BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Union County High School’s wrestling team took part in the Jan. 2-3 Joe Bees Battle of the Border Memorial at Yulee High School, with Aidan Hancock and Carsen Thomas winning their weight classes in the boys event and Abigail Melton earning a win in the girls event.
Hancock pinned every wrestler he faced in the 106-pound class, earning wins in 1:54, 1:17, 30 seconds and 1:38 before pinning Benedictine Military’s Maden Horne in 49 seconds to win the championship.
Thomas also pinned all five of his opponents in winning the 175 class. He had wins in 4:24, 20 seconds, 2:31 and 3:25 before pinning West Nassau’s Emmanuel Davis in 1:53.
Breydan Peugh (126 class) and Preston Griffin (215) each earned a third-place finish.
The 126 class had only four wrestlers, with Peugh and teammate Ayden Beckham both facing off in the third-place match, which was Peugh’s only win.
Beckham had one win as well, having defeated Peugh earlier in the tournament.
Griffin began his day by getting pinned by West Nassau’s Bryce Mangum. He then pinned five straight opponents, earning wins in 17 seconds, 53 seconds, 44 seconds and 56 seconds before pinning teammate Matthew Rogers in 35 seconds.
Rogers started his day with a forfeit win. After getting pinned by West Nassau’s Mangum, he pinned opponents in 1:10 and 1:41 before his loss to Griffin, which gave him fourth place.
Isaiah Cepeda didn’t earn a win, but did place sixth in the 157 class.
Melton wrestled her way to first place in the 115-130 class in the girls event. She won with pins in 2:39, 3:09 and 1:27 and then had a win by forfeit.
