Robinson charges to first district crown since 2017| Wednesday recap
February 20, 2025
BY BRANT PARSONS — Robinson’s wrestlers were challenged all season and it got them ready to perform when they need to most as the Knights won the 1A-10 district title, the first for the school since 2017.
“I believe being battle tested working up to the state series, the team has been gaining experience and adjusting,” Robinson coach Thomas Montero said. “The guys were physically and mentally ready. The whole team stepped up here and we had some young guys getting us some bonus points.”
Robinson advanced nine wrestlers to the finals and had six individual champions.
Gemarri Daniel (106), Mason McLemore (113), Daniel Ellis (138), Justin Tudor (157), Arron McCarty (190), and Tyler Simms (215) all won district titles for Robinson. Benjamin Gingerella (120), Liam Dobbins (144), and Blair Keats (165) also reached the finals for the Knights.
“Gemarri, Mason, Justin, and Arron all earned big bonus points in the finals,” Montero said. “And Daniel and Tyler stood out with big wins.”
Other district champions were King’s Rakiye Williams (120), Berkeley Prep’s Isfan Khodiev (126) and Nate Lovelace (285), Clearwater Central Catholic’s Viktor Swain (132), Gavin Nolan (150), and Sebastian Hernandez (165), Chamberlain’s Jose Carrasquillo (144), and Jefferson’s Angel Gonzalez (175).
Williams’ district title was the first in over a decade for King.
Eight champions power Hagerty to title
Hagerty continued their strong season with a big performance in the 3A-3 district tourney and earned the team title.
“They trusted their training and their coaches,” Hagerty coach Scotty Diaz said. “They showed up and had fun.”
The Huskies had eight individual champions that helped push Hagerty to 273.5 points, 51 more than Timber Creek.
Chase Wolgamuth (106), Hunter Jessee (126), Ben Wolgamuth (144), Nikolas Blake (150), Aiden Wood (165), Gavin Nelson (175), Thomas Thorne (190), and Jude DiCicco (215) all secured district titles.
“That was a big win for Gavin especially considering there are some tough kids in his weight in the region,” Diaz said.
Nelson, who has over 100 career wins, qualified for his first region tournament.
“He is a great kid and has worked hard. I’m glad it’s finally paying off for him,” Diaz said.
Timber Creek had three district champions. Tiago Neves (120), Ozy Aquino (138), and Juan Viera (157) stood atop the podium for the Wovles.
Oviedo’s Josh Sabbia (113) and Micah Thorpe (285) and Lake Brantley’s Dario Duany (132) also won district titles.
Somerset picks up third straight district title
Somerset placed 13 wrestlers in the finals on Thursday on its way to a 2A-16 district title, but the Panthers felt they left some wins on the table.
“The team was not overwhelmingly happy about our performance,” Somerset coach Joe Blasucci said. “Some had great tournaments, others did not achieve their goals. They are anxious to preform better next week and maybe avenging some of this week's results.”
Somerset had seven champions with Carlos Sainz (126), Tristan Sainz (150), Eric Hodge (157), Bluny Davilma (165), Michael Sainz (175), Mateo Martinez (190), and Abdur Bey (285).
“Abdur Bey has really figured it out in the last month,” Blasucci said. “He has literally been dominating his opponents. Last year, he lost a lot of weight and was undersized at about 215 pounds. He has put on 50 pounds of strength and size and is much more aggressive.”
Other district champions were Miramar’s Dully Brutus (132) and Famous Nealy (138), Mater Academy’s Gary Mendez (106), Michael Maisonet (113), and Lucas Barrios (120), Felix Varela’s Jordan Pineda (144), and North Miami’s Ndidi Obi (215).
Anclote feasts on district, completes season double
Elijah Willis and Joel Vences came up big for Anclote on Thursday to win the 1A-9 district title. It was the second team title for the Sharks in the last three seasons.
With a razor thin battle going with Dunedin, Willis won a head-to-head battle between both teams at 190 pounds to bring Anclote within two points.
“Elijah has been traning hard and we have been able to count on him stepping up when needed,” Anclote coach Russell Schenk said.
With the Sharks trailing 179-177 entering the last match on the day, first-year wrestler Vences found himself down 5-3 heading into the third period of the 285-pound final.
“Joel then stepped up and caught his opponent by countering his switch attempt and finished the mat with a pin,” Schenk said.
