Class 1A State Duals Preview

Region Finals

11:00 AM

NOTE: Team rankings are Kabra Wrestling’s team dual rankings for Class 1A.

#4 Suwannee

vs.

#8 Yulee

1A-1 Region Final

All-Time region finals record | How they got here

Suwannee: 2-0, The Bulldogs have won the past two 1A-1 region titles and reached the finals last season where they fell to Somerset.

The District 2 champions topped Wakulla 55-15 in the region semifinal.

Yulee: 0-0, This is the first appearance for the Hornets.

After finishing second in District 3, the Hornets topped Episcopal 60-23 and then avenged their district title loss with a thrilling 42-38 win over Baker County.

What they’re saying

Suwannee is back for the third straight season and reached the state finals last year. They’re strong throughout the lineup and have been tested with a duals-heavy schedule that has also featured some of the top teams in the state. Yulee showed its toughness to bounce back from a disappointing district final loss to reach the region final for the first time.

On paper this dual looks easy to pick and while we are going with Suwannee with our pick, if this dual starts at a good weight class for Yulee and they can put some early pressure on the Bulldogs, it could get interesting.

Suwannee: “A lot of our guys never experienced anything like this, but we put together a tough schedule and I think it's really started paying off for us. I've seen a difference in the kids. Just having to wrestle Somerset, Lake Gibson, South Dade, all those guys, they're just not worried about who's ranked this or who's ranked that. That's kind of out the window now…Anybody can get beat on any given day and that's just one of those things we talk about every day in the room. You got to be prepared, ready, and you've got to know that If you put the work in, those matches are a whole lot easier.”

Yulee: “We want to get better and face some really tough competition that we're going to see at the regional and state level obviously in Suwannee. So it really is a chance to get better…we're really close that if we do some things and eliminate some of the mistakes that we're making and just be more coachable and listen in the moment we have a real chance I think. But Suwannee's tough and there's no doubt it's going to be a tough task but our kids have shown through the course of the year that if you wrestle the way you're supposed to it doesn't matter who it is or where they're from, we have a chance to win that match…We love wrestling and we build our program up and we take a great pride in it and our kids are excited and they're tough and we're going to learn from this weekend and get better and our kids are really excited to be down there with South Dades and Lake Gibsons and, that's really cool for us, too. So, we're really excited.”

Quick look

Kabra Says

#13 Anclote

vs.

#5 St. John Neumann

1A-3 Region Final

All-Time region finals record | How they got here

Anclote: 0-0, This is the second appears in the region final. They lost to Lemon Bay in 2021.

After winning the 1A-9 district title, the Sharks toppled Berkeley Prep 72-12 and then knocked off Robinson 42-32 to earn their first trip here.

St. John Neumann: 0-0, This is the first appearance for the Celtics.

The first-year program rolled through the competition last Thursday, beating Boca Ciega 69-12 and Lemon Bay 47-33.

What they’re saying

Anclote makes its second appearance in a region final and is a young team. The Sharks have just three seniors in the lineup and will look to grow from the experience and send Coach Russell Schenk out with a good performance as he is retiring at the end of the season after coaching for 36 years. St. John Neumann has an intriguing mix of highly-ranked veterans and developing young talent. Coach Blaine Ison had a bunch of his athletes from Palmetto Ridge join him and they’ve built this team into a contender quickly.

The experience is the prize for Anclote as they get to see what the state duals consists of and compete alongside some of the best in the state, but this matchup leans toward the Celtics in a big way. St. John Neumann advances to Saturday.

Anclote: “Qualifying for duals helps coaches to reassure student/athletes that a small public school with 30 plus wrestlers with most only who only started wrestling in 9th grade or later can advance in the FHSAA State Duals Series when they have all 14-weight class filled and believe…We strive to develop the team aspect of the dual meet. We preach a football strategy, field goals 3 points and not touchdowns 6 points. If we can win by pin and lose by points, we have a greater opportunity to win…If we wrestle with heart and stay with the ‘field-goals and not touchdowns strategy’ it makes for an exciting opportunity.”

