia and Jason Lemmond’s 11-5 decision of Gavin Patton put LG over the top 39-32.
3A Finals: South Dade 42, Riverdale 24
No team had a tougher road to the finals than Riverdale. They beat a very good Osceola squad on Friday night and then mounted a great comeback to beat Fleming Island 39-27 on Saturday morning. South Dade cruised on the other side of the bracket with dominating wins over Cypress Bay and Ft Pierce Central. The dual started at 170 with DD Rodriguez of Riverdale taking on Keith Crouse of South Dade.
Rodriguez got Riverdale off to the right start with a tough 8-3 decision of Crouse at 170. Dade then flexed some muscle at 182, 195, and 220 - getting 2 falls and an 11-3 major to take the lead 16-3 after 4 matches. Riverdale’s Jon Baxter responded with a fall at 285 to narrow the South Dade lead to 16-9 heading into the lightweights. The Bucs really began to separate from Riverdale at 106, 113, and 120. Luis Acevedo got a quick fall at 106, Adrian Morales had a 16-1 tech of Nestor Echevarria at 113, and Joshua Aviles pinned Jonovan Bennett to give South Dade the lead 33-3 after 8 matches.
If Riverdale was going to mount a comeback it would have to start now. Nate Luders got 3 points for Riverdale with a 6-2 decision of Misha Arbos at 126, but Gavin Balmeceda answered with a 9-3 decision at 132. With the score 36-6 and just 4 matches remaining the comeback wasn’t going to happen. Still the two teams went after it in the final 4 matches - and we were treated to some good wrestling. South Dade’s defending State Champ Alex Couto beat Alex Soto 9-5 at 138. Riverdale’s defending State Champ Jared Dinh pinned returning State Runner-up Adrian Neco at 145. Cordell White looked great for the Bucs with a quick fll of Malachi Soto at 152 and Isaac Ortiz of Riverdale finished things off with a fall of Jadiel Silverio at 160. Final score South Dade 45, Riverdale 24.