Florida State Finals
Palmetto Ridge, Lake Gibson, and Jensen Beach claim Dual Titles
Palmetto Ridge’s run to a 3A State Duals Title
Downed Osceola 54-20 in the Elite 8 - winning 10 matches (4 by fall and 4 by forfeit)
Against Osceola they controlled the match from the beginning - winning 5 of the first 6 matches.
Knocked off Defending Champs South Dade 39-26 in the Final 4 - winning 8 (4 by fall and 1 forfeit)
Against South Dade they trailed 26-21 heading into the final 4 matches. Wins by Brennan Van Hoecke and Carsen Miller put Palmetto Ridge in the lead, but it was Ty Bechtel’s fall at 160 that sealed the win.
Beat Wellington 42-25 in the Finals - winning 8 (6 by fall)
Back and forth to start with Wellington leading 14-12 after 6 matches … wins by Sam and James Marvel pushed Wellington’s lead to 22-12 before Demetri Zertopoulis, Van Hoecke, and Miller put up 18 (3 falls) and pushed Palmetto Ridge into the lead 30-22 with 3 matches remaining. Roman Garcia’s 42 second fall at 170 lbs. gave Palmetto Ridge the win and their first 3A State Title
A few outstanding individual performances from each 3A team this weekend:
Brennan Van Hoecke of Palmetto Ridge led the way with 18 team points.
Sam Marvel was clutch … winning three close decisions - 13-10 over Jean Valoria in the finals, 8-5 over John Hald of Flagler, and an 8-7 decision of William McArdle vs. Ft Pierce Central that pushed the Wolverines into the Final 4.
EJ Solis came up big for South Dade with a fall (vs. Cypress Bay) and a 5-3 decision over Zertopoulis in their loss to Palmetto Ridge.
Kole Hannant had a fall vs. Hagerty and a 11-3 major over Evan Pena to push the Bulldogs in the Final 4.
Rafael Diniz of Cypress Bay had a fall in their dual vs. South Dade.
Cooper Haase of Osceola had a fall in their dual vs. Palmetto Ridge
Kamdon Harrison of Hagerty had a big fall in their dual vs. Flagler Palm Coast
Hernan Ortiz pushed Ft Pierce Central into the lead vs. Wellington with a fall at 220
Lake Gibson’s run to a 2A State Title
Cruised to a fairly easy win against over matched River Ridge 64-15 in the Elite 8.
Won 11 matches with 3 falls and 7 forfeits)
Downed Merritt Island 72-6 in the Final 4
Beat Merritt Island with ease .., won 13 of 14 matches (only losing at 126) and continued to pile on bonus points as 11 of the 13 wins were by fall.
Battled through a tough Tampa Jesuit 36-30 in the Finals
Much different of a story in the finals vs. Jesuit. A dual that Lake Gibson led 18-6 after 4 matches, but they watched Roman Lermer, Danny Vargar, etc. put up wins after wins to push Jesuit up 30-18 with 4 matches remaining. Blake Walker’s 9-3 decision of Gavin Young stopped the Jesuit train and falls by Brownlow and Abdon put Lake Gibson up 33-30 heading into the final match. Tito Solorzano came up big for Gibson as he downed Josiah Jenkins 7-2 to get the win and the 2A Duals Title.
A few outstanding individual performances from each 2A team this weekend:
A note: Lake Gibson easily outdistanced all other 2A teams with a total of 18 falls (Fleming Island was next closest 2A team with 8).
Another note: the most team points a wrestler could accrue this weekend is 18 (if his team wrestled 3 matches).
Brendon Abdon and Colt Brown led the way for Gibson with 18 team points each
Sergio Desiante was dominant for Jesuit … he also had 18 team points.
Jhoel Robinson was outstanding for Fleming Island - 2 falls and got the ball rolling vs. Jesuit, but not enough to beat them.
Jeremiah Johnson was the only Mustang to get a win vs. Gibson … he also had a major decision over St Thomas and finished the tournament 2-0.
Charlotte had 5 wrestlers get 6 points including a very important fall by Camren French that almost swung the momentum in their favor in the dual vs. Jesuit.
Austin Mitchum of New Smyrna Beach was the one roadblock in the match vs. Fleming - getting a 6-4 decision at 220 that momentarily stopped their momentum.
Nicklaus Martin of River Ridge did what he could and got 6 for his team vs. Lake Gibson
Ethan Wigutow of St Thomas Aquinas stopped Merritt for a moment in their dual bringing the score to 8-6 for Merritt … unfortunately for Aquinas they picked up right after Wigutow’s fall to continue marching on.
Jensen Beach’s run to a 1A State Title
JB’s run to a state title began long before this weekend. They had to fight through the toughest district/region in the state - eliminating last year’s Champs Somerset Academy and Cardinal Gibbons on a 3rd period fall to get a 31-29 dual win to advance to this weekend. This team was battle tested and it showed.
Jensen Beach began with a tough win over Mater Lakes 36-27 in the Elite 8
Tough opening match that came down to Johnny Dobbs getting a 9-2 decision at 126 and a Ryan Duguay sudden victory takedown to advance.
JB downed last year’s runner-up Palm Bay 38-30 in the Final 4
Started down to Palm Bay 15-6 before their lightweight hammers took over and pretty much shut the door with falls from Degennaro, Ortiz, and Dobbs.
Downed perennial power Clay 42-21 to claim their first 1A State Title
Fell behind early again to Clay 12-3 after 3 matches, but immediately turned to the bottom part of their lineup where Degennaro, Duguay, and Williams each got falls and Ortiz, Mooney, and Dobbs got wins to put Jensen Beach up 31-12 with not much of a path left for Clay. Dylan Fox’s 3-0 decision of Luke Boree sealed it and JB celebrated their first title.
A few outstanding individual performances from each 1A team this weekend:
Hard to look past Sebastian Degennaro … whenever Jensen Beach need a stop - he stepped up with a fall and was the spark that ignited the rally for JB.
Garrett Tyre got as many points as you can for his Blue Devils (18) - which helped propel them to the finals.
Chase Alden wrestled great for Lemon Bay - tallying two falls for the Manta Rays in their duals vs, Hudson and Clay.
Octavion Osby of Palm Bay went 2-0 with 2 first period falls.
Isaiah Wilson pinned Gunner Iver at 132 - one of Clay’s hammers, but it wouldn’t be enough as Clay rolled in the dual.
Huge fall by Anthony O’Dell at 113 nearly helped Mater Lakes push past Jensen Beach toward the end of the dual.
Giovanni Stramiello of Hudson got a first period fall in their dual vs. Lemon Bay - the only points Hudson scored.
Big win for Diego Mojica of Hernando in downing Jamarion Stokes 5-0 in their dual vs. Palm Bay
