G1A-R4: Who qualified for state and how did I do on my picks
We’ll take a look at what happened today and then also see how my picks for the region went down. Some would say that my picks are so good they make you want to pretend that you made them yourself. I would say that hopefully my preview and picks brought some thought and insight into an exciting tournament.
If you want to look back on my picks, you can read them here if you are a Kabra+ member.
First: #6-Bryce Travers (Melbourne) p. #19-Rebecca Marin (Doral Academy) 3:26
Third: #18-Mackenzie Allcroft (Fort Pierce Central) dec. Jalia Allah (Treasure Coast) 7-3
What happened: Travers continued to wrestle well and won all four of her matches by fall to earn the region title.
How did I do? I picked three of the qualifiers - but I missed the semifinal win by Marin over Allcroft. My other miss was the fantastic performance by Allah to win three matches on the back and make the state tournament with a win over my pick for fourth.
First: #11-Myna Estrada (Ferguson) p. #12-Rebekkah Kinkade (South Dade) 3:37
Third: Sheyla Figueira (Key West) p. Taniayah Gosier (Dillard) 1:06
What happened: Estrada and Kinkade met in the finals for the second straight week and Estrada came out on top for the second time too, improving her record between the two to 2-1 over the last three weeks.
How did I do? I picked three of the four and had the final correct. Figueira finished one spot better than my prediction and Gosier was off my radar.
First: #2-I-Cart Galumette (North Miami) p. #19-Catalina Kenney (Viera) 1:00
Third: #1-Sofia Ferran (Mater Lakes) p. Eriesa Coney (Mater Academy) 0:53
What happened: Galumette handed Ferran her first loss of the season with a first-period pin in their semifinal match. The North Miami senior then finished the day with her fourth first-period pin in the final.
How did I do? I picked the semifinals wrong and that means I had the wrong champion, but I did have 3 of 4 correctly guessed for a Kissimmee trip.
First: #1-Analy Banuelos (Braddock) dec. #6-Brittney Vincens (Fort Pierce Central) 7-1
Third: #18-Isabella Garcia (Florida Christian) p. #19-Lana Loucks (Wellington) 0:45
What happened: Banuelos stayed undefeated on the season with a well-earned decision win in the final against Vincens.
How did I do? I was correct on three of my four picks, getting the final and fourth place right but Garcia punched her ticket from my wildcard list.
First: #5-Rachel Silva (Somerset Academy) dec. #12-Arianna Ruiz (Mater Lakes) 5-2
Third: #13-Isis Severe (North Miami) FF #11-Iliana Gracey (Western)
What happened: Silva built a 4-1 lead in the second period and then held steady through the end, winning her first region title after being the runner-up last season.
How did I do? I picked all four of the state qualifiers but Silva was the only one who finished in the same spot as my prognostications.
First: #1-Gabriela Caro (Stoneman Douglas) p. #17-Kathleen Fisher (South Dade) 3:18
Third: Alejandra Notni (Doral Academy) dec. Chloe Parets (Florida Christian) 4-3
What happened: Caro stayed unbeaten with a solid performance as the favorite and took home her second career region title.
How did I do? I picked Caro, but then anybody could have done that. I said the rest of the podium might be the toughest to pick in the region and I guess I wasn’t wrong, because I only picked one other state qualifier.
First: #6-Aurora Guadiana (Wellington) p. Alexa Paz (SLAM Miami) 4:53
Third: #11-Briana Visocky (South Fork) p. #12-Geraldine Honore (South Dade) 0:38
What happened: The favorite Guadiana wrestled well in the role and pinned her way to a region championship after placing second a season ago.
How did I do? One of my picks didn’t wrestle and the other fell in the blood round. I did pick the champ and had another qualifier. I don’t think anybody could have predicted Paz would earn a spot in the finals after finishing fourth in her district last week.
First: #1-Gaby Perez (Fort Pierce Central) p. #3-Lucy Maris (Satellite) 3:00
Third: Janice Quiroa (Mater Lakes) p. Kylie Mangum (Space Coast) 1:12
What happened: After a tight decision win in the district final a week ago, undefeated defending state champion kept control in this one and won another region title.
How did I do? I picked the finalists and champion with no problem, but the rest of this bracket proved to be a lot more difficult to get a grasp on with unranked wrestlers Quiroa and Mangum rising to the podium and earning a trip to Silver Spurs.
First: #1-Sofia Delgado (Coral Park) dec. #2-Ailee Briggs (Key West) 8-1
Third: Emily Jaspe (Mater Academy) p. #9-Emma Hoppe (Viera) 3:11
What happened: The top-ranked wrestler in the state comfortably took care of No. 2 in the final with an 8-1 win. Jaspe is the story of this bracket, battling Briggs tight in the semifinal and then finishing with two wins to finish third.
How did I do? It’s a theme by now, but I picked the finalists and winner correctly but couldn’t guess all four. Jaspe was a wildcard pick, so I have that going for me.
First: #5-Alena Rik (Mater Lakes) p. #6-Anisah Paz (South Dade) 4:39
Third: Eriesia Coney (Mater Academy) dec. #18-Valentina Mora (Miami Beach) 4-0
What happened: Rik won the second meeting of the season with Paz, leading 4-2 when she pinned the South Dade junior. Coney lost her first-round match and then won five straight matches to end the day, including a revenge win from the opening round in the blood round.
How did I do? I picked the finalists, and missed the rest of the podium. That’s the norm in this region it seems.
First: #1-Mya Bethel (North Miami) p. #11-Kha`liyah Delva (Centennial) 1:06
Third: #10-Vanessa Alexandre (Coral Springs) p. Mariah Addison (Miami Norland) 1:43
What happened: The defending state champion wasn’t on the mat much on Saturday, winning all four of her matches in the first period.
How did I do? I picked the top three placers correctly on the podium, even if I had the wrong school listed at first for Delva (which was wrong if you copied and pasted my predictions and pretended they were your own).
First: #5-Lainey Driggett (Merritt Island) dec. #17-Sofia Bentz (Wellington) 5-2
Third: #14-Alysha Josue (Fort Pierce Westwood) dec. Tanihya Wilson (Bayside) 7-1
What happened: Driggett gave up the opening two points in the final and that was it, shutting Bentz down the rest of the way and winning her first career region title with a 5-2 win.
How did I do? We had to wait a bit before we had me picking all four state qualifiers, but the only spot I was correct on was Driggett’s.
First: #4-Day`jah Clark (Miami Norland) p. #5-Quisiera Wilson (Lincoln Park Academy) 1:06
Third: #7-Shannon Briggs (Key West) p. Payton Moyer (Monarch) 1:18
What happened: Only one spot separates the finalists in the rankings, but Clark showed there’s a big gap between the two with a dominating win in the final.
How did I do? This is what a perfect prediction looks like - with my getting all four correct and in the right spot.
First: #3-Yoseline Perez (South Dade) dec. #2-Alyssa Nazario (Miami Beach) 7-6
Third: #10-Tessa Diaz (Doral Academy) p. #11-Nevaeh Robinson (Okeechobee) 3:57
What happened: Perez won the third meeting in as many weeks with Nazario after falling to her in the district final last week. Could a fourth meeting be in the works in Kissimmee?
How did I do? I picked all four on the podium correctly, but had the final reversed.
