Region 2A-4: Preview and Predictions
FRIDAY-SATURDAY FEBRUARY 23-24, 2024 - At Bayside High School
Welcome to one of my favorite traditions - the region previews.
This is the sixth season I've written these but for those that are reading one for the first time, here's a quick summary of what the region preview is.
I start first by printing out each bracket - yes, this is one of the things I'm old school on.
I notate where wrestlers are ranked in the Kabra Wrestling Rankings and then start to break it down even more.
I look for head-to-head matchups, common opponents, and how each wrestler has been trending in the stretch run.
I then question my rankings - and myself - and play out the entire bracket.
What follows is my best guess for how 2A-4 will play out.
You can print the 2A-4 region bracket here. (PDF)
I've carefully predicted the four state qualifiers in the order that I think the will finish. I've also listed wrestlers that could prove me wrong and make it to Kissimmee.
I will be wrong with these picks, and I'm okay with that. In fact, I love when kids prove me wrong (or prove me right).
These previews and predictions are meant to bring excitement to one of the exhilarating and heartbreaking weekends in sports.
I assure you that I have no bias in my picks and truly wish the best for every wrestler competing this weekend.
And as always, these picks are for entertainment purposes only.
Now onto the preview:
Teams to watch
5. Heritage, 9. Satellite, 14. Merritt Island, 20. Mater Academy
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Solomon Peterson (Heritage)
2. #2 Jake Giovino (Satellite)
3. #6 Gary Mendez (Mater Academy)
4. #7 Joshua Sanchez (Felix Varela)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Earl Cayao (Oakland Park Northeast); Leo Velasquez (Dillard)
Opening round match to watch: Sanchez vs. David Serrano (Merritt Island)
Kabra says: Peterson got the match he wanted in the district final and avenged a loss from the district duals with a major decision win. The Heritage senior has been on a mission on the homestretch and right now he looks really hard to beat in this weight class. This bracket contains four wrestlers in the Top 7 and at least we think those are the four that will go to Kissimmee.
Kabra's Picks
1. #4 Landon Quiroga (Merritt Island)
2. #11 Ericson Coney (Mater Academy)
3. #12 Domonic Charles (Miramar)
4. #13 Rashaan Robinson (Miami Norland)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #20 Dillon Ruhlander (Port St. Lucie); Kaydyn Frank (Okeechobee)
Opening round match to watch: Gabriel MacVittie (Satellite) vs. Valintino Ramos (St. Thomas)
Kabra says: Quiroga reached the state championship last year at 106 pounds and is one of the top wrestlers this year to get back there. This bracket gets more interesting as you move past him and see three wrestlers all grouped tightly in the rankings and in talent level. The podium could look like a shuffling of our prediction, or even a complete makeover, but we like our pick at the top to be there.
Kabra's Picks
1. #8 Dully Brutus (Miramar)
2. #20 Elijah England (Port St. Lucie)
3. #13 Michael Maisonet (Mater Academy)
4. Clayton Wolf (Okeechobee)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Kaden Barrial (Merritt Island); Austin Pattillo (Bayside)
Opening round match to watch: Samuel Fleurinord (Dillard) vs. Sebastian Jurardo (Belen Jesuit)
Kabra says: Though this bracket might be lacking star power, there is some depth here. Brutus and Maisonet in the semifinals should be the match to watch, but don’t on the consolation rounds, there will be some action there.
Kabra's Picks
1. #10 Gustavo Ferreira (Heritage)
2. #11 Falco Frank (Okeechoebee)
3. #12 Yaisel O’Farrill (Mater Academy)
4. #14 Quinton Brownlee (Miramar)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #16 Nolan West (Satellite); #19 Joseph Scott (Hollywood Hills)
Opening round match to watch: Antrell Hall (Miami Norland) vs. Michael Rodrigues (Sebastian River)
Kabra says: If you want to call a bracket a toss-up in this region, this would certainly fit. We’re picking the four district champions for podium but there’s plenty of challengers here that could mess that up. Expect a good match if Ferreira and Frank made it, they’ve split the season series with Ferreira having a win by fall and Frank winning 7-2 in the other.
Kabra's Picks
1. #3 Gregory Mendez (Mater Academy)
2. #4 Anthony Dicks (Satellite)
3. #9 Salaahddin Hightower (Dillard)
4. Gage Manfredo (Port St. Lucie)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #13 Titus DeYoung (Merritt Island); Andrew Rosado (Sebastian River)
Opening round match to watch: Michael Metayer (North Miami) vs. Miguel Bonet (Suncoast)
Kabra says: Mendez and Dicks at the top of this bracket present an intriguing final should they both make it. Each is capable of winning this region. From the first look, the bracket does not lay out well for the four ranked wrestlers here and the unluck of the draw could keep a worthy wrestler home because of a ranked matchup in the blood round.
Kabra's Picks
1. #11 Judge DeYoung (Merritt Island)
2. #12 Luis Rosa (Archbishop McCarthy)
3. #13 Famous Nealy (Miramar)
4. #20 Julian Brady (Suncoast)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Kaden Wheeler (Sebastian River); Justin Rodriguez (Mater Academy)
Opening round match to watch: Gabriel Yuhas (Port St. Lucie) vs. Sam Smith (Rockledge)
Kabra says: Oh there are some interesting subplots here. DeYoung has beaten Rosa twice this year by the slimmest of margins (SV and 4-3) and Rosa is 4-0 against Nealy, beating him last weekend in the district final. But… Nealy has a 7-5 win over DeYoung and those two could face in the quarterfinals here. There are a few different ways to go here, but we’re picking DeYoung to even the series with Nealy and meet with Rosa in the final in what should be another close match that comes down to the end. But we could be completely wrong on that.
