BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School’s Atreyu Contes and Mikey McCall qualified for region-level competition with second- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, at the District 5-1A meet, which was held Feb. 19 at Crystal River High School.
The top four in each weight class earned the right to advance to the Region 2 meet, which will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-March 1, at Palm Bay High School in Melbourne.
Contes earned his runner-up finish in the 113-pound class. After a first-round bye, he defeated Citrus’ Jimmikal Jackson 4-2 in a tiebreaker. Contes was then pinned in 45 seconds by Crystal River’s Scott Knight in the championship match.
McCall went 1-2 in the 138 class. He opened with a 10-3 loss to Crystal River’s Mark Miranda. After a bye, McCall bounced back by pinning Interlachen’s Robert Maschella in 45 seconds. He then faced Crystal River’s Miranda again, losing 18-3 by technical fall.
Jared Goetzman and Alyx Nichols each earned a fifth-place finish, which means they could possibly compete at the Region 2 meet if slots need to be filled in their weight classes.
Goetzman, who wrestles in the 120 class, was pinned in 2:51 by Crystal River’s Braedyn Jones, but then recorded a 15-1 win by major decision over Interlachen’s Jaden Perry. After getting pinned in 4:31 by Dunnellon’s Mason Lane, Goetzman faced Crystal River’s Jones again. Goetzman came out on top in the rematch, winning by a 21-2 technical fall.
Nichols began his day in the 190 class by getting pinned in 1:20 by Crystal River’s Zaid Moore. He Pinned Citrus’ Aydenn Burke in 2:31 before then getting pinned in four minutes by Lake Weir’s Blake Napper. Nichols won his final match, pinning Interlachen’s David LeBaron in 1:56.
Arthur Durning, who competed in the 132 class, earned one win, defeating Interlachen’s Camden Jackson by a 19-4 technical fall.
Keegan Goetzman (106 class), Seth Fernandez (144), Jackson Kehler (157), Dylan Saley (165), Joshua Bruzzese (175) and Charlie Kehler (285) also competed for Keystone.
Keystone placed eighth out of nine teams, with Crystal River winning the team championship. Menendez was runner-up.
