DeLand makes historic mark for Bulldogs at state duals
BY BRANT PARSONS — No. 13 DeLand made school history for the second consecutive week, winning the school’s first-ever region duals title with a 48-23 win over No. 19 Hagerty in the 3A-1 final.
“Our team just does really well in duals,” head coach Chris Folsom said. “They got a lot of energy and feed off each other.”
The Bulldogs and Huskies battled tightly through the first half of the dual before DeLand ran away in the final seven bouts.
Deland jumped to a 9-0 lead after Mathias Franz (145) won by decision and Joshua Folsom (152) won by fall but Hagerty quickly bounced back to tie it.
Following Kamdon Harrison’s forfeit win, Connor Gilliam earned an exciting one-point win at 170 pounds to make the score 9-9.
After a forfeit win for DeLand’s Mason Perkins, Hagerty took its only lead of the dual behind Hunter Tate’s decision win at 195 pounds and Landon Revis’ pin at 220.
The Bulldogs then took over the dual, winning the next six bouts, five of them by fall.
Marion Smokes got it started with a pin at 285 pounds and then Edwin Alsina (106), Tyler Bracero (113), Phoenix Krauth (120), Grady Bryant (126) and Peyton Senez (132) put the dual away with wins.
“These guys get on a roll and it’s hard to stop them sometimes,” Folsom said. “We had some good matchups and a lot of switching stuff around that benefited us.”
Nikolas Blake finished the scoring in the match with a technical fall win at 138 pounds.
DeLand will now compete in its first state semifinals on Saturday against four-time state champion and this year’s favorite, South Dade.
“It will shake out how it shakes out but they’re excited about it,” Folsom said. “They don’t really fear anybody and they have a lot heart.”
DeLand 48, Hagerty 23
145: Mathias Franz (D) dec. Gavin Nelson (H) 3-2; 152: Joshua Folsom (D) p. Ryan Davis (H) 0:36; 160: Kamdon Harrison (H) by FF; 170: Connor Gilliam (H) dec. Zane Canada (D) 5-4; 182: Mason Perkins (D) by FF; 195: Hunter Tate (H) dec. Gavin Rodriguez-Cayro (D) 4-3; 220: Landon Revis (H) p. Owen York (D) 1:20; 285: Marion Smokes (D) p. Thad Elam (H) 0:23; 106: Edwin Alsina (D) p. Sophia Sciulli (H) 1:02; 113: Tyler Bracero (D) p. Alex Moonsummy (H) 1:31; 120: Phoenix Krauth (D) p. James Zena (H) 1:57; 126: Grady Bryant (D) dec. Benjamin Wolgamuth (H) 8-5; 132: Peyton Senez (D) p. Logan Acey-Kriegshauser (H) 0:58; 138: Nikolas Blake (H) tech. Kellen Chapman (D) 16-0.
