FLEMING ISLAND – Host Fleming Island easily dominated their way to another St. Johns River Athletic Conference wrestling title sweeping its way over the two-day tournament this weekend.
The Eagles, coached by former legendary Clay wrestler PJ Cobbert, started the first day of the tournament 3-0 and capped the two-day duals tournament going 4-0 to win the conference title by a landslide.
Fleming Island (7-0) won the team title ahead of runnerup Matanzas (6-1), third place Orange Park (5-2) and fourth place Bartram Trail (4-3); while Middleburg (3-4), St. Augustine (2-5), Menendez (1-6) and Palatka (0-7) rounded out the rest of the tournament.
The Eagles landed 11 of the 14 spots on the St. Johns River Athletic Conference All-Conference team as Hunter Herrington (106), Briar Jackson (120), Ryan Hobson (126), Garrett Cole (132), Gannon Janssen (145), Luke Chop (152), Tanner Hill (160), Nick Janssen (182), Chad Nix (195), Tanner Speer (220) and Jeffrey Lascano (285).
Runnerup Matanzas was led by Shaun Culbreth (113) on the all-conference team, while third place Orange Park and fourth place Bartram Trail were led by Jacob Campbell (170) and Nicholas Vugman (138) on the all-conference team respectively.
“The team did what they were suppose to do against the competition they were facing,” Cobbert stated. “Our goal is to get better every week mentally and physically, we did that.”
Team Standings:
1 Fleming Island (7-0)
2 Matanzas (6-1)
3 Orange Park (5-2)
4 Bartram Trail (4-3)
5 Middleburg (3-4)
6 St. Augustine (2-5)
7 Menendez (1-6)
8 Palatka (0-7)
Round 1
Orange Park 48, Middleburg 18
Fleming Island 75, Palatka 6
Matanzas 69, Menendez 0
Bartram Trail 56, St. Augustine 6
Round 2
Middleburg 36, St. Augustine 18
Fleming Island 69, Orange Park 3
Matanzas 60, Palatka 6
Bartram Trail 66, Menendez 11
Round 3
St. Augustine 30, Menendez 21
Fleming Island 75, Bartram Trail 3
Orange Park 42, Palatka 10
Matanzas 51, Middleburg 16
Round 4
Orange Park 36, Bartram Trail 35
Menendez 21, Palatka 12
Matanzas 54, St. Augustine 17
Fleming Island 75, Middleburg 0
Round 5
Matanzas 40, Orange Park 27
St. Augustine 24, Palatka 11
Bartram Trail 46, Middleburg 27
Fleming Island 78, Menendez 5
Round 6
Matanzas 51, Bartram Trail 18
Orange Park 48, Menendez 12
Middleburg 41, Palatka 6
Fleming Island 80, St. Augustine 0
Round 7
Bartram Trail 66, Palatka 6
Orange Park 45, St. Augustine 12
Middleburg 36, Menendez 30
Fleming Island 65, Matanzas 2
All Conference Wrestlers
106 Hunter Herrington, Fleming Island
113 Shaun Culbreth, Matanzas
120 Briar Jackson, Fleming Island
126 Ryan Hobson, Fleming Island
132 Garrett Cole, Fleming Island
138 Nicholas Vugman, Bartram Trail
145 Gannon Janssen, Fleming Island
152 Luke Chop, Fleming Island
160 Tanner Hill, Fleming Island
170 Jacob Campbell, Orange Park
182 Nick Janssen, Fleming Island
195 Chad Nix, Fleming Island
220 Tanner Speer, Fleming Island
285 Jeffery Lascano, Fleming Island
The Eagles were coming off a third place finish last weekend at the Bill Scott Memorial Holiday tournament at Lyman, finishing third behind state power Lake Highland Prep (327.5 points) and Winter Springs (272 points), just 7.5 point behind Winter Springs with 264.5 points. Fleming Island was led by runnerup finishes from Briar Jackson (120), Tanner Hill (160), Gavin Smith (170) and Chad Nix (195).
The 2018-2019 season started two weeks ago at the Danny Byron Invitational Dec 7-8 at Kissimmee Osceola, where the Eagles finished second in the Gold Pool behind Woodland, which won 7 of the 14 weight classes.
The Eagles were led by individual titles from Luke Chop (152), Anthony Breden (182) and Chad Nix (195) along with runnerup finishes from Riley Holton (113), Briar Jackson (120), Ryan Hobson (126), Dalton Williams (138) and Gavin Smith (170).
Cobbert, which guided the Eagles to state runnerup finishes in both duals and individual state tournaments last season behind state power South Dade, is hoping this is the year the Eagles finally bring home that elusive state title.
That starts next weekend Dec 28-29 as Fleming Island returns to the mat at the Knockout Christmas Classic at Kissimmee Osceola, where the Eagles will face some of the top programs not only in Florida but out of state also including: Osceola, Tampa Prep, Carrollwood Day, Bishop Kenny, Florida High, Lake Gibson, Jensen Beach, South Dade, Hagerty, South West Miami, Miami Southridge, Miami Palmetto, Winter Springs, Countryside, Orlando Freedom, Orange City University, North Gwinnett (GA), Camden County (GA), Collins Hill (GA), South Forsyth (GA), Thompson (AL), Sonoraville (GA), Clay, Charlotte, Lee-Davis (VA), Woodland (GA), Hernando, Riverdale, Hillcrest (SC), Miami Columbus, Chariho (RI), Brentwood Academy (TN), Fletcher, Dobyns-Bennet (TN), Musselman (WV), Colquitt County (GA), St. Augustine Prep (NJ), Brookwood (GA), Dallastown (PA) and Woodward Academy (GA).
Fleming Island returns home to compete in the Keystone Memorial Jan 4-5 at the Clay County Fairgrounds, before competing in the District 1-3A tournament Jan. 9 at Buchholz against Atlantic Coast, Buchholz, First Coast, Flagler Palm Coast, Fletcher, Lee, Mandarin, Oakleaf and Sandalwood.
Photos courtesy of Fleming Island Wrestling Facebook page
