Eagles enter second day on top

With the second round of wrestlebacks incomplete late Friday night, Springstead maintained its early lead returning a possible 9-of-12 members to Saturday's second day of the 48th annual FHSAA Finals at the Jenkins Arena.

The defending Class 2A state champion Eagles suffered three personnel losses after four rounds of action in this double-elimination, individually bracketed tourney at The Lakeland Center.

Three Eagles – freshman Michael McDonald at 113 and juniors Stephen Pavao at 120 and Joe Russo at 138 – each were eliminated after 1-2 efforts.

SHS advanced eight unbeaten grapplers into Saturday morning's pivotal semifinals including: freshmen Matt Landgraff at 106, Josh Herrera at 132 and Conor Ross at 170; sophomore Jordan Rivera at 126; and seniors Sean Redman at 145, Cody Ross at 152, Thomas Gupton at 195 and John Dreggors at 285.

Senior Ernesto Padilla went 2-1 in three matches at 182. Springstead captured 21-of-28 matches on Friday.

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Rivera, who placed third at 112 pounds last winter, opened the tourney pinning Jeff Bayonne of Heritage (1:44) before posting a 7-4 decision over Naples; Joe Guelfi.

Rivera (34-5) faces Belen-Jesuit senior Esteban Gomez-Rivera in a rematch for a berth in Saturday night's state finals.

Despite winning twice on Friday, Rivera wasn't celebrating.

"Even though I won twice this tournament is not over," explained the 16-year-old Rivera. "Tomorrow my approach is all about being relentless. I don't care who I face – it's a revenge match either way. I want this (state final berth) real bad."

Herrera did his part by posting a 7-3 nod over Lake Weir's Blake Riley-Hawkins and a 3-0 shutout over Tallahassee-Lincoln's Tristan Sommer.

Herrera (29-2) will tangle with Dixie Hollins' Dana Harrington in Saturday morning's semifinals.

"Today was kind of a relief finishing my first two matches at states," sighed the 15-year-old Herrera. "I need to score more from the bottom. My offense was pretty good today. Honestly, I really don't care who I wrestle tomorrow; I've just got to wrestle my best."

Redman, who went 1-2 last winter, captured his 11th and 12th victories in a row by pinning Ridgeview's Col Robertson (3:07) before solving Stranahan sophomore Kenny Boyd.

"I thought I wrestled well," described the 18-year-old Redman, who improved to 41-4. "But I can't afford to stop now. I won't be satisfied till the state finals.

"On Saturday, I'm going to see a kid I've already beaten," added Redman. "I can't afford to get too big-headed. I can't take the match lightly – not now."

Up next, Redman faces Edgewater's Jerimiah Benson, who he decisioned last week, 11-4.

Gupton will never forget his 18th birthday.

On Friday, Gupton blanked Olympic Heights' Nick Santiago, 7-0, before winning via criteria after four overtimes against Largo's Derrick Doss, 3-3.

In the fourth OT, Doss had the choice and picked the bottom but could not escape the grasp of Gupton in the allotted 30 seconds.

Gupton (39-2), who went 1-2 at states last winter, is a win shy of reaching the state finals.

"My last match was really hard," stated Gupton. "The kid was really strong. For me, it was just another tough match against another good kid."

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Shark junior Sean Nguyen is one win shy of becoming the first Nature Coast wrestler to reach the state finals.

On Friday, Nguyen pinned Tallahassee-Lincoln's Jacob Geiger in 26 seconds before decisioning Byron Rhodes, 8-4.

Up next, Nguyen (51-6) tangles with Jacob Wasserman of Tampa-King.

"Today, I did what I expected to do," shared the 16-year-old Nguyen. "My shots really worked today. Right now the semifinal is really big; I want to get there so bad."

NCT returns Saturday without senior Peter Holloman, who went 0-2 at 195.

The Sharks return five grapplers after posting an overall 10-6 mark, good for a tie for 10th place.

Class 2A Team Points

PL. TEAM PTS.

1. Spring Hill-Springstead 80.0

2. Fort Myers-Riverdale 49.5

3. Lakeland-Lake Gibson 42.5

4. Jensen Beach 35.5

4.  Punta Gorda-Charlotte 35.5

6. Brooksville-Nature Coast 28.0

6. Inverness-Citrus 28.0

8. Homestead 27.0

9. Lake City-Columbia 22.0

9. Palm Bay 22.0

Round 1 Results:

106 – Cole Schreiver (COL) pin Chris Mosher (CIT), 3:31.

106 – Sean Nguyen (NCT) pin Jacob Geiger (LINC), 0:26.

106 – Matt Landgraff (SPG) dec. Eric Altreche (NICE), 9-5.

113 – Michael McDonald (SPG) pin Daniel Preciado (MSPGS), 0:55.

120 – Nicholas Anthony (FMY) dec. Stephen Pavao (SPG), 6-5.

126 – Jared Browning (JENB) tech. fall Cameron Tull (NCT), 19-4.

126 – Jordan Rivera (SPG) pin Jeff Bayonne (HER), 1:44.

132 – Josh Herrera (SPG) dec. Blake Riley-Hawkins (LWR), 7-3.

138 – Jordan DiPaul (RDV) dec. Joe Russo (SPG), 9-6.

145 – Sean Redman (SPG) pin Col Robertson (RDV), 3:07.

145 – Carter Bolesta (NCT) dec. Thomas Herlevich (GAIN), 8-2.

152 – Colton Jackson (CIT) major dec. Gage Munoz (STC), 9-1.

152 – Cody Ross (SPG) dec. Anthony Curto (PALR), 7-3.

