Vote for the Reader’s Choice Boys Wrestler of the Week
We had so many nominations, that we broke the vote up by classification so we could have everyone listed who was nominated. Please vote for your choices.
All nominations and reason for nomination supplied by you.
Class 1A
Jordan Anderson (Hudson): Jordan has had a solid season, the JR got 4th in regionals with a terrific win in the blood round. Not only is he a First time state placer, but he proved Kabra wrong!!! We are super excited for Jordan, we know he can put on a Show in Kissimmee.
David Drake (Bay): Won the 1A Region 1 132lbs Title with 7 of Kabra’s Top 20 wrestlers in the bracket. Pinned his way to the finals and where he won by a score of 9-5.
Michael Kersey (First Baptist): Regional Champ. Beat the #2 in the finals
Rafael Lopez (Somerset): An amazing young man. Helps his teammates succeed anyway he can. Pinned his way into the regional finals. A senior chasing his dream to the big show.
Wilberto Luna (Brooksville Central): Went the distance with the number 1 ranked wrestler in 150 as a freshman
Austin McKinney (Suwannee): 150lb Champion in class 1a region 1 pinning all his opponents. Austin is a three time State placer and a great example of a team Captain leading by example.
Peter Mocco (Coral Springs Charter School): As an 8th grader Peter won the very tough 190lb weight class in Class 1A R4 defeating 2 top 10 ranked wrestlers.
Mikel Pierce Walker (Jensen Beach): Mikel beat the #7 , #8 ,and the #4 ranked kids on his way to winning the 1a region 4 championship
Logan Pugh (Yulee): Logan punched his ticket to states. After a disappointing loss in the blood round last year. He had a big quarterfinal upset win to advance to the regionals semifinals which he has never done. Came out of a very tough and highly competitive region finishing 4th.
Samir Redden (Booker): Cuz he is the goat
Auston Ryals (Wakulla): Ryals had only wrestled a single month this season before postseason. He went into postseason without being mentioned in any previews or rankings and he did his thing. In a weight class where the 5th ranked kid in the state (2nd in the region) didnt make state, unranked Ryals did and he took some ranked kids down in the process including people who beat the 5th ranked wrestler who was very highly touted heading into regionals. Ryals would end up getting 4th at regionals and qualifying for state despite dealing with a dislocated hip ALL season that no one even expected him to return from. You don’t get a story better than that one man.
Bruce Stone (Bell Creek): First boys state qualifiers in school history. 6th grader.
Curtis Tyler (Zephyrhills Christian): Curtis "Beefy" Tyler went 4-0 with 3 pins in the first period to win the 1A R3 165 pound title. Also leading his team to a 1A R3 team title and gaining his 100th career win in the process.
Class 2A
Ryan Beirne (Satellite): 2a district 13 and region 4 Champion. 2x All american Senior heading to Duke University for Division 1 wrestling.
Duly Brutus (Miramar): Duly finished won both his district and regional titles all matches by pinfall and only gave up 2 points all tournament.
Jacob Bucci (Clay): Jacob beat the #6 guy in his weight 7-0 in the regional semifinals and majored the #10 guy in the regional finals while only allowing 1 point all weekend
Gavin Fisher (Middleburg): Gavin bonus pointed his way to his first regional title of his career. He improved his freshman record to 58-2, became my first boys regional champion(by technicality since he wrestled his finals match before Leduc and Cody). He has consistently moved up in the rankings from being 16th in the beginning to being 4th now he has consistently proved the ranking wrong only losing 2 match’s as a freshman currently holding a 58-2 record
Landon Holley (Wesley Chapel): Landen lost to his opponent in the finals last week at districts, the next week landen wrestled him for 3rd and 4th and came out with the win. during all of this he proved kabra wrong and got third at regions.
Isaac Jacobs (American Heritage): Isaac Jacobs finished 3rd at 2A District 15, went into the 2A 4 region unranked and finished 3rd to qualify for his first state tournament.
Gregory Mendez (Mater Academy): 3x District champion, 3x Regional champion (First in School History), 2x State Placer (8th), 175 Career Wins, 3.8 GPA
Jivari Milton (Miramar): Helped lead the Patriots to a regional runner-up team finish. Winning back-to-back UTB, riding out each opponent to reach the final of the 190lbs 2A-4 bracket. Last week Milton placed second in the district. Winning the regional title this weekend and qualifying for his first state tournament.
Husam Mustafa (Lake Wales): I’ve seen him from off season grinding and then to see how much improvement he has gained to get to states this year I think this stud deserves to be a nomination for sure towards wrestler of the week.
Ryan Phillips (Winter Springs): Ryan Phillips won his 2nd career 2a Region 2 title this past weekend at Brandon High School. He did so by avenging an earlier loss to #1 Fretwell and then defeated #3 Marinis in the final.
