McKeel qualifies 13 wrestlers to regionals, Mulberry 11, Tenoroc 10
McKeel Academy of Technology qualified 13 wrestlers for regionals at the FHSAA Class 1A-District 7 IBT meet on Saturday at Mulberry High School.
The abundance of wrestlers qualifying led to McKeel (257.5 team points) winning the meet by more than 68 points — the school's sixth district IBT championsship. McKeel's gold medalists included: eighth-grader Jackson Lietz (113 pounds), freshman Cade Beke (132), freshman Bradley Torres (145), senior Vish Williams (160), junior Owen McNabb (170), and senior Wayne Campbell (182).
Other McKeel regional qualifiers are: freshman Gavin Shelley (106, second), eighth-grader Caleb Causey (120, second), sophomore Jean Benavidez (126, second), eighth-grader Luke Thornton (138, third), freshman Deacon Warren (152, second), junior Ben Lietz (195, second), and junior Logan Peterson (220, fourth).
"(It) feels good," Ben Lietz said after qualifying for regions. "I had to medically forfeit out of my finals match because I hurt my back."
Other Class 1A Polk County regional qualifiers
Mulberry High School advanced 11 wrestlers to regionals and placed second with 189 points.
The Panther gold medalists were: sophomore Jonathan Espinosa (106 pounds) and senior Joquorius Taylor (285).
Also moving on are: junior Noah Bailey (126, third), junior Joe Rangel (132, second), senior Kristian Abercrombie (138, second), senior Thomas Danielson (145, second), senior Devin Hendrix (160, second), junior Caleb Nation (170, third), junior Abel Manville (182, second) and junior Keontay Smith (220, second).
"I am extremely proud of our guys," Mulberry coach Chris Dangle said. "They have really worked hard to get where they are. We had eight kids in the finals. That was awesome to see all four seniors make the finals.
"The last five years we have been in third place in districts. To place second was awesome. Shows our program is heading in the right direction. Success doesn't happen overnight, but we have been taking the small steps and we are getting there. Still a long road ahead of us. But Mulberry will continue to work hard and build. Congratulations to McKeel on another district championship."
Tenoroc had 10 wrestlers advance to regionals and placed third with 188 points, just one point behind Mulberry.
Gold medalists for the Titans included: junior Brandon Coleman (120), junior Kris Hunter (126), senior Wes Booker (138), senior Leighton Tinch (152), and junior Darian Gillins (220).
The team's remaining regional qualifiers were: freshman Asher Nestor (113, second), senior Dennis Rivera (132, third), senior Daniel Johnson (170, fourth), junior Isai Rivera (182, third) and junior Steven Booker (285, third).
"I'm proud of the effort we put in," Tenoroc head coach Anthony Cerullo said. "We had five champions and six in the finals, so I feel like we set ourselves up well for regionals. ... We have been either district champ or runner-up the past three years, so to finish third is disappointing but to lose out of runner-up by a single point is not disappointing, especially since we had less guys than the two teams ahead of us. But hats off to Mulberry and McKeel for their strong performances. This week is regionals. It's a whole new week."
In fourth place was Lake Region (117.5 points), which advanced eight to regionals.
Lake Region's sole champion is sophomore Javarious Johnson (195).
Going to regions will also be freshman Samuel Deliz (106, third), freshman Javon Keys (113, third), freshman Tyler Deliz (120, fourth), freshman Jaiden Fields (145, third), junior Daniel Reyes (160, fourth), senior David Hernandez (182, fourth), sophomore Omarion James (220, third) and junior Joseph Irving (285, fourth).
Discovery (9.5) advanced one wrestler: senior Oscar Valdez, who finished fourth at 152 pounds.
Class 1A IBT regionals are slated for noon, Friday at Palm Bay High School and 10 a.m. Saturday, with finals starting around 5 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: McKeel qualifies 13 wrestlers for regionals, Mulberry advances 11, Tenoroc has 10
