By Beth Jones
There hasn’t been a county wrestling champ in five years. That changed Friday, when the Fernandina Beach High School grapplers beat West Nassau and Yulee to clinch the title.
“I’m very thankful to the Yulee and West Nassau coaches for agreeing to bring back the championship,” said Eric Kubatzke, head wrestling coach at FBHS. “It’s great for the wrestling community in this area to have this good local competition.”
The Pirates and West Nassau Warriors wrestled first.
“This was our third dual against them this year, with the last dual ending in a tie score, but we won that dual based on criteria,” Kubatzke said. “So, we knew how competitive they were, but our guys wrestled great and are still making progress.”
FBHS won 53-24.
In the night’s finale, the Pirates wrestled the Yulee Hornets.
“We had some guys really step up in that dual and got some very critical wins to get us the win as a team,” Kubatzke said.
FBHS beat host Yulee 48-36 to capture the county crown.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this young team we have, and I’m excited for the future of this team,” Kubatzke said. “Winning the county championship after a five-year hiatus is a great start. Now we have to get them ready for the postseason.”
The district tournament is Feb. 16.
The night before the county match, the Pirates hosted Episcopal High School. FBHS beat its guests 47-35.
“This was the second time we wrestled Episcopal this year, and won both of those duals,” Kubatzke said.
The FBHS girls and junior varsity teams also wrestled last week. They competed in a callout tournament at Ridgeview High School on Feb. 2.
“Team scores were not kept, we were just trying to get matches in for the kids,” Kubatzke said. “We also matched up girls and JV wrestlers at the county championship. Just like the callout at Ridgeview, we were just trying to get as many matches in as possible.
“There are some really tough girl wrestlers in this county, and it was good for our girls to get a chance to compete against them. It was good to get these last matches in before districts. They will need to be prepared because their districts is coming up this week.”
The girls wrestle today, Feb. 11, at Westside High School.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Varsity boys
FBHS 47, Episcopal 35
Feb. 4
County championship
FBHS 53, West Nassau 24
FBHS 48, Yulee 36
Feb. 5
106 Tristan Holmes 3-0, two pins
113 Adam Wilson 2-1, one pin 120 Ethan Lavin 2-1, one pin
126 Jayden Holmes 3-0, three pins
138 Crew Richter 2-1, one pin
144 Brinnley Roose 0-3
150 Ethan Shiver 2-1, two pins
157 Landen Six 2-1, one pin
165 Owen Kallstrand 1-2, one pin
175 Chase Harris 2-1, one pin
190 Colt Richter 3-0, two pins
215 Jared Nicholson 1-2
HWT Antonio Rivera 2-1, two pins
Girls
105 Andrea Katz 1-3, one pin
110 Anna Johnson 0-4
120 Anjana Sermadevi 1-3
145 Brinnley Roose (competed for boys varsity in all three duals) 0-3
