BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
All eight Keystone Heights High School wrestlers placed, with Jared Goetzman winning his weight class at the Jan. 6 Marine Corps Challenge at Jacksonville’s Riverside High School.
The Indians placed fourth out of eight teams.
Goetzman, who wrestles in the 120-pound class, pinned Riverside’s Dontrell Conyers in 3:33 after a first-round bye. He was then pinned in 32 seconds by Vero Beach’s Vinny Depalo. Goetzman, after another bye, pinned Conyers in 3:58 in the semifinals, setting up a rematch with Depalo in the championship match. This time, Goetzman won, pinning Depalo in 3:17.
Atreyu Contes was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after placing second in the 106 class. He began his day with a 17-2 technical fall over Riverside’s Troy Davis. He pinned Riverside’s Mudashir Olowu in 1:49 before recording another technical fall by a score of 18-1 over Stanton’s James Leiby. After a bye, Contes pinned Vero Beach’s Mathew Haake in 3:51 to advance to the championship match, where he lost 15-0 by technical fall to Beachside’s Oliver Hayden.
Riley McGorty and Henry Carhuayo each placed third.
McGorty had two straight byes to start his day in the 126 class. He pinned Providence’s Albie MacDonald in 57 seconds. After another bye, he lost 7-4 to Vero Beach’s Prince Ngyuen, who would go on to be the class runner-up. McGory faced MacDonald again in the third-place match, pinning him in 4:32.
In the 138 class, Carhuayo was pinned in the first round by Vero Beach’s Hudson McLaughlin, who would go on to place second. After a bye, Carhuayo pinned Riverside’s Jasmine Gore in 1:51 before getting pinned in 5:23 by eventual champion Dean Holt of Stanton. Carhuayo was a forfeit winner over Beachside’s Sebastian Alquinta in the third-place match.
Keystone had three wrestlers place fourth: Phoenix Contes, Arthur Durning and Alyx Nichols.
Contes opened his day in the 132 class by pinning Riverside’s Maximus Nichols in 2:24. After a bye, he was then pinned in 5:48 by Beachside’s Elijah Marrvaridy. Contes bounced back, pinning Melbourne’s Matteus Braga in 1:34 before being defeated 7-4 to Stanton’s Diego Torres, who finished as runner-up.
The third-place match was a rematch with Marrvaridy, which went into overtime before Marrvaridy recorded a 2-0 sudden victory.
Durning, who wrestles in the 144 class, took a 10-5 win over Melbourne’s Micah Ring. After a bye, he was defeated by Beachside’s Pierce Widrich, who won by a 16-2 major decision. Durning pinned Riverside’s Siniayra Thomas in 1:36 before getting pinned in 29 seconds by eventual champion Kevin Benjamin of Vero Beach.
A rematch with Widrich in the third-place match went to the Beachside wrestler, who pinned Durning in 1:49.
Following a first-round bye in the 175 class, Nichols was pinned in 3:12 by Riverside’s Anthony Kearney, who would go on to win the championship. Nichols bounced back with two straight pins, defeating Stanton’s Brannon Spurlin in 3:16 and Jackson’s De’Andre Kyles in 1:22. He suffered a 13-2 major-decision loss to Vero Beach’s Spurgeon Wickel, who finished as runner-up.
In the third-place match, Nichols was pinned in 34 seconds by Riverside’s D’Angelo West.
Marcellus Beem wrestled his way to a fifth-place finish for Keystone in the 157 class. After getting pinned in 1:55 by eventual third-place finisher Cedric Livingston of Riverside, Beem pinned Riverside’s Jayden Bohannon in 1:26. He was then pinned in one minute by Melbourne’s Jordan Garcia, who went on to place second.
After getting pinned in 1:16 by eventual fourth-place finisher Brieon Glover of Jackson, Beem pinned Riverside’s Iyana Lee in 51 seconds. That advanced Beem to the fifth-place match, where he pinned Stanton’s William Murphy in 1:17.