Quick look

Kabra Says

#7 Hernando

vs.

#2 Merritt Island

1A-2 Region Final

All-Time region finals record | How they got here

Hernando: 2-5, The Leopards have reached the state duals region finals in all four seasons.

The 1A-6 champions dominated Citrus 58-19 and then defeated Pedro Menendez 50-25.

Merritt Island: 3-0, This is the fourth-straight region final appearance for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs outscored McKeel 68-9 and had the biggest win on Thursday night, edging then top-ranked Zephyrhills Christian 31-30 on criteria.

What they’re saying

These two teams have been here before. Hernando has reached the region final all eight seasons that the state duals have been competed. This year’s team is loaded at the top with a 1-2-3 punch from 175-215 that is one of the best in the state. Merritt Island has already reached the region final in three straight years and have never lost one they competed in. The Mustangs are riding high after stunning then-#1 Zephyrhills Christian last week and they have talent up-and-down their lineup.

As long as Merritt Island doesn’t suffer a hangover from the region duals and they don’t look past this one to Mater Lakes, the Mustangs should win their fourth straight region title.

Merritt Island: “We’re excited. Our kids now are confident. They believe they can win and that's exactly where we need to be headed into the state tournament. So, I'm excited for them. We've been here before. My senior class has literally been here every year, four years in a row. It's nothing new to them. Nobody's partying, nobody's celebrating, we've got work to do this weekend and we're excited for it…We either wrestle these teams or we wrestle teams like these teams, this good a lot, in preparation for moments like this. They're all good people and we're excited to wrestle them…I coached football for a few years before I had kids and just the experience of being in a game and having to adjust on the fly and change your play calls and change your personnel. I learned a lot that has helped me as a coach in dual meets, and being able to adjust strategy and wins and look for points here so I learned a lot there. I tell to my wife all the time that it's like playing a board game. I love board games.”

Quick look

Kabra Says

#1 Mater Lakes

vs.

#14 Key West

1A-4 Region Final

All-Time region finals record | How they got here

Mater Lakes: 0-2, This is the Bears third region final appearance in four years, losing in 2022 and 2024.

After a squeaker in the 1A-14 district final, Mater Lakes took charge in the region semis, beating Cardinal Gibbons 52-11.

Key West: 0-0, This is the first appearance for the Conchs.

The Conchs earned their first trip with a 56-24 win over Miami Central and then beat SLAM Academy 58-23.

What they’re saying

Mater Lakes entered the season knowing that this year could be the one where they get their first elusive state title while Key West is making its first trip the state duals.

The Conchs will look to do more than just be happy to be here and they have some wrestlers who will look to see where they sit with just a month of the regular season to go, but Mater Lakes is built for state duals success and they’ll advance from here.

Key West: “I felt like right before the state duals got approved that we had some really good dual teams that could have made it. And then we've had some teams that were better IBT teams the last six or seven years. Also standing in our way was Somerset and Mater Lakes, so when with the realignment this year we knew we had a good shot and we knew we needed to take advantage of it and put us there. We're excited about it, the kids are really excited. The community is excited. It's overall something that's going to help give us momentum into the future… I always preach we don't approach people differently. We wrestle with them all the time and know their kids and have wrestled with them a million times. We're good friends. I'm good friends with JD and Brandon but the approach is to wrestle your positions, wrestle where you want to be and use it, whether win or loss, as a learning experience…Getting that opportunity to be here is awesome. Having a shot and anyone can be beatable at any given day. Duals can change real fact and that’s the kind of the way I’m approaching this is that it’s an extra match we get in a big time environment and we get to grow from it. And again, not just gain momentum for this season, but use it to gain momentum for the entire program for the future.”

Quick look

Kabra Says