TALLAHASSEE – Ridgeview High senior Marcus Reid and junior Saeid Ejmali came home with region 3-2A titles to make it two-for-two for the former Orange Park High teammates as they both head a second time to the Florida state wrestling championships in Kissimmee on March 3-4.

Reid, at 120 pounds, and Ejmali, at 138 pounds, both were state qualifiers last year in Class 2A with Reid finishing third last year at 120 will return to better his mark as a top seed in the 2A brackets.

Ejmali, at 138, was a top seed at 132 last year and lost his first two matches.

Tallahassee Lincoln, 12th in 2A in 2016, won the team title with 163.5 points with Pace second at 112 and Tate (14th in 2A in 2016) third at 106.5. Middleburg (22nd in 2A in 2016) was top area finisher at seventh with 87.5 points with Ridgeview ninth at 80.5 with two champions and Orange Park 11th at 67.5.

The pair leads a contingency of area top four finishers including, from Orange Park, Nartorian Lee, third at 170; Reed Danielson, second at 182, and Tyler DeHart, third at 220, plus, from Middleburg, Tazz Hampton, fourth at 106; Trenton Carroll, fourth at 145; Bryan Heflin, fourth at 182, and Bailey Barnard, third at 285.

Lee is also a state meet returner with Reid and Ejmali.

Reid, who advanced to state last year with a third place region finish, beat Tate’s Alex Porter, fifth in 2A last year at 113, with a resounding 16-1 technical fall in his semifinal before beating Lincoln’s Michael Crowder 16-1 in the final.

“Marcus’s bracket will definitely be a challenge early on,” said Ridgeview coach Bryson Barker. “That being said his preparation and dedication to a healthy mind and body for this weekends state run will be his key to take care of his goal of becoming a state champion.”

Ejmali, region champion at 132 last year, beat Tate senior Kendall Townley via an 8-4 decision in the final after two pins and a 10-8 semifinal win to the match.

“Saeid will be tested early as well in this weekends tournament but we will take it one match at a time,” said Barker.

At 170, in a rematch of sorts between Lee and Creekside’s Brandon Dickman, Dickman, region runnerup at 152 last year, won by pin in 13 seconds to push Lee back to the third place finish.

“After a third loss to Dickman, Lee has a chip on his shoulder, so all those in his way at State better watch out because he wants another shot at him,” said Orange Park coach Justin Daniels.

Middleburg’s Dylan Hanna finished 1-2 with Lee beating Hanna in overtime 4-2 in the consolation semifinal. Lee was region runnerup last year to Lincoln’s Jayce Rudd, the 2016 state runnerup.

At 182, Danielson lost in the final to Leon’s Jonathan Grant by injury default. Grant was fourth at 220 in 2A in 2016.

“Reed has really surprised me, he has just gotten better and smarter as the year has continued,” said Daniels.

At 220, DeHart lost to region champion Josh Martin of Lincoln then battled to a 4-3 consolation semifinal win before dispatching of Coleman Young of Crestview 9-3 for third place.

“He is another one that has gotten so much better in his match strategy and will push everyone to deep waters,” said Daniels. “The third period is where he is best.”

At 106, Hampton, just a freshman, lost his opening match to eventual region champion and sixth in 2A at 106 last year Jacob Cochran of Tate, then battled back with a pin, a 13-4 major decision and a 12-6 to get to the consolation final before losing by pin in :42 to Lincoln sophomore Mark Munroe.

Orange Park freshman Cameron Broughton at 106 won his first then lost in the consolation semifinal to Munroe in what could have been two area wrestlers in the consolation final. Broughton eliminated Ridgeview freshman Gabriel Guzman in the consolation rounds.

At 113, Orange Park junior Frank Sawyer, a regional qualifier last year, lost his first match to Bartram Trail’s Nicholas Vugman, the eventual region runnerup, before losing his next match in consolations. Ridgeview’s Jonathan Kaylor went 1-2. Middleburg’s Logan Kline went 1-2.

At 120, Orange Park sophomore Dean Ganci was 0-2. Ganci was a region qualifier last year.

At 126, Ridgeview’s Tanner Belden, a regional qualifier last year, lost in the semifinal to region runnerup Kevin Green of Pace before losing in his consolation semifinal. Middleburg’s Chris Burch lost in his semifinal to eventual region champion Chase Curtis of Columbia, the 2A 120 champion last year.

At 132, Middleburg sophomore Bryce Williams went 0-2, Orange Park’s Robert McGlynn went 0-2 and Ridgeview’s Jacob McGowan, a freshman, went 2-2.

At 138, Orange Park’s Dasher St. Vilus, a region qualifier last year, went 0-2 with Middleburg’s Dustin Tollison finishing at 1-2.

At 145, Middleburg’s Carroll lost his semifinal by pin to region runnerup Bailey Howes of Niceville with Orange Park’s Abraham Sunworbah going 0-2. Ridgeview’s Malachi Martin, a freshman, finished 2-2.

At 152, Middleburg’s Joe Manfredi finished 1-2, Orange Park’s Jacob Campbell finished 1-2 and Ridgeview’s Reed Propes going 2-2.

At 160, Middleburg’s Cody Eastwood, a region qualifier last year at 152, finished 3-2.

At 182, Middleburg’s Bryan Heflin, a region qualifier last year, won his first match but lost to Leon region champion Jonathan Grant, the defending region champ at 220 last year, to drop into consolations.

At 195, Noah St. Vilus, of Orange Park, went 1-2.

At 285, Barnard completed a return to wrestling with a state meet visit with his third place win over Pace’s Murphy Bennett. Barnard lost a 4-2 semifinal decision to region champion Joseph Pearson of Fort Walton Beach. Ridgeview’s Kenneth Tresvant lost his first but finished 2-2.