GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Fleming Island High's wrestling team kept their foot on the gas pedal for the two-day Region 1-2A wrestling championships held Friday and Saturday at rival Clay High School and, with workmanlike precision, fended off an early front running spot by the hosts to win the ninth straight region title for Fleming Island coach P.J. Cobbert.
"Nine in a row; Class 3A and Class 2A," said Cobbert, after Fleming Island wrestled away the team title from Clay; 169.0 to 122.0, to take the region title; just a week after a similarly tight district title for Cobbert a week ago over Clay, as area wrestlers now must pack their collective busses to head to the FHSAA state championships in Orlando, Feb.29-March 1. "We just grind and keep wrestling our style no matter who is in front of us."
In an unprecedented boon for Clay County wrestling prowess in north Florida, Fleming Island's win highlighted a 1-2-3-4 finish for area programs with Clay second, Middleburg third and Oakleaf fourth; all above 100 team points and ahead of Panhandle powerhouses Tallahassee Lincoln and Gulf Breeze and Daytona Beach-area power New Smyrna Beach.
Also, locally, Ridgeview finished 16th and Orange Park finished 22nd.
Fleming Island's stalwart veterans, led by seniors Kaden Schaefer, unbeaten at 150 (41-0) and Christopher Chop at 175 (44-6) smashed through their rounds with Schaefer hoisting a 57-second pin, a 17-2 tech fall, a 9-1 major decision and a finals' 5-0 win over JJ Martinez of Ft Walton Beach (50-6) and Chop muscling his way to three first period pins to the final and a 5-0 win over a very agile footballer, Edward Craig of Beachside (30-3).
"I've wrestled just about everyone in my weight class and look forward to facing off in the state final with Tampa Jesuit's Draven McCall (23-2)," said Schaefer, who signed to wrestle at NCAA Div. I Bucknell University next fall. "I just stayed focused and wrestled one guy at a time."
Also on Schaefer's radar will be Brandon's unbeaten Thomas Gernhart (52-0). For Schaefer, both Gernhart and McCall are on the same side of the 150-pound bracket set for the state meet. Schaefer was third last year after losing to Lake Gibson champion Hayden Whidden in the 145 semifinal then beating Middleburg senior Logan Moore in the consolation semifinal to advance. Moore finished fifth.
"We wrestle the way we wrestle, who cares who is on the mat," said Cobbert. "That's just a singlet."
For Chop, a disappointing fifth last year with a second-round loss bouncing him into consolations, who has been mechanically tactical in his approach on the mat while seemingly easing through matches with confidence and power, had some difficulty nailing down the very fast and agile Craig from Beachside and resorted to simple grind wrestling to take the region title.
"Having the meet here made it very weird because it was in the Clay gym, but we just win wherever we go," said Chop, ranked third at 175 behind Elijah Penton of Winter Springs (44-5, defending state champion at 170 last year) and Ryan Beirne of Satellite (39-4, 1-2 at state last year) in one of the toughest weight divisions in all Classes of Florida with just one wrestler; Manatee's Mason Miller, with just one loss on the season (40-1, finished sixth with loss to Fleming Island's Ronan Bozeman). "We give a lot of thought to my style; just to keep grinding my guy to break him. Anyone in front of me, I'm going to beat."
In two of the best pseudo-upset matches of the day; at 285, with Fleming Island first-year wrestler Kevin Reyes facing off against Goliath-sized opponents in his semifinal and final; the top seed Ryder Luck of Lincoln, who beat Reyes in the regular season, and was top seed before the region championship, and Logan McAllister of Mosley, who was number four before Clay with Reyes fifth.
"Maybe that will change now," said Reyes, after the burly power wrestler and state Olympic Snatch weightlifting champion, outmaneuvered the two much-taller and weightier opponents for wins of 3-1 over Luck with a third-period takedown in a flurry as Luck came heavy at Reyes, and a 10-4 finals win over McAllister, who was five inches taller and much heavier than Reyes.
"Our strategy was to not let him get me on the ground," said Reyes. "I trusted my speed against his size and, in the end, I prevailed. I guess I won't surprise anyone at state now."
For Reyes, now 46-9, the prize was a number one ranking going into the state championship with Luck second and McAllister sixth. In the championship bracket, Reyes will only face one of the two in the final with both on the opposite side of the bracket to Reyes. Reyes does have the fourth and fifth-ranked wrestlers on his side of the bracket; Jaxon Newton of Charlotte and Carmine Morton of Tampa Gaither; both with 41 wins, Newton with nine losses, Morton with three.
"Coach P.J. has taught me more and more each week about how to move around these big guys and I listen to him," said Reyes.
For Cobbert, Reyes' IQ is his strength.
"First-year wrestler and he buys in, simple as that," said Cobbert.
Also winning titles for Cobbert were Jordan Mukaddam at 120 who beat Middleburg's Grady Woodard 7-0 for his title and Laird Duhaylungsod at 138, 47-4, who beat Jonathan Bruner of New Smyrna Beach 5-2. Duhaylungsod advanced with three pins; two under a minute and his semi in the third.
Mukaddam, 45-3, who showed a little power early in the season with a Knockout Christmas title blasted through his bracket with three pins before facing Woodard.
Fleming Island's region champions will be joined by Matthew Newman, third at 113 over Nathan Harvey of Middleburg, and Dylan Beck, third at 157 with a 6-2 win over Ft. Walton Beach's Matthew Sinclair. Beck workhorse his way to the state meet after losing his first match to Ridgeview's Preston Lewis winning five straight matches to earn his ticket.