BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Alex Cortese placed third, while Wyatt Elixson and Gavin Sparkman each placed fifth for Union County High School at the Jan. 5-6 Joe Bees Memorial: Battle at the Border at Yulee High School.
Cortese, who wrestles in the 175-pound class, started off his tournament with three straight pins, defeating South Walton’s Kaden Shaw in 2:31, Middleburg’s Seth Straub in 44 seconds and Menendez’s Desmond Valdes in 2:17. He then lost 8-7 to Yulee’s Christopher Aud, who would go on to finish in second place. Cortese bounced back with a pin of Baker County’s Tommy Rollins in 4:42. That put him in the third-place match, where he pinned Tocoi Creek’s Daniel Hageman in three minutes.
In the 132 class, Sparkman had a first-round bye before getting pinned in 5:52 by Fleming Island’s Joseph Forte, who would wrestle his way to the class championship. Sparkman rebounded by pinning The Villages’ Blaze Sellers in 3:23 and followed that by pinning Bishop Kenny’s Jordan Hampton in 1:50. He then suffered a 10-0 major-decision loss to Baker County’s Taz Kinghorn before being awarded the win over Oakleaf’s Micah Thomas in the fifth-place match.
Kinghorn finished in third place.
Elixson, who wrestles in the 144 class, pinned Bishop Kenny’s Will Franklin in two minutes, but was then pinned in 5:04 by Tocoi Creek’s Nikita Chechkovsky, who finished as the class runner-up. He rebounded with two straight victories by pins, defeating The Villages’ Carson Gabat in 4:42 and South Walton’s Sam Fanton in 3:22. Fleming Island’s Tylr Frein pinned Elixson in 2:30, which put Elixson in the fifth-place match, where he was awarded a win over Episcopal’s Ben Blatt.
Frein wrestled his way to third place.
Union had three others compete, including Aidan Hancock and Jameson Lang, who each went 2-2.
Hancock opened his day in the 106 class by getting pinned in 2:32 by Baker County’s Brayden Martin, who would go on to place fourth. He then recorded a 9-0 major decision over Episcopal’s Andrew Rhode before pinning Baker’s Clayton Hoden in 3:34. Hancock ended the tournament with a loss to Middleburg’s Dawson Brown, who pinned him in 31 seconds.
Brown eventually placed sixth.
Lang got off to a good start in the 165 class, earning a 13-3 major decision over The Villages’ Jesse Nelson. He was pinned in 4:51 in the second round by South Walton’s Gibson Moore, who went on to place second. Lang pinned Tocoi Creek’s Anthony Myntti in 2:55 before being put out by Yulee’s Michael McNair, who pinned him in 19 seconds.
McNair went on to finish in third place.
Dylan Lane also wrestled for the Tigers, going 1-2 in the 285 class. After getting pinned in 2:59 by Menendez’s Colby Leth, who would wrestle his way to fourth place, he bounced back to pin University Christian’s Brandan Allritton in 2:32. Lane was then pinned in 1:27 by Menendez’s Ransom Rhodes.
