Fleming Island battles past tough Lincoln to win region duals title
BY BRANT PARSONS — No. 2 Fleming Island moved one step closer to its goal, winning a battle with Lincoln 47-12 to win the 2A-1 region duals title.
With all but one in the lineup wrestling up a weight class, the Golden Eagles were tested at times by the Trojans.
"We bumped everybody up," head coach PJ Cobbert said. "When you move up on a weight class, you just can't put guys away, you have to wear them down and they had to face some adversity."
After Vincent Crump opened the scoring with a win for Lincoln at 145 pounds, Kaden Schaefer gave Fleming the lead with a win by fall at 152.
Connor Edwards then tied the match up with a hard-earned decision win at 160 pounds to make it 6-6.
Fleming Island than put some distance between the two teams with five bonus point wins.
Christoper Chop (170), Ronan Bozeman (182), Joshua Sandoval (195), Walter Poe (220), and Jhoel Robinson (285) helped the Golden Eagles pull away.
Five of the final six matches become hard-earned decisions for the winner in each.
Joe Tucker battled to a 6-4 win for Lincoln at 106 pounds.
The Golden Eagles then won the next four matches - the first three by a combined score of 7-3.
Matthew Newman scored an escape in the third period for the difference in his 3-2 at 113 pounds. Shane Duhaylungsod earned a 3-0 shutout win at 120 pounds and Laird Duhaylungsod won 1-0 at 126.
Jayce Paridon finished the scoring for Fleming Island with a pin at 132 pounds before Zaire Fernanders-Jackson finished the dual off with a 5-1 win for Lincoln.
The Golden Eagles will face Merritt Island in the semifinals on Saturday morning with the winner of Lake Gibson-Charlotte potentially waiting in the finals.
"Saturday will take care of itself," Cobbert said. "You can't blink. Adveristy is going to come, you have to stay in position and understand what this program stands for and represent the brand that is our program."
Fleming Island 47, Lincoln 12
106: Joe Tucker (L) dec. Jordan Mukaddam (FI) 6-4; 113: Matthew Newman (FI) dec. Vaniel Caceres (L) 3-2; 120: Shane Duhaylungsod (FI) dec. Zakary Jurado (L) 3-0; 126: Laird Duhaylungsod (FI) dec. Jashawn Washington (L) 1-0; 132: Jayce Paridon (FI) p. David Lopeman (L) 1:09; 138: Zaire Fernanders-Jackson (L) dec. Cooper Beck (FI) 5-1; 145: Vincent Crump (L) dec. Dylan Beck (FI) 5-3; 152: Kaden Schaefer (FI) p. Wesley Smitha (L) 1:21; 160: Connor Edwards (L) dec. Matthew Kotler (FI) 6-4; 170: Christopher Chop (FI) tech. Israel Williams (L) 15-0; 182: Ronan Bozeman (FI) p. Calvin Edwards (L) 1:07; 195: Joshua Sandoval (FI) dec. Jakob Nowak (L) 7-0; 220: Walter Poe (FI) p. Kendrick Scott (L) 1:09; 285: Jhoel Robinson (FI) p. Ryder Luck (L) 1:38.
