By Beth Jones
The Fernandina Beach High School wrestlers will be at home Saturday, hosting the annual Dual at the Dunes. This year’s event drew 16 teams – Bartram Trail, Bishop Kenny, Bradford, Clay, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy out of Ohio, Episcopal, FBHS, Florida High, Gainesville High, Interlachen, Lake Mary, Providence, Raines, Ridgeview, University Christian and West Nassau.
Wrestling starts at 9 a.m.
The Pirate wrestlers weren’t idle during the holiday break. They competed in two tournaments.
FBHS wrestled in the Ships N’ Duels Tournament Dec. 29 at Palm Bay High School.
“The guys were able to get a lot of good matches in one day there,” said Eric Kubatzke, head wrestling coach at FBHS. “There was no team score kept at the tournament, so individual only.”
The Pirates wrestled at the Clay Rotary Tournament Jan. 2-3.
“The guys had a great tournament, placing 10th out of 27 teams, with some really tough competition,” Kubatzke said. “I’ve talked all season about the younger group I have and their development. I feel like, after seeing them this weekend, I’m starting to see a lot of growth with the younger guys. I’m seeing a couple of our veterans fine-tune their level, as well, and they are performing really well.”
Palm Bay Ships N’ Duels results
106-Tristan Holmes, 1-4, 1 pin, 12th place
113-Adam Wilson, 2-3, 1 pin/1 tech fall, 7th place
132-Connor Melhorn, 1-3, 1 TF, 8th place
138-Crew Richter, 3-2, 3 pins, 6th place
150-Ethan Shiver, 3-2, 3 pins, 4th place 165-Landen Six, 1-3, 1 pin, 13th place
175-Chase Harris, 2-3, 2 pins, 9th place
190-Colt Richter, 3-2, 3 pins, 5th place
215-Beau Brazzeal, 1-3, 1 pin, 6th place
HWT-Antonio Rivera, 2-3, 2 pins, 7th place
Clay Rotary Tournament results Fernandina Beach 10th place out of 27 teams
Finishers:
138-Crew Richter, 5-2, 4 pins, 1 tech fall, 4th place finish
126-Jayden Holmes, 4-2, 3 pins, 1 tech fall 5th place finish
190-Colt Richter 4-3, 2 pins, 2 tech fall, 6th place finish
Other wrestlers competing:
106-Tristan Holmes, 3-2, 2 pins
113-Adam Wilson, 2-2, 1 tech fall
120-Ethan Lavin, 0-2
132-Connor Melhorn, 0-2
144-Hayden Neblett, 2-2, 2 pins
150-Ethan Shiver, 3-2, 1 pin
157-Landen Six, 2-2, 2 pins
175-Chase Harris, 0-2
215-Beau Brazzeal, 0-2
HWT-Antonio Rivera, 0-2
The FBHS girls wrestling team competed at the Clay tourney on Jan. 3.
“They are doing well and making progress,” Kubatzke said. “The girls team took 12th out of 20 teams. I was really happy with how well the girls team is improving, with four of them in their first year. Anjana is our veteran wrestler on the team, and she had a great tournament and has come a long way since last season.”
Girls Clay Rotary Tournament results
Placers:
120-Anjana Sermadevi, 3-1, 3 pins, 2nd place finish
155-Brinley Roose, 1-2, 1 pin, 3rd place finish
Other wrestlers competing:
105-Andrea Katz, 1-2, 1 pin
115-Anna Johnson, 0-2
115-Zoey Batten, 0-2
Before the holiday break, FBHS wrestled West Nassau on Dec. 16 and Creekside on Dec. 17.
“There was only one match for the girls team, and that was on Tuesday
night against West Nassau, where Brinnley Roose won by fall against her opponent,” Kubatzke said. “Brinnley would be required to step back in the lineup later in the night, this time in the regular varsity lineup, where we had a matchup between the only two girls in the entire lineup at 150 pounds.
Brinnley was ahead in the match before she was pinned in the second period, but wrestled really well prior to that point. It was exciting to have her in the lineup, despite the loss, getting the whole team behind her.”
The FBHS boys team beat West Nassau 48-33.
“But it was very close until the last two matches,” Kubatzke said. “The varsity team took an early lead before West Nassau’s upper two weight classes won by pins, cutting the score to 36-33 in favor of Fernandina Beach. After that, the last two matches were two freshmen at 106 and 113, with both of our guys coming through for us with pins to pull us ahead to win 48-33.”
The Pirate grapplers lost to Creekside 65-12.
“Wednesday night didn’t go as well,” Kubatzke said. “Creekside is a really solid team, being ranked 13th in the state in 3A with Fernandina in the 1A class. It was good for the guys to face this competition, and it will only get them better. Even though we didn’t win many matches that night, our guys fought hard in their matches. Right now, with such a younger group of guys, we are more concerned with their development. The wins will come if they can focus on the basics and learn from their mistakes.”
Fernandina Beach vs. West Nassau High School Dec. 16
Girls
Brinnley Roose-1-0 with 1 pin
Fernandina Beach 48, West Nassau High School 33
106-Tristan Holmes, 1-0 with 1 pin
113-Adam Wilson, 1-0 with 1 pin
120-Ethan Lavin, 0-1
126-Jayden Holmes, 1-0 with 1 pin
132-Connor Melhorn, 0-1
138-Crew Richter, 1-0 with 1 pin
144-Hayden Neblett, 1-0 with 1 pin
150-Brinnley Roose, 0-1
157-Ethan Shiver, 1-0 with 1 pin
165-Matthew Crane 1-0 with 1 pin
175-Landen Six, 0-1
190-Colt Richter, 1-0 wit 1 pin
215-Logan Fancher, 0-1
HWT-Antonio Rivera, 0-1
Fernandina Beach 12, Creekside High School 65
106-Tristan Holmes, 1-0
120-Ethan Lavin, 0-1
126-Jayden Holmes, 0-1
132-Connor Melhorn, 0-1
138-Crew Richter, 1-0 with 1 pin
144-Hayden Neblett, 0-1
157-Ethan Shiver, 0-1
165-Landen Six, 0-1
175-Owen Kallstrand, 0-1
190-Colt Richter, 0-1
215-Beau Brazzeal, 0-1
HWT-Antonio Rivera, 0-1
