The Wellington High School wrestling team placed fourth with a 6-3 record at the 24-team Troy Smith Duals at Gateway High School last weekend.
Wellington’s three losses were twice to South Dade (returning state champions and ranked No. 7 in the nation) and in the third-place match to Lake Highland Prep (currently ranked No. 1 in the state’s 1A rankings).
It was a great tournament for the WHS wrestling team, starting out Friday night in a six-team pool with wins over North Port, Manatee, Admiral Farragut and Golden Gate, before falling to tournament champions South Dade.
In the 16-team bracket, Wellington advanced to the semifinals with wins over Deland in the first round and Freedom in the quarterfinals, again losing to South Dade in the semifinals. After the second loss, the Wolverines met with Lake Highland Prep in the team’s final match.
Top competitors for WHS were:
106 Pound: Freshman Jared Abramson, 6-3.
120 Pound: Junior Colton Macfarlane, 8-1.
132 Pound: Sophomore Eric Reid, 8-1.
The Wellington team came into the tournament with a No. 19 state ranking and the coaches were glad to to see some of the state’s (and nation’s) top competition in action.
ABOVE: Front row (left to right): coach Travis Gray, Bailey Laster, Quentin McCauley, Eric Reid, Andrew Mitchell, Jared Abramson, Colton Macfarlane and Cameryn Townsend; back row (left to right): coach Zach Pincus, Ian Posada, Elroy Taylor, Christian Goss, Michael James, Roland Kupoluyi, Josue Arce, Eric Saber, Anthony Pata, A.J. Lopez and coach Chris Forte.
