Jensen Beach (FL)

Head Coach: Tom McMath (entering 16th season)

Staff: Chris Smith, Denzel Rego, Kyle Kirkham

Jensen Beach is one of the top programs in Florida 1A … they just happen to reside in the same region as the other top teams. Jensen Beach finished 4th at the 2021 Traditional State Tournament - behind fellow Region 4 foes Somerset and American Heritage Delray and ahead of Cardinal Gibbons and Mater Lakes. The 21-22 Jensen Beach crew will be back in the mix for the top spot and has all of the pieces in place to make a run at both a dual and traditional state title. The crew is led by returning State Champ Johnny Dobbs, State Runner-up Jewell Williams, and State Placers Ryan Duguay and Ryan Mooney.

This is a team that could have 4 (or maybe 5 with freshman hammer Sebastian Degannaro) on top of the podium in March. But in tough Region 4 - 5 will only get you so far up the podium. So Jensen Beach needs some others to step up and make some noise. Gian Ortiz won a match in Kissimmee as a freshman a year ago and will be in the hunt for a spot on the podium. JB also return State Qualifiers Matt O’Hara as well Ashton Roeder who transferred in from Oasis. Don’t be surprised if Duke Byfield, Luke Sopotnick or some of the others in the lineup being the difference in the end.

“We are very excited about this years team for the upcoming season. Lots of experience coming back, a very competitive room, and a bunch of kids working hard. ”

— Coach McMath

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

Mainland Bucs (FL)

Head Coach: Matt Lawrence (entering 5th season)

Staff: Hope Jallah, Helena Carey, Karl Piedad

Mainland enters the 21-22 losing just one, Jordan Colubiale, to the graduation. The Bucs return 7 with 2021 post-season experience including Kaden Golder and Nico Rivera who both won matches a year ago at regions. They look to be the Bucs best shot to find the podium in 2A Region 1 in 2022 and punch their ticket to Kissimmee.

Abby Couillard, Brian Harris, Heath Hilado, and Kaleb Alexander each competed in the post-season a year ago and figure to be in the mix. Keep an eye on Matthew Deakin, Hayden Heilman, Brady Howe, and others as they look to make some noise in 2022.

“This season we are looking to continue to build in our 4th year as a program, getting more competitive each season. ”

— Coach Lawrence