Kabra's Picks
1. #13 Jordan Pineda (Felix Varela)
2. #14 Deyian Bernot (Miramar)
3. #16 Kyle Mulley (Merritt Island)
4. #20 Lucas Boeker (Sebastian River)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Isaac Jacobs (American Heritage); William Bouffartiguez (McArthur)
Opening round match to watch: Travon Broughton (Miami Norland) vs. Jake Kriegsman (Satellite)
Kabra says: I had thought about taking the top three ranked wrestlers here, put their names in a hat and pulling out the order - because it might have the same probability as picking this one. There isn’t much that separates these guys, so (Cliche alert) whoever is most on their game this weekend will walk away with this one.
Kabra's Picks
1. #5 Armando Wisdom (American Heritage)
2. #10 Dylan Sweeney (Felix Varela)
3. #4 Keith Cole (Heritage)
4. #19 Alexander Harding (Miramar)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #16 Keanu Martin (Merritt Island); Octavius Mosley (Port St. Lucie)
Opening round match to watch: Martin vs. Maddox Buth (St. Thomas)
Kabra says: Usually when I get a hunch and go against my rankings, I don’t look so smart. I mean, there’s a reason I feel that Kabra Wrestling’s rankings are so well respected. But I can’t get past Wisdom coming in with a single loss and hyper-focused on keeping it that way. If Cole wins this, both he and my rankings will deserve an “I Proved Kabra Wrong” sticker. The bottom half of this bracket is dicey and the loser of the Sweeney-Martin quarterfinal could find a really tough path to Kissimmee.
Kabra's Picks
1. #5 Tre Driggett (Merritt Island)
2. #6 Gerson Alette (North Miami)
3. #11 Isaac Fayer (American Heritage)
4. #17 Stephan Perry (Heritage)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Jayden Rivas (Miramar); Sebastian Cordon-Cano (Suncoast)
Opening round match to watch: Dylan Ibanez (Archbishop McCarthy) vs. Noah Levy (Belen Jesuit)
Kabra says: Another potential toss-up final with two wrestlers who seem to be ahead of the field here, but nothing to distinguish them as being ahead of the other. The wrestler that gets to the other earlier should be the region champion here.
Kabra's Picks
1. #3 Kaleb Gabrielsen (Heritage)
2. #15 Adonis Severe (North Miami)
3. #11 Jovany Franklin (Miami Norland)
4. #18 Rafael Quintana (Mater Academy)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Carlos Almanza (Sebastian River); Tedrick Welch (Miramar)
Opening round match to watch: Quintana vs. Almanza
Kabra says: Gabrielsen definitely has separated himself from the field this season and is the safe favorite. With four ranked wrestlers spread among the four quadrants, it’s a solid pick that they all end up on the podium, but watch for some bracket busters here.
Kabra's Picks
1. #2 Ryan Beirne (Satellite)
2. #14 Jacob Pitcher (Merritt Island)
3. #17 David Torres (Belen Jesuit)
4. #20 Maximilian Munoz-lysius (Archbishop McCarthy)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #19 Terrence Joachim (Miramar); Daniel Halpern (Delray Beach Atlantic)
Opening round match to watch: Gary Bradley (Bayside) vs. Munoz-lysius
Kabra says: Beirne has picked up some big wins this season and looked more confident in his abilities as the season has grown on. He’s a big favorite here and it’s no surprise. The bottom half of the bracket is where the intrigue is here, with no less than five wrestlers having the ability to end up on the podium. We’re picking three of them for it.
Kabra's Picks
1. #6 John Williams (Fort Pierce Westwood)
2. #9 Matthew Rojas (Archbishop McCarthy)
3. #10 Jivari Milton (Miramar)
4. #13 Dominick Smith (Merritt Island)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #20 Jonathan Tumblin (Sebastian River); Jose Romano (Belen Jesuit)
Opening round match to watch: Derek Groves (St. Thomas) vs. Rubier Oliva (Felix Varela)
Kabra says: Williams comes into this the favorite, but has the harder path with both Milton and Smith in the top half of the bracket. We’re still picking him, even if we don’t know much about his successes this season. Side note, my brain kept trying to get me to type Milton’s name in at the top, I’m not sure if that’s just because I’m tired, or it was a sign. I just wanted to get that in writing in case it came true.
Kabra's Picks
1. #3 Maxinot Mondesir (Miramar)
2. #4 Harper Noel (Heritage)
3. #5 Kaleb Ivie (Merritt Island)
4. #6 Lucson Emile (Dillard)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #14 Isaac Stone (Port St. Lucie); #18 Delvin Martin (Miami Northwestern)
Opening round match to watch: William Crum (Okeechobee) vs. Phillip Goodrich (St. Thomas)
Kabra says: Four wrestlers in the top six! Crazy. And some of them have faced each other because they come from two districts. They’ll all get some better looks at each other this weekend.
Kabra's Picks
1. #11 Noel Guycen (Mater Academy)
2. #18 Nathan Greenfield (Merritt Island)
3. #20 Natrell Blocker (Miami Northwestern)
4. Michaelang Alvarez (Ronald Reagan)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Josiah Clark (Dillard); Wilson Saint-Fleur (Delray Beach Atlantic)
Opening round match to watch: Jacob Schooley (Rockledge) vs. Terrel Joachim (Miramar)
Kabra says: Heavyweights seem even harder this year to predict than others and while I went chalk with my rankings, this could look a variety of different ways when it’s all over.