152 – Miguel Rivera (RVD) dec. Jared Young (HER), 5-4.

160 – Chris Favoroso (JENB) dec. Mitch Lambert (NCT), 8-7.

160 – Nick McLean (CIT) pin Carvens Joseph (ELY), 1:28.

170 – Michael Cannizzo (MOS) dec. Carlos Carrasquillo (NCT), 8-6 (OT).

170 – Conor Ross (SPG) dec. david Martinez (SAU), 6-4.

182 – Puerto Rico Nieves (CEN) dec. Joe Kennedy (PALMB), 10-5.

182 – Ernesto Padilla (SPG) dec. Jonathon Kemp (OKE), 7-5.

182 – Taylor Jackson (CIT) pin Aris Knight (ELY), 1:05.

195 – Thomas Gupton (SPG) dec. Nick Santiago (OLYH), 7-0.

220 – Zach Collins (CIT) dec. Taylor Flocken (MILT), 4-2 (OT).

285 – John Dreggors (SPG) pin Andre Matthews (DH), 0:40.

Round 2:

106 – David Richards (BAY) dec. Chris Mosher (CIT), 6-1.

120 – Stephen Pavao (SPG) pin David Higgs (MID), 4:02.

126 – Cameron Tull (NCT) pin David Griffel (PVE), 3:59.

138 – Joe Russo (SPG) dec. Devonta Bohannon (HOM), 5-0.

152 – Jared Young (HER) dec. Bryson Dains (TEP), 3-0.

160 – Mitch Lambert (NCT) pin Tim Manning (MILT), 4:42.

170 – Carlos Carrasquillo (NCT) major dec. Savonni Jones (LWO), 13-0.

195 – Shane Carpenter (CRE) major dec. Peter Holloman (NCT), 8-0.

Round 3:

106 – Sean Nguyen (NCT) Byron Rhodes (CHR), 8-4.

106 – Matt Landgraff (SPG) dec. Eric Altreche (NICE), 4-3.

113 – Tanis Taylor (BAC) dec. Michael McDonald (SPG), 6-4.

126 – Jordan Rivera (SPG) dec. Joe Guelfi (NAP), 7-4.

132 – Josh Herrera (SPG) dec. Tristan Sommer (LINC), 3-0.

145 – Jonathon Heffner (RVD) pin Carter Bolesta (NCT), 5:43.

145 – Sean Redman (SPG) dec. Kenny Boyd (STR), 4-1.

152 – Colton Jackson (CIT) dec. Connor Funderburke (LINC), 5-1.

152 – Cody Ross (SPG) pin Denzel Rego (JENB), 5:47.

160 – Nick McLean (CIT) dec. Jordan Harriott (OSS), 7-0.

170 – Conor Ross (SPG) pin Dylan Arias (OLYH), 5:10.

182 – A.J. Jones (POC) dec. Ernesto Padilla (SPG), 7-5.

182 – Taylor Jackson (CIT) major dec. Jason Cowles (MAT), 16-4.

195 – Thomas Gupton (SPG) won by criteria Derrick Doss (LAR), (4OT) 3-3.

220 – Charles Kerkesner (CYL) dec. Zach Collins (CIT), 8-2.

285 – John Dreggors (SPG) pin Keyon Burgess (MIC), 1:27.

Round 4:

113 – Yancarlos Guerra (MAT) major dec. Michael McDonald, 10-1.

120 – Wilmer Almendarez (MAT) dec. Stephen Pavao (SPG), 4-3.

126 – Cameron Tull (NCT) dec. Joe Guelfi (NAP), 7-2.

138 – Aiden Collins (CHAR) dec. Joe Russo (SPG), 4-1.

145 – Carter Bolesta (NCT) pin Col Robertson (RDV), 2:14.

152 – Connor Funderburke (LINC) dec. Jared Young (HER), 7-2.

160 – Mitch Lambert (NCT) pin. Jordan Harriott (OSS), 4:57

170 – Carlos Carrasquillo (NCT) dec. Dale Mooney (CHAR), 9-2.

182 – Joe Fields (COC) major dec. Puerto Rico Nieves (CEN), 10-2.

182 – Ernesto Padilla (SPG) major dec. Travis Macon (ARM), 10-1.

Springstead Individual Results:

WGT NAME W L PINS PL

106 Landgraff, Matt 2 0 0 -

113 McDonald, Michael 1 2 1 -

120 Pavao, Stephen 1 2 1 -

126 Rivera, Jordan 2 0 1 -

132 Herrera, Josh 2 0 0 -

138 Russo, Joe 1 2 0 -

145 Redman, Sean 2 0 1 -

152 Ross, Cody 2 0 1 -

170 Ross, Conor 2 0 1 -

182 Padilla, Ernesto 2 1 0 -

195 Gupton, Thomas 2 0 0 -

285 Dreggors, John 2 0 2 -

TOTALS 21 7 8 -

NCT Individual Results:

WGT W L PINS PL

106 Nguyen, Sean 2 0 1 -

126 Tull, Cameron 2 1 1 -

145 Bolesta, Carter 2 1 1 -

160 Lambert, Mitch 2 1 2 -

170 Carrasquillo, Carlos 2 1 0 -

195 Holloman, Peter 0 2 0 -

TOTALS 10 6 5 -

Hernando Individual Results:

WGT NAME W L PINS PL

152 Young, Jared 1 2 0 -

TOTALS 0 2 0 -

Central Individual Results:

WGT NAME W L PINS PL

182 Nieves, Puerto Rico 1 2 0 -

TOTALS 1 2 0 -