Tampa Jesuit advances past Charlotte; Fleming Island, Lake Gibson, Merritt Island advance

BY BRANT PARSONS — The battle between the top two teams in Kabra Wrestling's Class 2A Team Dual Rankings didn't disappoint on Friday.

No. 1 Tampa Jesuit jumped out to a big early lead and then won some key matches down the stretch to defeat No. 2 Charlotte 40-30 in the 2A-3 region final at the FHSAA State Duals Tournament at Kissimmee Osceola High School.

The Tigers scored the first 19 points of the match with Braden Basile (pin at 132), Tom Crook (pin at 138), Jack Crook (major decision at 145), and Gavin Young (decision at 160).

After Isaac Schaeffer won by a pin at 170 pound for Charlotte, Josiah Jenkins (182) and Sergio Desiante (195) built the lead to 31-6 with two more pins.

"When you're giving up weight classes, you've got to try to build momentum and maximize when you can," Tampa Jesuit coach Sal Basile said.

The Tarpons then began a comeback, scoring 18 straight points with Nathaniel Box (pin at 220); Biaggio Frattarelli (forfeit at 285), and Camren French (pin at 106) heating up the intensity of the dual.

With the score at 31-24, Jesuit then put away the dual by winning three of the last four bouts by decision.

Winning for the Tigers was Roman Lermer (113), Danny Vargas (120), and Nathan McGill (132).

Andrew Austin scored a pin for Charlotte at 126 pounds.

"They're a quality team, they wrestled well and they're tough," Basile said. "We knew it was going to be a tight dual, we just had to have one more point."

Jesuit will battle No. 5 Fleming Island in the Class 2A semifinals on Saturday morning.

The Golden Eagles defeated No. 13 New Smyrna Beach 64-9 to win the 2A-1 region title. It’s the fifth region duals title for Fleming Island, who has won its region each year the state duals have been contested.

Fleming Island built out a 37-0 lead and won 12 of the 14 bouts and all but one of the contested matches.

"This is a young team with a lot of freshman in the lineup," Cobbert said. "They're already ahead of the game and they'll be ready to go tomorrow."

"We just have to hope the young boys embrace the moment."

Three-time state duals champion Lake Gibson had an easy first day, beating River Ridge 64-15

The Braves won four of the seven matches contested as the Royal Knights were shorthanded due to injuries and COVID.

Colt Brown (106), Hayden Whidden (132), Connor Hackett (195) and Tristan Vann (220) all won for the Braves.

River Ridge’s three winners were Dominick Smith (120), Yianni Marinis (126), and Nicklaus Martin (285).

No. 3 Lake Gibson will face No. 9 Merritt Island in the other Class 2A semifinal tomorrow.

The Mustangs won their school’s first-ever region duals title with a commanding 58-15 win over No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas.

"I told the kids that we didn't need any miracles, you just had to exactly what we knew we could do and they did it," Merritt Island coach Graham Smith said.

Judge DeYoung (138) and Jacob Pitcher (145) started the afternoon off right for the Mustangs with major decisions in their bouts.

Ethan Wigutow then cut the Merritt Island lead to 8-6 with a pinfall at 152 pounds, but the Mustangs would run off five straight wins to pull away.

Dylan Quiroga (major decision at 160), Seven Tornga (pin at 170), Nick Lesch (pin at 182), Kaleb Ivie (pin at 195), and Bobby Ives (pin at 220) picked up wins for the Mustangs.

In total, Merritt Island won 11 of the 14 matches.

Also adding on points for the Mustangs was Kaden Barrial (106), Kyle Mulley (120), Jeremiah Johnson (126), and Eddie Sears (132).

Riccardi Joseph (285) and Christian Kunkes (113) each won for the Raiders.

“There are no superstars on this team, there's just a bunch of kids who work really hard and support each other,” Smith said. “The kids worked hard to get here and you need to enjoy when you do.”

