This coming weekend the top high school wrestlers in the state will travel to Kissimmee for the FHSAA IBT State Championships and several boys from Hernando County are among them.
A total of 13 male wrestlers from Hernando, Nature Coast, Weeki Wachee and Springstead stamped their tickets to states with a top four finish in their respective regional tournaments this past weekend.
In the Region 1A-2 Tournament held Friday and Saturday at Palm Bay High, the Leopards had two individual champions, four state qualifiers and finished in fourth place overall with 124 points.
Jeremiah Chavis improved to 50-1 in the season, going 4-0 at 190 pounds. He started with a 19-4 technical fall win over Tenoroc’ s Jaidan Dunn, then pinned Space Coast’s Dominic Burger in 47 seconds and Zephyrhills Christian’s Curtis Tyler in 3:19. In the final he defeated Christopher Brunson of Palm Bay by a 14-4 major decision.
At 150, Noah Leota rolled to a regional crown starting with pins of Bell Creek’s Gryphon Borgeas-Beach in 1:26 and Palm Bay’s Alexander Vicente in 1:43. He beat Cocoa Beach’s Micah Wittenberg by a 13-8 decision, leading to a 10-5 decision over McKeel Academy’s Cade Beke in the final.
James Shaw Garrett took second at 175 and Kian Blyss placed third at 215 to round out the Leopard contingent to advance.
Weeki Wachee placed fifth in the team standings behind Hernando with 95.5 points. Ricky Bowermaster ended up in second at 144, while Nick Guy at 113 and Diego Maysonet at 157 both were third for the Hornets.
Nature Coast’s Zackary Myers came in fourth at 106 to give the Sharks their lone state qualifier. The Sharks tied for 11th with 46.5 points.
Springstead competed in the Region 2A-2 Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Brandon High, and placed fourth with 116.5 team points.
Kaleb Jones earned a regional championship at 215. He began pinning Lakeland’s Riley Stone in 1:35 and Leto’s Troy Fatutoa in 1:46. He defeated Lake Gibson’s Gabrial Solis by a 10-3 decision and pinned Lake Region’s Israel Bernardo in the final in 36 seconds.
Also going to states for the Eagles will be Daniel Quinones, who was second at 157, plus Giovani DeLape (third at 126), Evan Bozek (fourth at 144) and Brian Burch (fourth at 150).
In baseball, Nature Coast earned two shutout wins over host Weeki Wachee. On Feb. 25, the Sharks pulled out a 7-0 victory behind a masterful pitching performance by ace Jackson Hoyt. The University of Florida signee gave up one hit and nothing else in a complete game, striking out 14 in his seven innings. He also had a hit and drove in a run, as did Bryce Hewell. Mario DeAngelis went 1 for 2 with a run and two RBI.
On Friday, Nature Coast (5-2) defeated the visiting Hornets (3-4) 3-0. This time it was Raymond Groetsch tossing a complete game shutout, giving up four hits and striking out 13 in seven innings. Brady McMurdo went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Beckett Monroe had a double and an RBI.
Weeki Wachee did have a 2-0 victory over Pasco on Thursday, with Jayden Allen pitching six shutout innings giving up four hits and two walks against seven strikeouts.
Hernando (6-2) had a 3-0 week, two of those wins coming against Crystal River. Eric O’Dell hit a two-run homer in a 6-3 victory on Feb. 25. The Leopards won 9-8 at home versus the Pirates on Friday, with Austin Knierim homering. They had beaten South Sumter 11-2 on Thursday as Gage Blade gave up one earned run in 4 2/3 innings, striking out eight.
Springstead (6-2) downed Central (3-4) twice in the week, including 12-1 on Feb. 25. Dalton Williams finished 1 for 3 with a double, three runs and two RBI. Nathan Marsh had a home run and two RBI. Taryn Henrickson threw 5 2/3 innings permitting a run on four hits and a walk with five strikeouts.
The Nature Coast softball team went 3-0 on the week including two county wins. Kamryn Ross twirled seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out 12 in an 8-0 triumph over Central on Feb. 25. Ross also had two hits including a double and drove in two runs. Caitlin Corrigan had two hits and two RBI.
On Friday the Sharks (4-2) took down Hernando 7-5 on Friday. Athena Brown went 3 for 5 with two triples, two runs scored and four RBI.
The Leopards (4-2) recorded an 11-1 victory over Weeki Wachee on Feb. 25. Ariana Covell was 3 for 3 with a run and an RBI. Ammarae Easton went 2 for 3 with a double, a home run, two runs and four RBI. Murphi Blade finished 2 for 3 with a double and two RBI.
Alivia Miller struck out 16 in seven shutout innings on Feb. 25, giving up two hits and three walks in Springstead’s 3-0 win over Lecanto. Lily Klink had a double and two RBI. The Eagles finished the week 2-1 overall.
In flag football, Springstead moved to 3-0 by beating Classical Prep 36-6 on Feb. 25. Willow Oliver rushed for one touchdown and caught another. Addisson Osborne and Brooke Smith caught touchdown passes.
The next day the Eagles blanked Central 20-0. J’Ziyah Munford ran for 104 yards and a touchdown, and also completed 10 of 16 passes for 71 yards with two touchdowns against two interceptions. Osborne and Smith again had touchdown catches.
Nature Coast is also 3-0, shutting out The Villages 26-0 on Feb. 25. Madelyn DePetrillo completed 18 of 31 passes for 250 yards with three touchdown passes against an interception, and she rushed for another score and even intercepted a pass on defense. Gabriella Dross caught four passes for 108 yards and hauled in a touchdown. Emma Brown and Kennedy Rasmussen caught touchdowns.
Then on Feb. 26, the Sharks dominated visiting Crystal River 26-0. DePetrillo connected on 16 of 22 throws for 152 yards with three touchdown passes, one apiece to Dross, Brown and Rasmussen. Lainee Tackett rushed for a touchdown.
Hernando went 3-0 to start the beach volleyball season, beating Nature Coast 3-2 on Feb. 25, Springstead 4-1 on Feb. 26 and Weeki Wachee 5-0 on Feb. 27.
