BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Three individuals won their weight classes, while another five were runners-up in their weight classes as the Bradford Middle School wrestling team took the second-place team trophy at the Suwanee Middle Athletic Conference tournament, which was held Jan. 25 in Lake Butler.
The Tornadoes had a team score of 175, which left them training champion Lake City, which had a score of 275. Bradford finished ahead of Lake Butler (147.5), Suwannee (118.5), Palatka (84) and Interlachen (67).
Demetrius Hunter (95-pound class, Mason Lowe (150) and Kaison Pierce (190) all recorded pins in the semifinals. In the championship matches, Hunter pinned Palatka’s Willie Gilyard, Lowe pinned Lake Butler’s Isaiah Cepeda and Pierce pinned Suwannee’s Colton Shelton.
Bradford’s five second-place wrestlers were Avery Gardner (80), Julius Givings (113), Nathaniel Givings (120), Colton Rowe (126) and Jaland Carey (157). All but Nathaniel Givings pinned their opponents in the semifinals, while Givings advanced to the finals by forfeit. The championship-match results were: Gardner pinned by Lake City’s Caden Kinghorn, Julius Givings pinned by Suwannee’s Hunter Griffin, Nathaniel Givings loss by technical fall to Lake City’s Jackson Coates, Rowe pinned by Lake City’s Bryson Dunlap and Carey pinned by Lake City’s Gerald Collins.
Conner Faircloth (85) and Stanley Varnum (138) earned third-place finishes, while Drake Culverson (132), Colt Harden (215) and Jacoby Pernell (285) all placed fourth.
