- December 20, 2024
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Matanzas senior Jordan Mills won all four of his matches at the Southern Paints Scuffle dual tournament. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas 285 pounder, Douglas Crutchley (right), wrestles Ridgeview's Braylon Hawkins. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas 120-pounder, T.J. McLean (right), won all four of his matches. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas 113-pounder Trevin Johnston (top) went 2-2 in his matches at the Southern Paints Scuffle. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Ridgeview's Rayhn Hutchinson lifts up Matanzas' Jordan Mills. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jordan Mills (right) won the 190-pound match against Ridgeview's Rayhn Hutchinson by technical fall. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas coach Mike Fries yells instruction to a wrestler in December, 2023. File photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas' A.J. Sanchez (right) wrestles Ridgeview's Ryan Murphy. Photo by Brent Woronoff
It had been about 10 months since Jordan Mills last wrestled in a match. Wearing a brace to protect his surgically repaired shoulder, the Matanzas senior dominated his competition at the Southern Paint Scuffle dual-match tournament Dec. 2 at the Pirates’ gym.
“I feel pretty good,” said Mills, who pinned three opponents and won by technical fall against a fourth. “I just want to stay in controlled situations. I don’t want to be in a dangerous spot for my shoulder. When I get on the bottom, I get out quick.”
In its first action of the season, the Matanzas boys wrestling team went 1-3 in four dual matches. The Pirates defeated Wolfson (40-30) and lost to Fletcher (39-34), Creekside (58-15) and Ridgeview (54-23).
“We forfeited four weight classes, so we were spotting the other teams 24 points,” coach T.J. Gillin said. “Coach (Mike) Fries took a couple of the guys to a JV tournament (Dec. 1), and we have a lot of guys who weigh the same thing. We’re trying to focus on getting the kids the right matches for each of them.”
In addition to Mills, juniors T.J. McLean and Mason Obama also were undefeated in the tournament.
“Those are three guys we expect to get a win every time they go out on the mat,” Gillin said. “In the big picture, to finish in the top 10 at state, you need four or five guys to make a deep run.”
“He’s trying to shake the rust off, but he hasn’t lost much of anything. If anything, he’s gotten bigger and he's gotten stronger.”
— T.J. GILLIN, Matanzas coach on wrestler Jordan Mills
McLean placed fifth at state last year in the 106-pound class. Mills finished second at state at 170 pounds as a sophomore. He began last season late because of a dislocated shoulder he sustained playing football. But he won 14 consecutive matches before injuring his shoulder again in the 170-pound title match at the Flagler Rotary tournament on Jan. 28. Two weeks later, he underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair ligaments in the shoulder.
He played football this season wearing a shoulder brace. His shoulder popped out a couple of times, but he did not miss a game.
Mills wrestled three matches at 190 pounds and one match at 215 pounds in the season-opening dual-match tourney. He said he’s trying to adjust his style by taking more outside shots and putting less strain on his shoulder.
“My sophomore year, I was just taking people down. I’m relying more on technique now,” he said.
But Gillin said Mills is not going to reinvent himself.
“Jordan is Jordan,” Gillin said. “He wrestles hard and he wrestles mean. The goal is get him wrestling a little more to the outside, but there’s not much you’re going to change with Jordan’s style. He’s going to bring it.
“He’s trying to shake the rust off, but he hasn’t lost much of anything. If anything, he’s gotten bigger and he's gotten stronger.”
