2A-11 Preview: Rising teams will look to slow Charlotte’s road to nine straight
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Last season: Charlotte won its eighth straight district title by over 114.5 points over second place Port Charlotte.
Last year’s district tournament results
Last year’s region tournament results
Wrestlers to watch: Jett McCauley (Charlotte), Camren French (Mariner), Maximus Brady (Mariner), Frank Cornelison (North Fort Myers), Kaiden Ballinger (Charlotte), Maddox Williams (Port Charlotte), Judd Cole (Cape Coral), Luke Davis (Charlotte), Kael Seneca (Fort Myers), Isaac Towenko (Cape Coral), Matthew Schuler (Charlotte), Clark Daley (Mariner), Logan Ngo (Mariner), Jaxon Newton (Charlotte)
The favorite: Charlotte. It was another stellar graduating class for the Tarpons, but they have hammers ready to step into new roles.
Team to watch: North Fort Myers. The Red Knights finished in ninth place in back-to-back years before the current revival began.
District duals: Dec. 19 at Charlotte
District IBT: Feb. 16 at North Fort Myers
Kabra Says: Port Charlotte and North Fort Myers are both seeing massive season-over-season improvements, but based on who they might have coming back and traditionally solid depth, Charlotte is still the pick here.
Charlotte Tarpons (#10 IBT | #4 Dual)
Coach: Evan Robinson Jr (20th season)
Recent district results: 2023:1; 2022:1; 2021:1-2A10; 2020:1-2A10; 2019:1-2A10; 2018:1-2A10; 2017:1-2A10; 2016:1-2A10; 2015:2; 2014:2; 2013:3; 2012:1
Last state champion: Cael Newton, 2023 (220)
Notable losses (Graduation/Transfer): Nicholas Gjerde, 32-20, RQ, D3; James Baltutis, 55-13, 4th, R3, D2; Nathaniel Box, 43-8, 2nd, R2, DC; Cael Newton, 56-2, SC, RC, DC; Nikko Frattarelli, 32-11, 7th, R3, D2; Camren French, Sr., 47-6, 2nd, RC, DC (Transfer to Mariner).
Potential notable returning wrestlers: #2-190 Jett McCauley, Sr., 61-7, 3rd, R3, DC; #4-126 Kaiden Ballinger, Sr., 32-5, 4th, RC, DC; #7-150 Luke Davis, Sr., 37-13, SQ, R4, DC; #10-113 Matthew Schuler, Jr., 48-13, 6th, R2, DC; #10-285 Jaxon Newton, So., 27-12; #11-175 Isaac Schaeffer, Sr., 47-16, RQ, D2; #12-144 Carson Bennett, Jr., 30-19, RQ, D3; #19-132 Wyatt Nevling, So., 14-6, RQ-BR, D2; Eric Clary, Sr., 41-15, 7th, R2, D2.
Port Charlotte Pirates
Coach: Tyler Crane (4th season/5th overall)
Assistant coaches: Carter Andersen, Derick DuVall
Recent district results: 2023:2; 2022:2-1A11; 2021:3-2A10; 2020:5-2A10; 2019:6-2A10; 2018:5-2A10; 2017:6-2A10; 2016:6-2A10; 2015:8; 2014:8; 2013:8; 2012:7
Last state champion: Chris Vassell, 1992 (189)
Notable losses (Graduation/Transfer): Derek Pinedo, 36-8, SQ, R3, D2; Tyler Rodriguez, 41-5, 5th, R2, DC; Nick At, 41-13, RQ-BR, D3; Vincent Chavez, 43-5, 2nd, RC, DC.
Notable returning wrestlers: #5-120 Maddox Williams, Jr., 37-7; #15-132 Chase Utley, Jr., 36-16, RQ-BR, D3; #18-144 Colton Sharrah, Sr., 28-16, RQ, D4; #20-106 Noah Roser, Jr., 29-21, RQ-BR, D4; Jacob Bowers, Sr., 26-14, RQ, D3; Wolf Mongillo.
Outlook: Two state placers and a state qualifier has graduated but a strong group remains, led by last year’s blood round participants Roser and Utley.
The Florida High School Wrestling District Previews
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Mariner Tritons (#7 | #14)
Coach: Clay French (3rd at school/6th as head coach/16th as coach)
Assistant Coach: Mike Pedersen, Pat Missaouri
22-23 dual record: 8-7
Recent district results: 2023:4; 2022:3; 2021:3; 2020:2; 2019:3; 2018:3; 2017:4; 2016:3; 2015:3-1A12; 2014:2-1A12; 2013:6; 2012:8
Last state champion: Maximus Brady, 2023 (126); Christopher Minto, 2023 (160)
Notable losses (Graduation/Transfer): Hansel Pompa, 22-8, 3rd, R3, D2; Christopher Minto, 54-1, SC, RC, DC; Chaos Sanchez, 28-15, RQ, D2.
Notable returning wrestlers: #2-132 Maximus Brady, Jr., 53-1, SC, RC, DC; #3-215 Logan Ngo, Sr., 16-16, RQ, D3; #9-165 Clark Daley, Jr., 38-17, RQ, D3.
New wrestlers: #2-126 Camren French, Sr., 47-6, 2nd, RC, DC (Transfer from Charlotte); Mason Fox, Jr., 30-14, RQ, D2 (Transfer from Cypress Lake)
What they are saying: “This year's team has many wrestlers that have set high individual goals for themselves and are very focused on achieving those goals.”
