Telegraph Staff Writer
Phoenix Contes and Luke Graves finished as runners-up, while three of their Keystone Heights High School wrestling teammates also placed at the Jan. 7 Marine Corps Challenge at Jacksonville’s Riverside High School.
Contes (132-pound class), after a first-round bye, pinned Beachside’s Elijah Morrvaridy in 3:10 and then pinned Wolfson’s Kai Molla in 1:48. In the championship match, he was pinned in 3:31 by Matanzas’ Michael Fries.
Graves (145), after a first-round bye, pinned Riverside’s Deshon Williams in 29 seconds and then pinned Matanzas’ Mason Obama in 54 seconds. He was pinned in 1:39 in the championship match by Beachside’s Grady Smith.
Joshua Dowling (285) placed third. After a first-round bye, he was pinned in 36 seconds by Centennial’s Jayden Jackson. Dowling then pinned four straight opponents: Godby’s Amari Litchfield in 1:49, Matanzas’ Carmine Lania in 2:07, Godby’s Raheem Barge in 1:45 and Beachside’s Caleb Barnes in 2:38.
Riley McGorty (120) placed fourth. After a first-round bye, he pinned Paxon’s Ava Pinson in 33 seconds. McGorty was then pinned in 48 seconds by Paxon’s Kyle Brown, but bounced back by pinning Wolfson’s Cooper Mans in 1:19. He was pinned in 49 seconds in the third-place match by Stanton’s Leonardo Torres.
Marcellus Beem (152) also earned a fourth-place finish. He had byes the first two rounds before getting pinned in 1:48 by Matanzas’ Andrew Sanchez. Beem then advanced by forfeiture before getting pinned in 1:47 by Godby’s Tony Howie.
Jagger Lancaster (138), Talon Lybarger (160) and Huntley Dennis (182) each went 2-2, while Rayne Pace (138), Seth Fernandez (160) and Damian Hill (170) each went 1-2.
Prior to the Marine Corps Challenge, Keystone went 1-2 at the District 4-1A duals tournament on Jan. 3 at Union County High School.
The Indians opened the tournament with a 40-18 loss to Tocoi Creek. Steven Raab won the 220-pound class with a pin, while Graves and Dowling each won by forfeiture.
Keystone won its first consolation-round match by defeating Palatka 36-30. Contes, Graves, Raab and Dowling all won by pinning their opponents. Fernandez and Atreyu Contes (106) each won by forfeiture.
In a 48-30 loss to Beachside, McGorty, Raab and Dowling won their classes by pinning their opponents. Pace and Henry Carhuayo (170) won by forfeiture.
