FLEMING ISLAND - Clay High’s Garrett Tyre went from zero to state champion in one year after suffering defeat at the hands of a referee’s call last year that kicked him out of post-season possibilities to a more focused, more disciplined approach to his craft and the grand prize earned with just seconds to spare.

Tyre, Clay High’s Class 1A champion at 220, the only state champion from Clay County, earns the Clay Today Super 6 team most valuable wrestler for his actions.

With one notable opponent through his senior season; Raines High’s Jamari Watson, who had just three losses on the season, all to Tyre, Tyre, at 49-2 rifled through his season to a championship match with Watson that defied the logic of three’s the charm as Tyre looked to be in peril throughout the match until the final 20 seconds.

For the Clay Today Super 6; two lightweights (up to 138), two middle weights (145-182) and two heavy weights (195-Unlimited), the plethora of talent through Clay County was immense and thus the decisions excruciating.

In the light weights; up to 138 pounds, Fleming Island’s Jayce Paridon maintained a course of perfection throughout his season with uncanny precision and unrelenting toughness to enter the Class 2A championship match at 113 with a perfect 58-0 record. As a freshman, though, Paridon, with years back to five or six years old of experience on the mat lost 8-1 in that final to another freshman, Maximus Brady of Mariner High, who finished at 54-2. Brady’s win was a historic first-ever for the Mariner program and foretells a possible rematch in upcoming years for the pair.

At 120, the second Duhaylungsod of the roster; Laird, was a second look of the twins; brother Shane at 106, with Laird just happened to face off against the Class 2A runnerup in his second Friday match to get knocked back to consolations.

From there, though, Duhaylungsod buckled up and wrestled tough to get to his fifth place finish as a freshman with a guy from Lake Gibson (17-0 win), a 4-0 win and a tough 4-2 loss to Tampa Jesuit’s Danny Vargas (40-7) who lost his semifinal to eventual state champion unbeaten Tyson Lane of Brandon. Duhaylungsod got a quick shot of rugged wrestling as a freshman and stood toe to toe. Both Duhaylungsods, with brother Shane seventh at 106, will be major forces for coach P.J. Cobbert for the next three years.

In the middle weights; 145-182, Clay High had the meat of their lineup at this point, but Fleming Island had the quietest assassin of the nights with Joshua Sandoval patroling at 170 as a top five ranked guy all season and taking down pretty good talent along the way.

Sandoval, 59-10, was a smooth moving technician with little flash, but relentless pursuit to execution.

At state, he took a surprise pin from then unbeaten Cory Cannon of Barron Collier, the eventual state champion. Sandoval kept his wits and rumbled to a fourth place finish with a loss to Lake Gibson’s Frank Solorazano, a 49-4 junior.

At 182, Fleming Island’s most exciting wrestler, Jhoel Robinson entered the fray with dominating fashion with his extreme athleticism and acumen for escape to roll to the state final before losing an 8-1 decision to Countryside’s Brian Burburija, who had just one loss on the season.

Robinson and Sandoval will both be back next year.

In the upper weights, 195-Unlimited, there were some pretty good inter-county rivalries to choose from with Ridgeview High Derrick Mosley, a third place finisher last year, finding his path to gold going through Fort Walton Beach’s unbeaten Cedric Fairrow, whom Mosley lost to in the Class 2A 220 championship match after posting a 42-4 overall record. Mosley also lost to Fairrow in the region final. Mosley also faced off and lost to 1A-Bolles’ Jack Pyburn, a top ranked 285-er injured at state. Beyond the top-ranked guys he faced, Mosley was unstoppable with his immense strength and agility on the mat.

The final Super 6 athlete is Oakleaf’s 285 pound Jordan Mitchell who lost his first match at state, but then annihilated by pin four opponents before finishing fourth after a 4-0 loss against 65-5 Gozie Mosi of Cypress Bay.

Note: An honorable mention vote goes to the Keystone Heights High School program; both boys and girls, who achieved an couple inches more of success in their second season with a few region finishers on both ends.