Outlook: The Tritons have set some high individual goals for this season and the focus will be on reaching those. They’ll have a competitive schedule that helps get them ready for the postseason.
North Fort Myers Red Knights
Coach: Nicholas Masiello (2nd season)
Assistant coaches: Shawn Earhart, Diego Gil
22-23 dual record: 7-5
Recent district results: 2023:3; 2022:6; 2021:9; 2020:9; 2019:8; 2018:5; 2017:3; 2016:7; 2015:6; 2014:6;
Last state champion: Adolphus Taylor, 2019 (285)
Notable losses (Graduation/Transfer): Dario Gil, 16-11, RQ, D5; Leandro Calderin, 32-8, RQ, D2; Kirk Rendon, 25-12, RQ, D3.
Notable returning wrestlers: #4-215 Frank Cornelison, Sr., 39-4, 7th, R2, D2; #16-120 D'angelo Gil, Sr., 26-11, RQ, D4; #16-150 Justin Tobia, Jr., 27-12, RQ, D2; #19-285 Seth Tshiams, Jr., 32-11, RQ, D3; Steven Bruno, So., 15-15, RQ, D4; Bret Formosa, Sr., 30-10, RQ, D4.
New wrestler: #18-157 Julian Gonzales, Jr., 39-6, RQ-BR, D4 (Transfer from Island Coast)
What they are saying: “We have hard-working kids that have a lot of fun competing.”
Outlook: The rise of North Fort Myers continues. After four straight years of finishing sixth or worse in the district, last year’s team bounded up to third place in the district and the Red Knights return a good portion of that team for an encore performance.
Cape Coral Seahawks
Coach: Trevor Elliott (19th as HC/20th overall)
Assistant coaches: Austin Trebisovsky, Troy Wusterbarth
22-23 dual record: 17-4
Recent district results: 2023:6; 2022:4; 2021:2; 2020:6; 2019:5; 2018:7; 2017:8; 2016:5; 2015:7; 2014:5; 2013:5; 2012:5
Last state champion: Jon Jackson, 2006 (152), Dakota Rahme, 2006 (140)
Notable losses (Graduation/Transfer): Robert Albert, 36-9, 4th, R2, D2; Richard Albert, 38-10, 6th, R3, D2; Frederick Harley, Jr., 32-10, RQ-BR, D4 (Transfer to Oasis).
Notable returning wrestlers: #4-150 Judd Cole, Sr., 20-8, 8th, R4, DC; #15-165 Tyler Charette, Sr., 35-10, RQ-BR, D4; #19-120 Isaac Towenko, Jr., 31-8, RQ, D3.
What they are saying: “We will be filling holes with experienced wrestlers. This team could go either way as compared to last season, but I believe the desire continues to drive them to be the best. It should be an exciting season.”
Outlook: Elliott returns for his last season of coaching the Seahawks with three solid wrestler returning, led by state placer Cole.
Fort Myers Green Wave
Coach: Zeke Direnzo
Recent district results: 2023:5; 2022:1-2A12; 2021:1; 2020:1; 2019:2; 2018:2; 2017:2; 2016:2; 2015:3; 2014:3; 2013:3-2A12; 2012:?-2A12
Last state champion: Chris Rivera, 2018 (126)
Notable losses (Graduation/Transfer): David Collington, 35-11, RQ, D3; Ethan DiNottia, 35-7, RQ-BR, DC.
Potential notable returning wrestlers: #7-113 Kael Seneca, So., 38-14, SQ, R4, D2; #20-126 Kevin Salas, Sr., 18-12, RQ, D4; Joseph Conrad, Jr., 30-12, RQ-BR, D3.
Island Coast Gators
Coach:
Recent district results: 2023:9; 2022:3-1A11; 2021:4; 2020:4; 2019:6; 2018:4; 2017:5; 2016:4; 2015:4; 2014:4; 2013:10; 2012:9
Notable losses (Graduation/Transfer): Jimmy Barkell, 32-12, RQ, D4; #18-157 Julian Gonzales, Jr., 39-6, RQ-BR, D4 (Transfer to North Fort Myers).
Potential notable returning wrestlers: None.
Ida Baker Bulldogs
Coach:
Recent district results: 2023:8; 2022:7; 2021:5; 2020:4; 2019:4; 2018:6; 2017:7; 2016:5; 2015:5; 2014:7; 2013:4; 2012:4
Notable losses (Graduation/Transfer): Jack Geerson, 7-9, RQ, D4.
Potential notable returning wrestlers: Ricardo Villaquiran, Sr., 20-10, RQ, D3; Braylon Hillyard, Sr., 18-11, RQ, D4.
Dunbar Tigers
Coach: AJ Kellum
Recent district results: 2023:7; 2022:7-2A12; 2021:7; 2020:7; 2019:4-1A12; 2018:6-1A12; 2017:4-1A12; 2016:2-1A12; 2015:2-1A12; 2014:3-1A12; 2013:4-1A11; 2012:3-1A11
Notable losses (Graduation/Transfer): Aiden Sanchez, 34-10, SQ, R2, DC; Cody Triplett, 30-10, RQ-BR, D3; Parry Samuels, 17-8, RQ, D4.
Potential notable returning wrestlers: None