The Breakdown - Episode 35 - GFC Elite
Georgia Crowns 5; Florida 3 and South Carolina their first – GFC Elite
The Woodward Academy crew had quite a weekend as their three hammers – Kilic, Filipowicz, and Singleton – each claimed a GFC Elite title. Georgia also had two champs from Roundtree with Antonio Mills taking the title at 98 and Jake Crapps at 119. Mills started the ball rolling for Georgia as he took out the #2 seed Colyn Limbert of Ohio in a tight one at 98. Jake Crapps won outstanding wrestler with an absolutely outstanding weekend – downing nationally-ranked Kyle Montaperto of North Carolina in the semis and the nationally-ranked Evan Tallmadge of New Jersey in a crazy finish in the finals.
Florida crowned 3 champs but could have had at least two more if they hadn’t drawn Kilic and Filipowicz in the finals. Kilic downed Joe Gonzalez 4-2 in SV1 to claim the 145 lb. title and Filipowicz won a wild (and controversial) one over Jonathan Ley in the 160 lb. final. There were also two all-Florida matchups in the finals with Tom Crook downing Ethan Mojena at 140 lbs. and Andrew Austin taking out Cooper Haase in a wild one at 125.
South Carolina put two in the finals – Dylan Layton and Yannis Charles. Layton lost to nationally-ranked Nasir Bailey of Illinois at 135 and it looked like South Carolina would finish without a champ until Yannis Charles turned it on in the 3rd period. Charles looked challenged heading into the 3rd period … trailing Virginia’s Patrick Jordon 6-1. An escape by Charles in the 3rd made it 6-2 with about a minute remaining and then lightning struck. Charles had 3 takedowns in a row plus two point nearfall to tie it 9-9 with about 15 seconds remaining. Charles then let Jordon up and got the final takedown to win it with just seconds remaining.
The Southeast had one other champ – Gunnar Garriques … but he was listed as Illinois in the bracket. The reason … Gunnar goes to Baylor and as a result we claim him, but his family lives in Illinois (which what was listed). Garriques, the #2 seed, downed top seed Caden Ferris of Michigan 3-0 to claim the 215 lb. title. Overall it was a good weekend for the SE.
Close but not quite
Eight SE wrestlers made the finals, but came up just a bit short. Mojena, Ley, Haase and Gonzalez weren’t the only Floridians to drop their finals match. Braden Basile lost a 5-4 match to nationally-ranked Vincent Robinson of Illinois at 130. Tennessee’s Justin Bradford looked to have the 113 lb. title take care of and then lost a close one in overtime to Michigan’s Jackson Blum. Bradford gave up a penalty point (finger pull) late in the 3rd which had an impact on the match and pushing it to overtime. Dylan Galloway dropped a close 285 lb. final to Jimenez – 2-1.
More Info
I’m working on a more detailed breakdown of what I saw - who stood out, best matches, and so on for the SEWrestle+ part of the website. That will be posted soon (probably tomorrow).
41 other SE hammers made the podium (top 8)
High School Elite - 98
3rd Place - Liam Davis of Florida
6th Place - Cooper Foster of North Carolina
8th Place - Adaias Ortiz of Florida
High School Elite - 105
4th Place - Roman Lermer of Florida
7th Place - Gabriel Tellez of Florida
8th Place - Allen Calderon of Georgia
High School Elite - 112
3rd Place - Zeno Moore of Florida
4th Place - Christian Guzman of Florida
5th Place - Cameron Stinson of North Carolina
8th Place - Tyler Washburn of Florida
High School Elite - 119
4th Place - Kyle Montaperto of North Carolina
5th Place - Matthew Rowland of North Carolina
7th Place - Colin Kacena of Florida
8th Place - Colton Bishop of Georgia
High School Elite - 125
4th Place - Danny Martinez of Florida
6th Place - Mark Samuel of North Carolina
7th Place - Jacob Silka of Georgia
High School Elite - 130
3rd Place - Keyveon Roller of Tennessee
5th Place - Marcus Jackson of North Carolina
8th Place - Brandt Fajerman of North Carolina
High School Elite - 140
3rd Place - Emil Necula of Georgia
High School Elite - 145
3rd Place - Jeremiah Price of North Carolina
8th Place - Rafael Diniz of Florida
High School Elite - 152
4th Place - Dominic Bambinelli of Georgia
5th Place - Brendon Abdon of Florida
7th Place - Alexander Couto of Florida
8th Place - Creed Thomas of Georgia
High School Elite - 160
5th Place - Cole Cochran of Georgia
7th Place - Mason Alley of Tennessee
8th Place - Tyler Secoy of Georgia
High School Elite - 171
4th Place - Kodiak Cannedy of Tennessee
6th Place - Riley Orr of Florida
7th Place - Aiden McCafferty of North Carolina
High School Elite - 189
3rd Place - Brian Burburija of Florida
4th Place - Devon Bell of North Carolina
6th Place - Nolan Pozzobon of Georgia
7th Place - Dominic Joyce of Florida
8th Place - Dylan Deal of Florida
High School Elite - 215
4th Place - Ralph Sanchez of Florida
5th Place - Nelson Toro of Florida
6th Place - Carson Floyd of North Carolina
7th Place - Logan Webster of Georgia
8th Place - Deonte Dozier of Georgia
High School Elite - 285
3rd Place - Anthony Yancey of Georgia