BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Wyatt Elixson and Gavin Sparkman won their weight classes and were two of six Union County High School wrestlers to qualify for region-level competition at the District 4-1A meet, which was held Feb. 19 at Episcopal School of Jacksonville.
The top four in each weight class earned the right to advance to the Region 1 meet, which will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-March 1, at Bay High School in Panama City.
Sparkman was the 138-pound class district champ, defeating two opponents after byes in the first two rounds. He first recorded a 13-0 win by major decision over Providence’s Albie MacDonald. Sparkman then won the championship match by pinning Episcopal’s Thomas Coppedge in 1:04.
Elixson, who wrestles in the 165 class, went 3-0 after a first-round bye. First, he pinned Episcopal’s Lucca Martinez in 2:13. After pinning Bolles’ Joao Nogueria in 1:41, Elixson defeated Trinity Christian’s Alexander McKay 9-5 in the championship match.
Three Union wresters earned the right to advance with third-place finishes: Hunter Cruz, Breydan Peugh and Carsen Thomas.
Peugh went 2-1 in the 113 class after byes in the first two rounds. He lost by a 20-9 major decision to Wolfson’s Asher Nathanson, but bounced back with a 19-3 win by technical fall over Providence’s Garrett Croxton. Peugh the pinned Episcopal’s Thomas Riley in 1:27.
Cruz, who wrestles in the 150 class, took on four opponents, defeating three of them. After a first-round bye, he pinned Bolles’ Walker Creel in 1:04. Cruz then lost 16-1 by technical fall to Bradford’s Miguel Rivera, but rebounded by pinning Bishop Snyder’s Jacob Preston in 1:10. He then ended his day by pinning Wolfson’s Lucas Langdon in 3:16.
Like Cruz, Thomas went 3-1. Thomas, who wrestles in the 175 class, had a first-round bye before pinning Bolles’ Sooryan Gandhi in 47 seconds. After getting pinned in 1:46 by Bishop Kenny’s Lian Bradley, he pinned University Christian’s Landon Adams in 45 seconds. Thomas then earned a 16-11 win over Episcopal’s Shay Eberle.
C.J. Ivey also qualified for the Region 1 meet after placing fourth in the 190 class. Ivey had byes in the first two rounds before getting pinned in 59 seconds by Episcopal’s Christian McGarity. He pinned University Christian’s Cooper Martell in 1:22 before then getting pinned in 1:26 by Trinity Christian’s Nicco Musso.
The Tigers’ Alec French (132 class) and Matthew Rogers (215) also competed.
Union placed fifth out of 11 teams, with Episcopal winning the team championship and Bishop Kenny earning the runner-up trophy.
