- December 25, 2024
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Matanzas junior Carter Wilder, top, pinned FPC's Carson Baert in the 113-pound third-place match. Photo by Jake Montgomery
FPC junior Kole Hannant, left, bridges to try to keep from being pinned. Photo by Jake Montgomery
Matanzas senior Tyson Mills, top, decisioned Suwannee's Tyson Musgrove in a consolation semifinal. Photo by Jake Montgomery
Matanzas junior Jordan Mills finished fifth at 170 pounds. Photo by Jake Montgomery
FPC senior Blane DeFord battles Columbia's Joseph Rice in the 170-pound quarterfinals. Photo by Jake Montgomery
FPC 285-pounder Seth Davis lost in in double overtime in the quarterfinals. Photo by Jake Montgomery
FPC junior John Hald, top, wrestled Harmony's Rey Ortiz in the 126-pound championship match. Photo by Jake Montgomery
FPC Junior John Hald, top. Photo by Jake Montgomery
FPC junior Dalton Schell, right, attempts a single leg takedown in the 220-pound quarterfinals. Photo by Jake Montgomery
The final session of the 36th annual Flagler Rotary wrestling tournament had a hometown feel.
Seven Flagler Palm Coast wrestlers and three Matanzas wrestlers all competed in the medal round on Jan. 29 at FPC’s signature tournament.
FPC junior John Hald had the highest finish among the locals, placing second in the 126-pound bracket.
Hald was the first FPC wrestler in coach Zach Sanford’s four years with the Bulldogs to advance to a championship match at the Rotary.
Hald, who was seeded fourth in his weight class, won a 12-6 decision over No. 1 seed William McArdle of Fort Pierce Central in the semifinals to advance to the center-mat match against third-seed Rey Ortiz of Harmony. Ortiz won by pin in the second period.
“I wrestled well, but he got me on my back, and then he pinned me,” Hald said. “I’ll see him again at state.”
FPC’s Kole Hannant and Garrick Schwartz and Matanzas’ Carter Wilder won their third-place matches. FPC’s Carson Baert and Blane DeFord and Matanzas’ Tyson Mills each placed fourth. Matanzas' Jordan Mills placed fifth, and FPC’s Dalton Schell and Seth Davis each placed sixth.
FPC finished fifth in the two-day, 33-team tournament. Matanzas finished 13th.
Winter Springs won the team title.
Wilder and Baert faced each other in the first round of the 113-pound bracket. The second-seeded Wilder won by major decision, 18-9. But the 22nd-seeded Baert fought back with four straight wins to face Wilder again in the consolation final. Wilder pinned Baert, a first-year wrestler, in 2:26.
“I wrestled well, but he got me on my back, and then he pinned me. I’ll see him again at state.”
JOHN HALD, 126-pound runner-up
Baert won a 5-4 decision over fourth-seeded Lochlann Higgins of Oviedo Hagerty in the consolation semifinals. Baert had lost to Higgins in the duals regional finals a week earlier in what Sanford termed a “positive loss” because the freshman kept the match to a decision.
Wilder landed in the consolation bracket after losing a 9-4 decision to DeLand’s Grady Bryant in the semifinals.
“I beat him twice before, but I made a mistake, and he got five points off of it,” Wilder said. “I went for the inside, lost my balance, and then he got three back points.”
Wilder, a returning state qualifier, improved to 31-5 on the season.
Hannant improved to 30-6 with his pin of Mosley’s Calvin Williams in the 120-pound consolation final. It was the second time Hannant pinned Williams in the tournament.
Schwartz won the 195-pound consolation final over Lake City Columbia’s Shawn Raggins with an 8-4 decision. Raggins had pinned the FPC senior in the quarterfinals.
“I just tried to work in neutral — staying on my feet, not going top or bottom — and getting my takedowns,” said Schwartz, who improved to 27-8.
DeFord lost a 5-2 decision to Columbia’s Joseph Rice in the 170-pound consolation final. Rice was the only wrestler to beat DeFord (24-6) in his six matches at the Rotary. Rice won 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
Jordan Mills (37-4) won the fifth-place match in the 170-pound bracket with a 7-6 decision over Davis Deal of Winter Springs. Deal had won a 12-10 decision over Mills in the quarterfinals.
Tyson Mills (31-4) lost to Blake Watts of Hagerty in the 152-pound consolation final, 11-4. The Matanzas senior was the seventh seed in a very tough bracket.
Schell lost by pin in 3:53 to Winter Springs’ Aiden Atton in the 220-pound fifth-place match. Davis lost by a 3-0 decision to DeLand’s Marco Selph in 285-pound fifth-place match.
The Bulldogs, who are coming off a final four finish in the Class 3A state duals tournament, are peaking at the right time, Schwartz said.
“We’re starting to hit full throttle just before districts,” he said.
