BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Caleb Crawford and Alexander Cortese were the runners-up in their respective weight classes and two of eight Union County High School wrestlers who placed in the top four at the District 4-1A boys finals on Feb. 16 at Clay High School.
The top four in each class qualified for the Feb. 25-26 Region 1 finals at Wakulla High School.
Crawford, who was a district runner-up last year as well, began his day in the 160-pound class by pinning Bishop Snyder’s Joseph Miranda in 33 seconds. He then pinned Baker County’s Cannon Wiimpey in 1:06 to advance to the championship match, where he lost a 10-0 major decision to Clay’s Luca Fiannca.
Cortese placed third in the 152 class at last season’s district finals. This year, in the 182 class, Cortese earned a second-place finish. He pinned Nicholas Pereira of Bishop Snyder in 1:04 and the took two minutes to pin Tocoi Creek’s Ethan Anderson. That put him in the championship match, where he lost by an 18-3 technical fall to Clay’s Dominic Martin. Martin was the sixth-place finisher in the 152 class at last year’s state finals.
Four Union wrestlers placed third: Alec French (106 class), Kale Waters (113), Ian Halfacre (132) and Danny Thornton (195).
French, after a first-round bye, was pinned in 1:49 by Clay’s Jacob Bucci. Following another bye, French pinned Florida Deaf and Blind’s Ivan Lihay in 1:53.
Waters, after a first-round bye, was pinned in 5:09 by Palatka’s Demaris Carr. He then pinned Bishop Snyder’s George Preston in 47 seconds and Baker County’s Brock Duncan in 27 seconds.
Halfacre began his day by recording a 16-1 technical-fall victory over Tocoi Creek’s Willie Sims. He then pinned Wolfson’s Samual Harris in 1:14 before getting pinned in 1:52 by Palatka’s Mikade Harvey. Halfacre met up with Sims again, recording a win by a 14-3 major decision and advancing to the third-place match, where he defeated Baker County’s Joshua Carter 13-6.
Thornton pinned Palatka’s Curtis Clark in 30 seconds in the first round before getting pinned in 1:30 by Clay’s Kedtric Wilbon. He bounced back, pinning Tocoi Creek’s Michael Soffian in 53 seconds and then pinning Bishop Snyder’s Matthew Carmona in 50 seconds.
Rodney Barnett and Ethan Shea placed fourth in the 138 and 145 classes, respectively.
Barnett, after a first-round bye, pinned Keystone Heights’ Talon Lybarger in 1:02. He was pinned in 4:25 by Palatka’s Brandon Lewis before bouncing back for a 17-2 technical fall over Baker County’s Thomas Torres. In the third-place match, Barnett was pinned in 1:34 by Bolles’ Denny Vohs.
Shea pinned Keystone’s Luke Graves in 3:18 before getting pinned in 5:11 by Palatka’s Johnson Sessions. He then pinned Florida Deaf and Blind’s Edilberto Martinez in 3:40 before getting pinned in 1:28 by Bishop Snyder’s Amari Akel.
Braden Adams (126) and Colin Hadlock (170) each placed fifth.
Adams was pinned in 1:19 by Clay’s Rylan Herrera. After a bye, he was pinned in 2:39 by Clay’s Alexander McCrystal. Adams then pinned Baker County’s Gavin Sparkman in 3:36 in the fifth-place match.
Hadlock began his day by getting pinned in 1:41 by Clay’s Ethan Larsen. He pinned Wolfson’s Zach Molla in 46 seconds before getting pinned in 5:36 by Tocoi Creek’s Lawton Case. Hadlock then pinned Bishop Snyder’s Nate Campbell in 41 seconds.
Jameson Lang also competed for the Tigers, wrestling in the 152 class. He was pinned by both Keystone’s Shepard Wingate and Bishop Snyder’s Dylan Carter.
Union finished fourth in the team standings. Clay won the championship, with Palatka and Baker County placing second and third, respectively.
