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On to State: Wrestlers move on

By Randy Lefko Sports Editor
Posted 3/4/20

FLEMING ISLAND – Fleming Island High wrestling coach had just one region champion returner from last year’s region champion team, top-ranked Chad Nix, at 195, now 220, then watched as his …

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On to State: Wrestlers move on


Posted

FLEMING ISLAND – Fleming Island High wrestling coach had just one region champion returner from last year’s region champion team, top-ranked Chad Nix, at 195, now 220, then watched as his “young pups”, as he called them, got introduced to the rigors of Class 3A wrestling at the FHSAA state championships.

“We have to go look in the mirror this week and see what we want to do at state,” said Cobbert. “The confidence level this year is higher. Mentally, we still have to get better. When you are mentally strong, you don’t give up takedown, you go get them.”

In 2020, Cobbert and his returners; all but two-time state champion, region champion Briar Jackson and graduate Anthony Breeden, have raised the bar up another notch in anticipation of another run at South Dade’s mountain-high perch at the top of Class 3A since 2017. South Dade won region 4-3A with 295 points (7 champions) over Southwest Miami’s 230.5 (5 champions).

“I think we’re getting better at the right time,” said Cobbert. “We preach getting better; executing technique. We’re in shape. Now, it is about eliminating mistakes. That’s what we did tonight.”

Saturday night, Fleming Island dominated the region 1-3A championships with a fifth straight team title and six individual titles to lead area wrestlers into the Tiger’s Den of Kissimmee’s Silver Spurs Arena on March 6-7. Oakleaf got two state qualifiers; Marcus McGee and David Parkes, in a return to the state meet for the Knights.

“We wrestled the toughest schedule we’ve ever had,” said Cobbert. “We won’t know until next week if it makes us better. I would think if we go out there and wrestle the best we can wrestle, we can do great things.”

Oakleaf sends two wrestlers to state with Marcus McGee finishing fourth at 120; losing to Fleming Island’s Ryan Hobson, and David Parkes finishing third at 152.

Joining the Golden Eagles with a second place team finish after a day one scare (92-89.5) to region 1-1A champion Wakulla High, Clay took a tough second place finish (239-187) with three region champions, plus four top four finishes to put the Blue Devils back in the Class 1A picture. Wakulla had four champions.

Ridgeview High junior Matthew Rodriguez, also in region 1-1A with Clay, will advance to his third straight state meet after a third and a second. Rodriguez is still unbeaten (63-0) for the season.

For the Blue Devils, Cale Hoskinson, at 152, returns to the state meet (2-2, 132) after getting an injury default to Wakulla’s Chase Roberts, also a state qualifier last year (0-2, 138). Roberts and Hoskinson both advanced to the finals’ match with three straight pins to set up an exciting final that didn’t happen.

At 106, Clay got a somewhat surprise from newcomer Maverick Rainwater won a thrilling tiebreaker from University Christian’s Jayce Paridon, the Clay Rotary 106 runnerup, to advance to the final where he beat Bolles Jacob Witt, 15-7.

At 220, Garrett Tyre, who was sixth at Clay Rotary, upped his game with three pins to the final and an 8-7 win over Jack Pyburn, of Bolles (42-8).

Clay to state: Rainwater, Luke

Davis (3rd, 120), Dominic Martin (3rd,

145), Hoskinson, Jordan Bell (4th, 182),

Derrek Mosley (3rd, 285)

Ridgeview to state: Matthew

Rodriguez (1st, 126)

In Class 2A, Orange Park will send three athletes to Kissimmee with Cameron Broughton a lone region champion and teammates Jacob Moore and Wesley Carlisle taking fourth. The Raiders nearly doubled their team points from Friday (39) to Saturday (78) to move from ninth place up to seventh in the team race with Lincoln High overtaking day one leader Pace for the team title.

Pace, Matanzas, Columbia and Fort Walton Beach were up on Lincoln after day one action before the Trojans answered in championship form; three individual champions, to take the region title with 137 points over Matanzas (116, one champion), Pace (114, two champions) and Columbia (110, one champion). Middleburg finished 22nd with 16 points.

Orange Park to state: Wesley Carlisle (4th, 113), Cameron Broughton, Jacob Moore (2nd, 182)

At the region 1-3A championship with Fleming Island outscoring both days; 89.5-67 on top of Timber Creek and 266-170 over Hagerty on day two with Timber Creek third at 116.

On day two, Fleming Island finished with six individual champions; Hunter Herrington, Tyler Williams, Gannon Janssen, Luke Chop, Jeffrey Lascano and Chad Nix, to dominate the championship finals. Chop, at 160, got his championship via forfeit in the final.

Williams, 39-3 at 138, who suffered a concussion and minor injuries prior to last year’s state meet, has strongly returned to Cobbert’s line up with a district title in his pocket and a convincing 11-2 win over Flagler Palm Coast’s Kyle Peacock, 41-6.

“I feel like I’m peaking at the right moment,” said Williams, who was region runnerup last year, but won just one match at last year’s state meet to be eliminated early. “I feel like last year was just tough, but all the work that has been done over the years is all coming together at the right time. I want to finish my wrestling with a strong senior year.”

In his match, Williams quickly took a 5-0 lead off a series of Easton takedowns with a single leg takedown to open the second period. One more scramble late in the third produced the 11-2 final with Cobbert slowly advising Williams from the coach corner to methodically turn slowly to get the takedown points.

“Everything is running on eight cylinders,” said Williams.

One guy who had been a crowd favorite last year with his explosive underhooks and pinning throws, Lascano, who at 195 is ranked in the top five state wide, saved the region championship match to unveil his throwing prowess after a full season of methodical, technical wrestling, minus the throws.

In his championship match against a much taller Dakota Phillips of Lake Mary (40-7), Lascano (43-7) got into a feisty interchange with Phillips early in the match that garnered a referee timeout and chat at center mat.

“Coach P.J. has been getting me to show what I can do on the mat without the underhooks,” said Lascano. “I know I have it to use.”

From there, the match turned into a who-would-throw-who-first contest with Phillips backing up Lascano on one attempt, but Lascano twisting away and retreating before Lascano returned volley with a lightning-fast turn and throw that put Phillips on his back to an eruption in the gymnasium with 30 seconds still left in the first period.

“We bumped and he poked me in the eye, then it got chippy,” said Lascano. “It is what it is and I’m still confident I can execute the throws when I need them.”

Fleming Island to state: Hunter Herrington (1st, 113), Ryan Hobson (3rd, 120), Riley Holton (3rd, 126), Isaac Padgett (2nd, 132), Tyler Williams (1st, 138), Gannon Janssen (1st, 145), Tanner Hill (2nd, 152), Luke Chop (1st, 160), Gavin Smith (3rd, 170), Nick Janssen (4th, 182), Jeffrey Lascano (1st, 195), Chad Nix (1st, 220)

Oakleaf to state: Marcus McGee (4th, 120), David Parkes (4th, 152)