Gavin Pozzie (Parrish): Knocked off 3 ranked wrestlers in a row at regionals to punch his ticket to the regionals finals and his first time qualifying for the state championship.
Luis Rosa (Archbishop McCarthy): Luis Rosa not only won districts in a dominating factor, but this week he continued his winning streak by taking 1st place at 2A-4 138 div. Luis also demonstrated the highest values of sportsmanship. Not only by his performance but his a positive attitude and demeanor which won over the crowd who were observed cheering him on and receiving a standing ovation upon his victory.
Matthew Schuler (Charlotte): Matthew is respectful, dedicated and one of the hardest working wrestlers in the room, all while maintaining one of the highest GPA's in the school and ranked #1 in his class. He is only in his 2nd year of wrestling and went over the 100 Wins mark in the quarter Finals of this week's 2AR3 Regional Championship on his way to Winning the Regional Title. In the 2 years of Varsity Wrestling, he has accomplished 2x Captain Archer Champion, 2x District Champion, 1x Regional Runner, 1x Regional Champion, 2023 State Placer - 6th. If you were to talk to this young man, he will tell you that wrestling is very important to him but knowing that Sportsmanship is of the Upmost importance.
Dylan Sweeney (Felix Varela): regionals final match and overall performance
Andrew Yeats (Mosley): Drew is one of our Senior Captains. He is a 3rd years wrestler and a football player. He took gold at both our District championship and Regionals for 165lbs. Drew maintains a 4.0 gpa and is always a leader.
Class 3A
Evan Bolick (Lakewood Ranch): Lone survivor. Evan was the only wrestler from Lakewood Ranch high school to make it to states. Evan has always been the true under dog. He never gets any respect. He works hard and has went from a one move wrestler to a #6 ranked wrestler.
Jabore Brown (Treasure Coast): One of the hardest working Wrestler I know and inspires me to become better
Keegan Clark (Timber Creek): Pulled off the biggest upset in Region 1 3a in the bloodround to go to states
Jesten Conty (Orlando Freedom): He won the 3A-R3 without giving up a single point.
Jayden Fierro (Durant): Jayden is a sophomore 2yr wrestler. Even tho he doesn’t win much and is still new to wrestling, he’s an amazing friend/teammate. He’s there to help coach, and always in his teammates corners when needed. Jayden never gives up and is determined to make it to states next year!
Colton Leavell (Creekside): Colton Leavell won Region 1, 165 weight class. He did not have 1 point scored against him all tournament.
Cavarius Liddie (Buchholz): Has pinned every wrestler in 3A that’s ranked at 144 some multiple times and just walked his way through regionals
Aidan Madden (Fort Pierce Central): awesome way to wrestle through 2 injuries and still get first in the region
Bradley Meir (Mandarin): He beat the 6th ranked wrestler in 3a and also this was his first trip to regionals and mandarin has not had a state qualifier in a while.
Timmy Peoples (George Jenkins): Timmy gets to boast that he “Proved Kabra Wrong”. Predicted to take 3rd place in 3a Region 2 190lb weight class, Timmy beat both top 5 ranked wrestlers predicted to finish ahead of him to capture the Region Crown!
Josh Sabbia (Oviedo): Josh brought home Oviedo high schools first individual region title in five years while not giving up any points along the way at the 113 weight class in Region 1 classification 3A.
James Singer (Bloomingdale): He steam rolled his way through the 144 bracket and proved he can hang by dominating number 2 Landon bates upsetting and proving kabra wrong and winning regionals by a ranked quick fall.
Girls
Aurora Guadiana Wellington: She is small but mighty, at only 4'10 she's wrestled many taller and larger opponents. This will be her 3rd and final time placing for state. In September she suffered a terrible ankle sprain and pushed through this season only losing once. This being her last year she deserves to win. She has pushed herself and her teammates through this season to win multiple titles. She even was nominated and won athlete of the week for the Palm Beach Post the first week of this year. During her interview she talked about the importance of women in the sport of wrestling instead of making it about herself. Needless to say I'm so proud of my girl. I've enjoyed every moment!
Emma Hoppe (Viera): Emma deserves to be wrestler of the week, because of her team oriented mindset and constant hard work. As a team captain she continually supports her teammates and motivates them to unlock their full potential, her determination shows in her district and regional titles.
Miabella Lopez (Orlando Freedom) Miabella is such a hard and dedicated worker. She never misses practices. She has fought back from what should have been a season ending injury to make it to state and make an impressive run for the podium.
Lainey Driggett (Merritt Island): Lainey has overcome many obstacles this season on the mat and off the mat. She suffered a loss at districts but didn’t let that keep her down at regionals. She is now a 2x Regional Champion and headed to her last opportunity at State.
