MIDDLEBURG - Energized by the energy of two significant seniors, Porter Loveland and Sarah Walsh, the Middleburg High girls and boys wrestling teams took the prize as the most prolific team in the school year with both teams winning their first district and region titles.

And in the process, Loveland and Walsh also gained top-three individual finishes at the state championships.

For wrestling coach Coll Robertson, who has, year by year, culled an atmosphere of getting better each season, the wrestling program of Middleburg has added one more title each year for the past four years.

For Loveland and Walsh, the state meet has provided the most drama of the season with Loveland battling to a second-place finish in his weight class and Walsh rebounding from a tough semifinal loss in her state championship big to grind back to a third-place finish to end their careers.

One other highlight for wrestling was the impressive season of freshman Fallon Dames who was third in a very tough weight class.

Not to be outdone for consecutive successes, coach Ryan Wolfe for the Broncos football team reached an unprecedented fourth straight region playoff spot, plus added a best 8-2 season record for the Bronco faithful.

The Broncos football, led by quarterback Mason Bacus, running back Gino Addison and twin defenders Darius and Dominic Swilley on the edges opened with six wins in 2025 before losing to Ponte Vedra, a Final Four finisher in the Class 5A ranks.

One of the highlight games for the Broncos was the following week of the Ponte Vedra game with a dramatic 36-36 overtime win over Beachside, also a 5A playoff finisher.

The dramatic overtime overshadowed an epic performance by Addison, who carried 36 times for 276 yards and scored four touchdowns in rallying the Broncos from a 20-8 second quarter deficit. The senior consistently gouged Beachside with chunk plays, barreling up the middle at times and bouncing outside when the middle was clogged. His 7.7 yards per carry would have been even better had he not carried so frequently from inside the five-yard line.

“Gino is as good as I have had,” Wolfe said. “He is built for 30 carries a game. He is built for if you need one yard and he’s also built for taking the ball 80 yards. He was seeing things so great tonight.”

For the vaunted Middleburg volleyball team, the specter of yet another state championship run under coach Meredith Forkum came with a bevy of scholarship athletes on her roster; Camden Rahn, Chloe McWatters, Kate Lowery among the names, that battled to continue the legacy of tough schedule, tough finish.

With six wins in the final stretch of the season; including a district title over Fleming Island and a region playoff win over Mosley, Middleburg got stung by Beachside for a second year in the region semifinal. Beachside would get to the region final before losing to eventual champion Chiles.

In cross country, in the fall, the Broncos tandem of coaches Paul Grybb and Kenneth Yancey employed a tough, attacking style from the athletes and got tough performances all season.

For Middleburg's boys, the Broncos had senior Daniel Johnson finishing his career with a strong 50th in 17:20.53 with teammate Adam Ruoss in at 71st in 18:01.62. Bronco wrestler Michael Breeding added a 76th place finish in 18:07.27 having joined the team just three months ago.

"Middleburg athletes are always tough and scrappy and Breeding added a bit of wrestling toughness to the boys team," said Yancey, who has Middleburg head wrestling coach Robertson as an assistant coach for the team.

For the Broncos boys and girls teams, finishes of 12th of 16 teams for the boys and 14th of 16 teams for the girls, was more than coaches Grybb and Yancey could ask for.

"Both of these teams just did what not many Middleburg teams have done in the last decade," Grybb said. "We came in ranked 16th and both teams showed some toughness and grit to get to 14th and 12th. There is a new standard for Middleburg High cross country. The seniors here have set a great bar for future Broncos runners."

Middleburg freshman Lauren Rosset for one of the four coveted individual qualifiers to advance to the state meet.

In the middle of the school year, the combined efforts of the girls and boys weightlifting teams also got to gather up a truckload of hardware with top finishes from McKinzy Alexander and wingman Trinity Woodley, both with top three finishes at state for a sixth-place team finish in Traditional.

For the boys, Sam Craven and Harris Jammes were state medalists; both faring well in two sports as well. Jammes was top hitter for resurgent Middleburg baseball team that had one of best seasons in a while under returning head coach Alan Burnsed. Craven, a top player for football, ventured into a first-time season of wrestling and was able to push up his cardiovascular system in preparation for weightlifting.

Craven ultimately finished third in Traditional with Jammes seventh with Harris fifth in Olympics and Craven ninth in Olympics. Darius also got an eighth place in Olympics for the Broncos.

For softball, where Middleburg had garnered a state title in years past, coach Ashley Houston's pursuit of number two got thwarted with a region semifinal finish against second seeded Tallahassee Chiles despite some late game heroics by the Bronco batting lineup led by Izzy Pifer, Madi Strickland and Emma Ward all season.

Baseball, with Burnsed back in the dugout, had an exciting season at 17-6 with a district runner-up finish against Fleming Island. Middleburg had an eight-game win streak into the playoffs led by bats from Jammes, Johnny DeAntonis and pitching from Jonah Quesenberry and Ethan Karaim throughout the season.