Box scores

Fleming Island 64, New Smyrna Beach 9

106: Shane Duhaylungsod (FI) p. Richard Crunkilton (NSB) 4:00; 113: Jayce Paridon (FI) p. Beau Laye (NSB) 0:56; 120: Laird Duhaylungsod (FI) dec. Jonathon Bruner (NSB) 3-0; 126: Jamey Bruner (NSB) by FF; 132: Joshua Mukaddam (FI) p. Simjay Engberg (NSB) 3:25; 138: Kaden Schaefer (FI) maj. Jace Engberg (NSB) 12-3; 145: Matthew Kotler (FI) p. Justis Chandler (NSB) 1:51; 152: Christopher Chop (FI) dec. Hunter Childress (NSB) 6-0; 160: Ronan Bozeman (FI) d. Thomas Evans (NSB) ID; 170: Joshua Sandoval (FI) by FF; 182: Jhoel Robinson (FI) p. Sawyer Vanrider (NSB) 1:36; 195: Walter Poe (FI) by FF; 220: Austin Mitchum (NSB) dec. Ladarius Jackson (FI) 6-4; 285: Ethan Hoffstetter (FI) p. Cole Billings (NSB) 5:21.

Tampa Jesuit 40, Charlotte 30

106: Camren French (C) p. Xavier Albo (TJ) 0:38; 113: Roman Lermer (TJ) dec. Kaiden Ballinger (C) 7-0; 120: Danny Vargas (TJ) dec. Patrick Nolan (C) 2-1; 126: Andrew Austin (C) p. Jayden Bowles (TJ) 2:45; 132: Nathan McGill (TJ) dec. Derek Paull (C) 5-2; 138: Braden Basile (TJ) p. Luke Davis (C) 4:33; 145: Tom Crook (TJ) p. Garrett Luce (C) 0:56; 152: Jack Crook (TJ) maj. Isaac Church (C) 11-3; 160: Gavin Young (TJ) dec. James Baltutis (C) 5-3; 170: Isaac Schaeffer (C) p. Daniel Ray (TJ) 2:28; 182: Josiah Jenkins (TJ) p. Jett McCauley (C) 0:36; 195: Sergio Desiante (TJ) p. Cael Newton (C) 2:38; 220: Nathaniel Box (C) p. Julian Alonso (TJ) 1:23; 285: Biaggio Frattarelli (C) by FF.

Lake Gibson 64, River Ridge 15

106: Colt Brown (LG) p. Matthew Bell (RR) 1:31; 113: Elijah Lowe (LG) by FF; 120: Dominick Smith (RR) dec. Gaetano Tedesco (LG) 9-4; 126: Yianni Marinis (RR) p. Rashon Veasy (LG) 2:37; 132: Hayden Whidden (LG) maj. Austin Revell (RR) 17-5; 138: Alex Walker (LG) by FF; 145: Blake Walker (LG) by FF; 152: Nytravious Walker (LG) by FF; 160: Brendon Abdon (LG) by FF; 170: Jace Brownlow (LG) by FF; 182: Jayvien Haynes (LG) by FF; 195: Connor Hackett (LG) p. John Finch (RR) 1:03; 220: Tristan Vann (LG) p. Ethan Kent (RR) 1:35; 285: Nicklaus Martin (RR) p. Grant Gunder (LG) 3:21.

Merritt Island 58, St. Thomas Aquinas 15

138: Judge DeYoung (MI) maj. Maddox Bluth (STA) 11-1; 145: Jacob Pitcher (MI) maj. Jake Kavanaugh (STA) 14-4; 152: Ethan Wigutow (STA) p. Kurtis Laite (MI) 1:14; 160: Dylan Quiroga (MI) maj. Peter O`Neil (STA) 10-0; 170: Seven Tornga (MI) p. Colin Gilbert (STA) 1:54; 182: Nick Lesch (MI) p. Nicolas Rodriguez (STA) 2:31; 195: Kaleb Ivie (MI) p. Derek Groves (STA) 3:08; 220: Bobby Ives (MI) p. Hayden Wallace (STA) 1:14; 285: Riccardi Joseph (STA) p. Gabe Arnold (MI) 1:03; 106: Kaden Barrial (MI) p. Nicholas Salzitti (STA) 1:15; 113: Christian Kunkes (STA) dec. Dylan Gill (MI) 4-3; 120: Kyle Mulley (MI) p. Marco Ristaaino (STA) 5:25; 126: Jeremiah Johnson (MI) maj. Michael Szymanik (STA) 12-4; 132: Eddie Sears (MI) p. Brock Coburn (STA) 1:56.