MATANZAS - Fleming Island High's wrestling team is putting a big target on their January 28 dual match with county rival Clay High and Saturday's dominant performance at the St. Johns River Athletic Conference wrestling championships was step three.

“We knew going in we wanted to have a strong showing against a bunch of matches in a short period of time,” said Fleming Island coach P.J. Cobbert. “We've been hitting some pretty tough tournaments with Lyman and Osceola the past three weeks and most of the teams at Matanzas would be Class 2A teams. We wanted to stay sharp against every team, minimize mistakes and improve technique where we could.”

The Fleming Island team took the challenge from their coach and provided an eight wins in eight matches effort with just three individual losses and just one team above 20 points.

“We were pleased with what the team did,” said Cobbert. “There were some matches that got a little dicey because now I think teams bring their best efforts against us to be able to knock us down, but the experience we had in big matches came through despite some close calls.”

Fleming Island defeat teams from Orange Park (46-15), Middleburg (61-6), St. Augustine (62-12), Palatka (63-12), Nease (55-18), Matanzas (54-12), Bartram Trail (62-18) and Pedro Menendez (60-24) with losses to freshman Jacob Sandoval against Orange Park High state placer Marcus Reid and sophomore Gabe Lear to Orange Park's Nartorian Lee and Menendez High's Max Worthington.

“Not a bad day at the office for us,” said Cobbert.

The two close calls for Cobbert were back points for Orange Park's Reed Danielson over Fleming Island's John Martorano and also Middleburg's Jonathan Shoen, a region 3-2A champion last year and sixth place state finisher, also against Martorano. Martorano, sixth last year in 3A at 170, evenutally won both matches; a pin over Danielson and a 19-11 decision over Shoen.

“John is a grinder and he tried to get some fast points early and got himself in some situations,” said Cobbert. “He is experienced enough not to panic and he responded by settling in and wrestling tough despite the near falls.”

One of them more significant matches featured sophomore Paul Detwiler at 138 against Matanzas senior Tristan Kraus, a regional qualifier last year, that saw Detwiler survive a fast flurry by Kraus in the first period only to get pinned by Detwiler in the third period.

“Paul is very calm out there, but their guy came out fast and furious and wanted to get out of there quickly,” said Cobbert. “I think Paul is getting himself better warmed up before the matches and starting to realize that his weight class is filled with good guys all the way to state. He's a hammer once he settles in and wrestles his game.”

Middleburg coach Richard Wetherill was satisfied with his Broncosn despite no individual wins against Fleming Island.

“We come into tournaments like this with a mindset of seeing where we might get an upset or two,” said Wetherill. “Fleming Island is now one of the top teams in Class 3A and we are 2A. To just get out there with them and come out with some close calls is a step in the right direction for us.”

Fleming Island registered wins in all the weight classes against Middleburg with pins in eight of the 14 divisions, but got solid efforts from state qualifier Dylan Rosetti at 126 who lost 6-3 to Fleming Island senior Tracy Davis and the Martorano win over Shoen. Middleburg's six points came via a forfeit at 152.

Against host Matanzas, a key district 3-2A team for Middleburg, the Broncos lost a 42-25 decision with wins from Cody Eastwood (13-4 at 152), Ammon Meeks (pin at 220), Robert Sheridan (4-3 at 106), Austin Benton (pin at 120 and Carter Goodman (4-3 at 126). Rosetti, runnerup in region 3-2A last year, lost a 4-3 decision to regional qualifier Carter Goodman at 126.

Orange Park got a solid return from junior Marcus Reid, sixth in 2A last year after an injury in his consolation final at 113, who rifled through the field at 120. Lee, a regional qualifier at 170 last year, wrestled strong with a pin over Fleming Island's Lear one of the Raider highlights of the day.

The Raiders, under new coach Justin Daniels, came away with a 31-30 win over Matanzas with wins from Jeremiah Watson (6-0 at 132), Dashner St. Vilus (pin at 145), Lee (6-3 at 160), Dean Ganci (9-3 at 106), Reid (pin at 120) and Victor Perez (7-5 at 126).

In one of the more impressive dual match performances of the two days, Fleming Island registered a 60-24 win over Menendez with pins faster than 1:05 in all head to head matches with Martorano fastest at 10 seconds at 170 and Jason Davis at 11 seconds at 195.