McCall and Jesuit Win State Title While Eagles, Hornets, and Leopards Place at Tournament

Hernando County was well represented at the FHSAA State Wrestling Tournaments in Kissimmee, Florida, over the weekend. Four out of the five in-county high schools sent athletes while Jesuit sent a wrestler who is a resident of Hernando County. On the front page of this issue, the Sun covered the Hernando girls’ wrestling squad’s impressive results at the state tournament. Here, we will detail the rest of the competitors sent by the Hernando boys (5), Springstead (3), Nature Coast (3), and Weeki Wachee (3) teams as well as Draven McCall’s accomplishment with the Tigers. The following results were posted on Trackwrestling’s website and include the placement, class, point total, and final bout for each competitor:

Hernando (Boys):
Shaw Garrett – 5th (Class 157 1A) – Garrett scored 11 team points and defeated Angel Prieto (Bishop Moore School) by an 8-6 margin in sudden victory -1.
Morgan Johnston – 8th (Class 175 1A) – Johnston scored 4 points but was bested 6-0 by Anthony Dawson (Mount Dora) in a placement round on Saturday.
Kian Blyss – N/A (Class 215 1A) – Blyss scored 4 points as he fell 1:58 into his consolation round 2 bout against Lexander Coleman (Lakewood).
Kyle Pearson – N/A (Class 126 1A) – Pearson scored 1 point and lost by a 6-1 decision to Jason Schiavello (Clearwater Central Catholic) in consolation round 2.
Cale Phillips – N/A (Class 132 1A) – Phillips did not score any team points as he lost by tech fall 17-0 to Anthony O’Dell (Mater Lakes Academy) on Thursday.

Springstead:
Jasmine Serrano – 3rd (Class 125) – Serrano scored 18 team points and defeated Blanca Cespedes (Riverdale) by 2-1 decision.
Gianella Walczak – 4th (Class 105) – Walczak scored 15 points but fell to Maite Coutinho (Freedom (Orlando)) 2:27 into the placement match.
Vincenzo Lee – N/A (Class 120 2A) – Lee scored 4 points and lost by a razor thin 6-5 decision in his consolation round 2 bout against Clayton Wolf (Okeechobee).
“This weekend’s performance, I could not have been prouder of the girls,” Springstead Head Coach Mike LaRocca said. “They both achieved what no one thought. I cannot wait to see what they can do for their senior year. I believe both can take a state title next year. As for [Vincenzo] Lee, I am so proud of him. He had a lot of adversity thrown his way, but through it all, he achieved a lot of success. I am going to miss coaching him!”

Nature Coast:
Dominic Buckwalter – N/A (Class 132 1A) – Buckwalter scored 3 team points but was overwhelmed by Presten Pineiro (Astronaut) in a 13-1 major decision.
Benjamin Goyaneche – N/A (Class 126 1A) – Goyaneche was unable to register any points as he fell 1:52 into his consolation round one match against Keaton Ellis (Liberty County).
Kaden Ethridge – N/A (Class 150 1A) – Ethridge did not score any points and lost by tech fall (15-0) to Jensen Beach’s Bradyn Peters on Thursday.

Weeki Wachee:
Ricky Bowermaster – 6th (Class 144 1A) – Bowermaster scored 8 team points before falling to Somerset’s Eric Hodge 2:29 into his placement bout.
Nick Guy – 8th (Class 106 1A) – Guy scored 6 points while advancing to the seventh-place match against Dylan Malott (Rutherford). The Hornet wrestler lost to Malott by a 10-6 decision on Saturday.
Jordan Jandro – N/A (Class 175 1A) – Jandro did not log any team points and was defeated by a 5-0 decision in the first consolation round by Christopher Aud (Yulee).

“I am proud of all of them, proud of the accomplishment of just making it to states,” Hornets Head Coach Joseph Felice said. “For Nick and Ricky placing, that is just great […] The work is not put in over the last few months, really. The work never stops […] We are still young. Realistically, we only had two seniors on our team this year that won districts. Our whole team is coming back next year. We are looking to have a productive, successful year next year […]”

Bowermaster’s mother, Mary, called his placing sixth in the state “a major accomplishment” as Ricky has been wrestling since he was six years old. The Hornets’ athlete has been traveling around Florida and across the country, competing in events to hone his skills for such a tournament. Ricky is the type of player who “takes ownership of his sport” and puts the time and effort into the preparation to put himself in a position to succeed. Crucially, the wrestler “seeks out challenge” against various levels of athlete, some that may be more decorated than he is, so he can continue to learn and grow, Mary said.

Jesuit:
Draven McCall – 1st (Class 150 2A) – Scored 26 points en route to his state title victory over Kaden Schaefer (Fleming Island) by a 2-0 decision.

Head Coach Sal Basile and the Tigers brought a massive contingent of 12 wrestlers who led Jesuit to its third 2A state title since 2020. Besides McCall, the school had nine other competitors place with two of those winning their respective weight classes. Senior Brandon Cody placed first in class 165 2A with 26 team points, while Junior Malachi Ortiz scored 25 and took gold in class 113 2A. Shane McCall discussed his son and the Jesuit culture on Tuesday.

“As a parent, you are always like, ‘hey, make sure you are ready,’ and not once through this whole season has [Draven] ever mentally shown anything other than that he is going to do that,” said Shane McCall. “His level of confidence right now is through the roof. That comes down to stellar coaching and a belief in what they do over there […] He just felt all season that he was going to repeat and did it. If you look at all the stats from the record books in Florida, it is hard enough to win one state title, but the numbers are really against repeating.”

His father’s pride comes from the discipline that Draven has displayed throughout his time at Jesuit. McCall has seen his son accomplish everything that he has on the mat while balancing all the other day-to-day activities that are necessary, including his studies. The younger McCall made the National Honor Society this year despite the demanding wrestling schedule and a challenging curriculum at Jesuit.

Despite the school’s “mystique,” Shane mentioned that Jesuit is certainly not an easy ride intended for those who have been fed with “a silver spoon.” It requires complete dedication from the wrestlers and the parents.

With back-to-back state titles in the rearview mirror, the elder McCall noted that his son has a chance to three-peat during his upcoming senior season. Combined with being ranked at the top by wrestling websites such as Kabra Wrestling throughout the entirety of last season, Draven will likely have a target on his back in every match moving forward. While they have not decided upon a specific college yet, Draven and his father have had open communication about competing at the next level. The young wrestler does know that he wants to wrestle division one, and the duo will continue working on whittling down the list of prospective universities based on who they feel provides the optimal situation for him.

“There are so many facets to what it takes to become a wrestling champion, and it is not just what they do in the wrestling room,” said McCall. “He comes home every day; he is exhausted from practice because he went 100 percent every practice. That is kind of how he has always been […] He is really dialed in on what he is being told is how you do it […] He will be a solid senior next year, probably be the one with the target on his back.”