KISSIMMEE - Day one at the FHSAA State boys and girls wrestling championships are underway and a handful of area wrestlers; top seeds in their respective weight classes, have moved the critical round two with a shot still at a state title chase on Saturday.
"Winning one on Thursday is important to get momentum for Friday and Saturday," said Middleburg coach Coll Robertson, who has a handful of boys and girls wrestlers with both Broncos' teams winning region titles in the past two weeks. "We want to get as many athletes to Friday's semifinal rounds. Then we can make or break a move to Saturday's championship rounds."
For Robertson Porter Loveland at 215 had yet to wrestler and was to face off with 14th ranked and was to face 14th ranked Ayden Bayar of Port Charlotte. At 157, Daniel Raines at 157, ranked fourth in 2A, defeated 11th ranked Bruno Reyes of Suncoast with a pin.
For Clay, Landon Martin at 190, Drew Holmquist at 165 and Calvyn St. Clair at 157 won their opening matches to advance. Martin, second ranked in 2A and a third place finisher last year, beat 14th ranked Micheal Reed of George Middleton High School and will face fifth ranked Benjamin Gordon of Heritage in his second match. St. Clair, fifth ranked in 2A, beat 10th-ranked Camari Riche of Heritage and was set to face third ranked Jaxson Arafas of Lake Gibson in his round two match. Holmquist, 11th ranked in 2A, got a late third period pin over 14th ranked Tyler Kelly of Deerfield Beach and moves to take on second ranked Evan Rowe of Braden River.
In Class 1A, region champions Bryce Fiore at 113 and Howard Hill at 150 advanced for St. Johns Country Day School. Top ranked Fiore pinned at :46 over 14th ranked Declyn Wilson of SLAM Academy and moves to face fourth ranked Andres Garcia of Cardinal Gibbons. Hill, fourth ranked in 1A, pinned 13th ranked Eli Smolanoff of Aubrey Rogers and will face seventh ranked Nolan West of Merritt Island.
In Class 3A, Oakleaf had Sebastian Bonachea at 138 and Connor Barnes at 126 move to second round championship matches. Bonachea ranked third in 3A, won 4-2 over seventh ranked Kaleb Williams of South Dade and will get 11th-ranked Angel Legrand of Cypress Creek HS. Barnes, sixth ranked, won by pin over 14th ranked Leonard Wilder of Ft PIerce Central and will face off with second ranked Dominic Rodriguez of Columbus High.
In the girls state championships, Middleburg has freshman Fallon Dames at 115 into round two with 135 Sarah Walsh winning her first round match. Dames, fourth ranked in girls 1A, beat 13th ranked Ke'Ala Lawrence of Martin County and will face third ranked Maya Alvarado of Freedom. Walsh, second ranked at 135 behind Oakleaf's Kailani Barrientos, beat 14th ranked Aava Barbareno of Riverview and was next up against third ranked Eylis Estes-Brinson of Miami Palmetto.
For Oakleaf, top seed Kailani Barrientos won her match at 135 with Zoe Goode winning at 145. Barrientos pinned 15th ranked Leaila Irizarry of North Fort Myers and will face fourth ranked Shamari Smith of South Dade. Goode, ranked eighth at 145, was down 8-3 late in her match with sixth ranked Nezaria Powell before getting a third period pin. Goode advances to face top ranked Ailee Briggs of Lemon Bay.
Fleming Island's Leilah Carter, ranked 12th, had a first ever win in her first round with a pin over sventh ranked Paola Blanco=Cruz of Olympic Heights and will advance to face second ranked Sophie Simons of Naples.
Wrestlers who lost in their round one matches will fall into the consolation rounds to wrestle back to at least third place finish in the Saturday championship rounds.
For Clay, Liam Soto at 106 and Jayshawn McLeod at 285 will wrestleback in their second matches.
For Middleburg, Chris McKeel at 144, Micah Thomas at 150, Jonathan Harp at 106, Nathan Harvey at 126 and Keensme Rosede at 190 will wrestleback.
For Orange Park, Elijah Grant at 132 lost his opening match and will wrestle back.
For the girls, Middleburg's Memphis Moses at 110 and Fleming Island's Leilah Carter at 125 will be in the wrestlebacks.