Vences win secured the team title as Anclote won the team battle183-179.
Adin DeAndrade (106) and Julian Bell (150) also won individual titles for the Sharks.
Runner-up Dunedin earned district wins from Michael Rodriguez (120) and Giovanni Perez (144).
Other district champions included Hudson’s Domenic Carpio (113), Jordan Anderson (126), Gabriel Carpio (150), and Jacob Cornelius (175), Tarpon Springs’ Gabriel Dejesus (132) and Daniel Suarez (215), and Admiral Farragut’s Thiago Vianna (157) and Davyd Kolesnykov (165).
Columbus secures three-peat with big performance
Columbus wrestler won eight individual district titles on Thursday while powering the Explorers to a resounding win in 3A-15.
Hunter Torres (113), Victor Zanolini (120), Rocco Ruiz (126), Tomas Campian (138), Zachary Ruiz (150), Nicholas Velazco (165), Tedrick Lee (190, and Apollo Benito (215) all won district titles for Columbus.
The Explorers advanced 12 of their 13 wrestlers to the region tournament.
Also winning individual titles were Goleman’s Adrian Jimenez (106) and Brando Gudino (175), Doral Academy’s Mateus Sgai (132) and Jose Gutierrez (157), Miami Beach’s Lian Castro (144), and Dr. Krop’s Jaelen Smith (285).
Weeki Wachee stings field for third-straight title
Five district champions led Weeki Wachee to the 1A-6 team title on Thursday.
Nick Guy (113), Levi Chancey (138), Ricky Bowermaster (144), Diego Maysonet (157), and Daniel Young (285) led the Hornets to a 231.5-220 win over Hernando.
The Leopards got individual titles from Cael Helm (132), Noah Leota (150), Jeremiah Chavis (190), and Kian Blyss (215).
Other champions in 1A-6 were Nature Coast’s Zackary Myers (106), Bishop Moore’s Joseph Romano (120) and Angel Prieto (165), and The Villages’ Devinn Dunn (126) and Johnathan Clohecy (175).
Click here for complete results from 1A-6 (PDF)
Depth pushes Pace to 2A-1 title
Of the 13 wrestlers that Pace brought to its district tournament, 12 of them placed third or higher and led that Patriots to the team title in 2A-1, the first district championship for them since 2020.
Senior Maeson Otwell improved to 42-0 on the season and won the district title at 144 pounds. Otwell, who placed eighth in state as a sophomore, missed all of last season.
Gulf Breeze finished in second place, 26.5 points behind Pace.
The Dolphins brought 10 wrestlers with six of them winning individual titles.
Ryder Cohen (106), Garrett Ferguson (113), Gavin Samons (120), Keagan Deeds (126), Leyton Collazo (132), and Gavin Cohen (150) all won district title for Gulf Breeze.
Fort Walton Beach had three district champions in its third-place finish as Landon Burbidge (157), Matthew Sinclair (190), Rome Kendrick (215) stood atop the podium.
Also winning district titles on Wednesday were Arnold’s David Crilly (138), Niceville’s Malachi Lewis (165) and James Optiz (175), and Mosley’s Logan McAlister (285).
Six champions power Springstead to win
Springstead had six individual champions and outscored runner-up River Ridge 233-206 on Wednesday to win the 2A-5 district title.
Giovani DeLape (126), Evan Bozek (144), Daniel Quinones (157), Aden Juan (165), Darrius Rodick (175), and Kaleb Johns (215) all won district title for the Eagles.
River Ridge collected four individual trophies with Kevin Hannigan (113), Ryan St. Denis (120), Jayden Frey (132), and Dawson Mann (150) placing first.
Other district champions were Gulf’s Jayden Collier (106) and Blake Flood (190), and Tavares’ Benjamin Abeele (138) and Ari Bentley (285).
Lemon Bay extends district title streak to nine
Lemon Bay advanced 12 of its 14 wrestlers to the region round and won the 1A-11 district title. The Manta Rays’ ninth straight district crown.
The performance was also a triumph for the Lemon Bay underclassmen, who accounted for 11 of the Manta Ray wrestlers.
“Great seeing our young group of hard-working kids start seeing the fruits of their labor yesterday,” Lemon Bay coach Jeff Ragan said.
James Bauer (106), Logan Dean (113), Hunter Barrettsmith (120), and Jack Oliver (126) won individual titles for Lemon Bay.
