Telegraph Staff Writer
Ian Halfacre was the runner-up in his weight class, while three of his Union County High School wrestling teammates also placed at the Jan. 6-7 Joe Bees Memorial Battle of the Border at Yulee High School.
Halfacre, who wrestles in the 132-pound class, had a first-round bye. He pinned Booker’s Jinkal Barot in 26 seconds and advanced to the championship match off a forfeit. There, he came up just short, losing 9-8 to The Villages’ Blaise Nelson.
Rodney Barnett placed third in the 145 class. After a first-round bye, he pinned Columbia’s Carlee Morrison in 29 seconds. Barnett was put into the consolation bracket when he was pinned in 2:12 by Bishop Kenny’s Jack Raynor. After advancing by forfeit, he pinned Yulee’s Andrew Watkins in 1:55 and then pinned Booker’s Michael Arthur in 4:00. In the third-place match, Barnett pinned Mandarin’s Antonio Ramos in 2:38.
Danny Thornton (195 class) also earned a third-place finish. He started by pinning Cocoa’s Matthew Watters in 2:43. After advancing by an injury default, he was pinned in 1:02 by Yulee’s Alex Smith. Thornton pinned Bishop Kenny’s Max Thallemer in 4:44 to reach the third-place match, where he pinned First Coast’s Dean Marshall in 2:55.
Kale Waters placed fourth in the 113 class. After a first-round bye, he pinned Tocoi Creek’s Alessandro Bazan in 29 seconds. Waters was then pinned in 2:56 by Baker County’s Jareb Lauramore. He bounced back with a sudden victory over teammate Jonathan Howard before getting pinned in 3:32 in the third-place match by Cocoa’s Aaron Horr.
Three Union wrestlers were one win away from the third-place matches in their classes. Elijah Roberts (152) went 2-1 before being pinned in 2:59 by Baker County’s Cedrick Larry, while Alexander Cortese (182) went 2-1 before being pinned in 3:18 by Yulee’s Phoenix Barbour-Yerka. Dylan Lane (220), coming off of pins of 1:11 and 1:32, was pinned in 1:26 by Booker’s Jacquez King to finish with a 3-2 record.
Howard and Colin Hadlock (160) each went 2-2, while Ethan Shea (138) and Trenton Klein (170) each went 1-2.
