PACE - After a 74-0 blowout of Gulf Breeze in the region 1-2A duals tournament held at Pace High in the Florida Panhandle, Fleming Island stormed into the region semifinal against host Pace with a 50-15 win to the region finals and state Final Four tournament at Osceola High School on Fri.-Sat., Jan. 21-22.

Fleming Island doubled down on their weekend with a trip to Suwannee High School for the annual Billy Saylor Duals at Suwannee High School where the Golden Eagles finished with six wins, no losses with wins over state powers Suwannee, Niceville and Fort Myers with Fort Myers offering the toughest matchup in a 47-31 Golden Eagle win. Fort Myers was eighth in Class 2A last year.

In another duals tournament, Clay High also advanced with a duals semifinal win over Baker County whom Clay beat for the district duals title a week ago. Clay will face long-time rival Wakulla, the three time defending region duals champion on Friday.

Team Dual Rankings as of January 6 on Kabra Wrestling have Fleming Island at fifth in Class 2A with Gulf Breeze not listed in the top 20 list. Tampa Jesuit, Charlotte and Lake Gibson are ranked 1,2 and 3.

Tallahassee Chiles, at seventh; Lincoln, at ninth; Fletcher, at 14th; New Smyrna Beach, at 16th, and Matanzas, at 17th, represent other north Florida programs in the top 20.

Clay is top-ranked in Class 1A with Wakulla at 10th. The Blue Devils are followed by Mater Lakes Academy and Cardinal Gibbons at second and third in the rankings. Suwannee, at 11th; Yulee, at 13th, and Florida High in Tallahassee are other north Florida programs in the top 20.

Coach P.J. Cobbert’s “young pups” as he calls them, shredded Gulf Breeze with just two matches not ending with a pin; one a 17-1 tech fall, the other a 5-1 win. Fleming Island also scored six points off forfeits at 132 and 285.

Against Pace, who advanced with a win over Chiles in their region opener, Fleming Island against rifled through the lineup with seven pins; one a 41 second flat by 113 Jayce Paridon, top ranked in Class 3A at 113, followed by a 43 second pancake from freshman Laird Duhaylungsod at 120.

Fleming Island has six wrestlers ranked in the top 10 of Class 3A with Jhoel Robinson number two at 182, Ethan Hoffstetter third at 285 and Joshua Sandoval fourth at 170.

Also in Class 2A, Ridgeview’s Derrick Mosley is ranked second at 285 with Middleburg’s Wyatt Leduc, a freshman, and senior Billy Girgis, both eighth at 120 and 126. Orange Park’s Trevion Sermons is 11th ranked at 160.

In region 1-1A at Yulee High, Clay set up yet another rivalry showdown with Wakulla High as the Blue Devils beat Episcopal and Baker County to advance to the region final. Wakulla has three region 1 duals titles with Clay winning the first episode to set up the Friday region final.

Clay, with 220 wrestler Garrett Tyre top ranked in his weight class, beat Episcopal 63-18 in the quarterfinal before romping over Baker County a second time (district final) 78-6.

Clay had 13 pins against Baker County and eight against Episcopal. Clay has eight wrestlers ranked in the top 10 of Class 1A, according to the Kabra Wrestling rankings; Marvin Rainmaker fifth at 120; Ethan Larsen fourth at 170, and Dominick Martin fourth at 182.

At South Walton, Wakulla had a criteria win, 31-30, over Suwannee High in a thriller for that region ticket.

In region 1-3A, Oakleaf lost their region opener to Flagler Palm Coast 45-27 to end their duals tournament journey under first-year coach Rory Roderick. Flagler is currently the third ranked duals team in 3A.

In that region quarterfinal, Oakleaf got wins from Keon Barrientos at 132 by pin, Jackson Hemphill at 138 by a 7-2 decision, Marcus Mcgee at 145 by 6-0, Onjel Caraballo at 195 and Jordan Mitchell at 285 with on overtime 6-4 win.

Hagerty, ranked 13th, won the duals region semifinal over Timber Creek 46-30 to advance to the region final.

Oakleaf wrestlers ranked in the top 10 of Class 3A include Caraballo, eighth at 182; Isaiah Shevchook, fifth at 195, and Jordan Mitchell, seventh at 285.

At Matanzas High School, the Lady Pirate Classic featured a fifth place finish by Clay High’s girls wrestlers, ninth by Oakleaf and 11th by Middleburg.

Champions were Matanzas with Daytona Beach Mainland and Ponte Vedra in second and third.

Individual champions for Clay were Madisyn Blackburn at 130 with three pins and a 16-2 major decision, and Jaidyn Vinson at 135 with three pins, and Alexis Buck third at 140 with one pin.

For Middleburg, Cheyenne Cruce won the 190 title with two pins in 53 and 54 seconds, with Gracie Bradshaw second at 105 with a 34 second pin.

For Oakleaf, Jazzmine Moore won the 170 bracket with five pins; one in 28 seconds.

In the girls rankings on Kabra Wrestling, Blackburn at 130; Orange Park’s Jasmine Hecht at 155, and Orange Park’s Andrea Smith at 235 are top ranked. Smith and Blackburn won state titles last year. Moore is fourth ranked at 170.