KISSIMMEE - Fleming Island High 150 wrestler Laird Duhaylungsod did not have his brother Shane with him as a teammate, but the pair, who have competed side by side since their swim days with the Pace Piranhas, though taking separate paths of athletics, are intertwined with a mom and dad that simply ask that they give their best at whatever they do.

Laird Duhaylungsod, a senior, answered the lone bell on Friday and won his 150 pound weight class semifinal to advance into the Class 2A championship match on Saturday as the lone Clay County wrestler to get to that illustrious spot.
In the girls wrestling state hunt, Middleburg's two time 190 champion Cheyenne Cruce lost an overtime match in her semifinal to end her quest for a third straight state title.
Also for the girls, Oakleaf's No. 1 ranked Kailani Barrientos at 135 lost in her semifinal to No. 3 Emma Hoppe of Viera to put her in the consolation bracket for Saturday's double header for a second third place finish.
Duhaylungsod, 38-6 and ranked No. 2 by Kabra Wrestling, will face off with No. 1 ranked Somerset's Tristan Sainz, a junior, at 44-1 with a third place finish at the 2024 Knockout Christmas Invite in December as his lone blemish; a semifinal loss to a Tuttle, Oklahoma visitor to Florida wrestling.
Duhaylungsod, quiet, serious and extremely focused on his task at hand, has been machine like all season with little fanfare along the way despite an outstanding 38-6 season record.
Last year, Duhaylungsod, amidst much fanfare about a large Fleming Island contingency at state, proved mortal with a fifth place finish at 138, then some bumps and bruises as he embarked on 2025 with a third at Jensen Beach's Cradle Cancer Invite, a second and third at the Danny Byron double day invite in Orlando and even a second place finish as close as February 1 at the Flagler Rotary with a stunning 1-0 loss to 3A-Hagerty's Nikolas Blake, who was 30-1 at the time, but lost in the Class 3A semifinal to senior Landon Bates of Palm Harbor in overtime 12-9.
For the consolation rounds, where Clay County has a plethora of athletes vying for the very rugged third place finish amongst an erray of wrestling talent seething from championship round losses, Cruce's installation into a consolation bracket for a possible third place finish is one of the more unanticipated paths while Fleming Island's 285 Kevin Reyes, who was within a bracket of giants still remains a threat for a third place finish in the two sessions of wrestling for that coveted spot on Saturday.
From the consolation semifinal rounds, in Class 3A are, from Oakleaf, Bryant Taylor at 215 and Connor Barnes at 113.
In Class 2A consolation semifinals are Middleburg's Nathan Harvey at 113, Clay's 144 Brady Glavin, Middleburg's Wyatt Leduc and Clay's Drew Holmquist facing off in a 157 semifinal, Clay's Landon Martin at 175, Middleburg's Porter Loveland at 215 and Fleming Island's Kevin Reyes at 285 facing defending state champion Ryder Luck of Lincoln.