By Beth Jones
The Pirates grapplers suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Bishop Kenny on Jan. 14. The Fernandina Beach High School wrestling team lost 45-36 to the BK Crusaders.
“That was a tough loss for our team against Bishop Kenny,” said Eric Kubatzke, head wrestling coach at FBHS. “We had three starters out that night, so individually the team did a great job in their matches and fought hard, with Fernandina having the lead going into the last two matches.”
The Pirates forfeited one of those matches, giving Bishop Kenny a 39-36 lead.
“We had a first-year freshman step in for that last match, having to wrestle a top 10-ranked kid in the state,” Kubatzke said. “It was a tough challenge, and our guy did great. He was tied 0-0 going into the second period, but ended up getting beat. I was extremely proud of him hanging in as well as he did with this caliber of wrestler he was facing.
“One of our girls also stepped in to the varsity lineup and had to wrestle a match with another top ranked kid. I was proud of her willingness to step in and help the team. Our young team is really showing a lot of heart and potential this season.”
The Pirates are home today with Episcopal and travel to Yulee Thursday for the county championship. Both start at 5 p.m.
Individual results vs. Bishop Kenny
106 Tristan Holmes, 1-0, 1 pin
113 Anna Johnson 0-1
120 Ethan Lavin 0-1
126 Jayden Holmes 1-0, 1 pin
132 Connor Melhorn 0-1
138 Crew Richter 1-0, 1 pin
144 Hayden Neblett 0-1
150 Blaise Scuderi 0–1
157 Landen Six 1-0
165 Owen Kallstrand 0-1
175 Chase Harris 1-0, 1 pin
190 Colt Richter 1-0, 1 pin
HWT Elijah Williams 0-1
bjones@nassaunewsline.net