“I was very proud of our eight kids who made the finals and although we didn’t win all our finals matches, we learned a lot of some of our losses and are getting ready to show even better next weekend at regionals,” Ragan said.
Oliver’s 1-0 win in the final was over Bayshore’s top-ranked Broc Dahlin.
Boca Ciega finished in second place and qualified all 11 wrestlers to next weekend’s region tournament.
Other individual district champions were Bayshore’s Raymond Rivera-Colon (132), Noah McCarthy (150), and Jayden Shannon (285), Bradenton Christian’s Carter Wright (138), Sarasota Military Academy’s Jagston Shepard (144) and Dylan Ferguson (157), Lakewood’s Damari Green (165) and Kaleb Mathis (190), Booker’s Roderick Schwartz (175), and Cardinal Mooney Catholic’s Blake Rouland (215).
Hornets continue district reign with sixth straight win
Yulee placed 10 wrestlers in the finals and won another 1A-3 district title.
Landon Higginbotham (120), Michael McNair (165), Luke Gray (190), Phoenix Yerka (215), and Cayden Ricks (285) all won titles for the Hornets, who outscored runner-up Baker County by 23 points.
Baker County finished with four individual champions as Jonathon Walker (132), Jareb Lauramore (144), Taz Kinghorn (150), and Tommy Rollins (175) all finished atop the podium.
Other district champions in 1A-3 were Paxon’s Tripp Gruess (106), Stanton Prep’s James Leiby (113) and Leonardo Torres (126), and Fernandina Beach’s Cael Kubatzke (138) and Hassan Hlodalla (157).
Crystal River sails to first district win since 2019
For its first district title win in six years, Crystal River did it in style, edging Pedro Menendez 235-228 in the 1A-5 district team race.
Scott Knight (113) and Austin Cole (215) won individual titles for the Pirates, who advanced 12 wrestlers to next weekend’s region tournament.
Pedro Menendez’ Nikolas Thorn (126), Liam Molloy (157), Desmond Valdes (175), and Maddoxx Lehman (190) won titles for the runners-up.
Also winning district crowns were Citrus’ Isaac Reynolds (106), Jackson Bennett (132), and Logan Pericht (165), Lake Weir’s Louden Grooms (120), Palatka’s Blake Young (138), Dunnellon’s Samuel Whitten (144) and William Richardson (285), and Florida School for the Deaf/Blind’s Daniel Healy (150).
Episcopal soars to mountaintop of 1A-4
Episcopal of Jacksonville felt this was a season that could be big before the year began. With a lot of high-experienced seniors and rising young talent, all of the pieces were there.
On Wednesday, Episcopal proved they were right to excited as the Eagles won the 1A-4 district team title.
Mikah Ikeda (132), Levi Ritter (144), Turner Glenn (150), and Christian McGarity (190) led the way with individual district title wins.
Other champions included Bolles’ Andrew Makeev (106) and Brett Bearden (215), Bishop Kenny’s Lance Grayson (113), Dylan Lunsford (126), and Liam Bradley (175), Providence’s Easton Tapley (120) and Camden Garcia (157), Union County’s Gavin Sparkman (138) and Wyatt Elixson (165), and Wolfson’s Keith Forbes (285).
Click here for complete results from 1A-4 (PDF)
On Today’s Schedule
3A-2: at Buchholz, 12 p.m.
3A-6: at Land O’ Lakes
3A-11: at Dwyer
3A-12: at Olympic Heights, 12:30 p.m.
3A-16: at Homestead, 12 p.m.
2A-3: at Westside, 2:30 p.m.
2A-4: at New Smyrna Beach
2A-8: at Lyman, 3:30 p.m.
2A-9: at Parrish, 3:30 p.m.
2A-10: at Hollins, 1:30 p.m.
2A-14: at Jensen Beach, 5 p.m.
2A-15: at Archbishop McCarthy, 4 p.m.
1A-1: at Wewahitchka, 3:30 p.m.
1A-7: at Avon Park, 3 p.m.
1A-8: at Merritt Island, 2:30 p.m.
1A-14: at Cardinal Gibbons, 5 p.m.
1A-16: at Coral Shores, 4:30 p.m.
Brant Parsons is the founder and executive editor of Kabra Wrestling. He has been covering high school wrestling in Florida since 2004. He can be reached at brant@kabrawrestling.com.
