Buchholz takes Flagler and Creekside to advance to the 3A Elite 8

2nd Round

Buchholz 36, Flagler Palm Coast 34

The Takeaway: Bonus Points. It really is as simple as that. Buchholz pulled off a rare feat … winning just 6 of 16 matches, but because they were able to get bonus points in every win and avoid being “bonused” in 5 of their 8 losses - they were able to pull off the unexpected. The goal in a dual is always a “race to 8” … because if you get 8 wins you win the dual nearly every time - Buchholz just demonstrated how you can get the win even when you opponent gets to 8 wins. Hats off to Finn Buchanan, Braedon McGuigan, William Buchanan, Jack Georgie and Derryl Godbolt who each took a loss for the Bobcats, but their fight was the difference in Buchholz advancing.

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1st Round

Buchholz 39, Creekside 37

The Takeaway: Back and forth match with the majority of the wins coming by fall … ultimately it would come down to Buchholz getting bonus (and in this instance I mean 6 instead of 4) in 6 matches vs. 5 for Creekside. Braedon McGuigan’s 5-4 win over Tristen Darling at 190 was huge and was the difference at the end of the dual.

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Flagler Palm Coast 57, Bartram Trail 21

The Takeaway: Flagler pretty much dominated … they jumped out to a 24-0 lead and finished with 10 wins (9 by bonus).