Light Rain, 66°
Weather sponsored by:

Panthers, Raiders duals hopes dashed

Creekside advances to state duals meet

By Mike Zima
Posted 1/17/18

ORANGE PARK – Hope for a Class 2A state team wrestling champion from Clay County will l have to wait a year, as Ridgeview was beaten 33-25 by Matanzas and Orange Park fell 55-19 to Creekside in the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Don't have an ID?


Print subscribers

If you're a print subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one.

Non-subscribers

Click here to see your options for subscribing.

Single day pass

You also have the option of purchasing 24 hours of access, for $1.00. Click here to purchase a single day pass.

Panthers, Raiders duals hopes dashed

Creekside advances to state duals meet


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Hope for a Class 2A state team wrestling champion from Clay County will l have to wait a year, as Ridgeview was beaten 33-25 by Matanzas and Orange Park fell 55-19 to Creekside in the Class 2A FHSAA Dual Team Regional at Ridgeview Thursday night.

Creekside nipped Matanzas 36-25 in the second round to advance to the Class 2A regional, to be held January 19 at Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Florida.

Panthers grapplers won seven of the 11 matches in their match against Matanzas, but lost on account of three forfeits. Ridgeview, the district 3-2A duals champion over Orange Park a week ago, has had a vacancy at the 220 pound class all season, and on Thursday had the misfortune of having one wrestler arrive too late for the weigh-in and another who missed his weight by 0.2 pounds. The resulting 18 points swung the match to Matanzas.

“I am not happy with the loss, but I am proud of the way the guys wrestled,” said Ridgeview coach Bryson Barker. “There was only one pin against us.”

Barker was particularly pleased with Nick Siemonof, who bested the Matanzas’ Christian Zaboroski on points, 5-1.

“His confidence is growing, and you saw it tonight,” said Barker. “He beat a tough kid.”

Siemonof, a sophomore, went ahead 2-0 by gaining control early in the first round, then extended his lead to 5-0 with a takedown in the second round.

“I was terrible last year,” said Siemonof, who credited his success this season to doing less thinking on the mat, and more reacting. “But I am improving.”

Panthers freshman Matthew Rodriguez dominated his opponent with quickness and strength, cruising to a 14-1 victory over the Pirates’ Sean Culbreth.

The most exciting match between the hosts and Matanzas was the match at 170 pounds between the Panthers’ John Tiedeman and Matanzas’ Sam Rousseau. Neither wrestler could gain an advantage in a scoreless first round. Starting the second round in the underneath position, Tiedeman pulled Rousseau’s arm off of the mat and stood up, earning a point with the escape. Tiedeman, a junior, spent most of the third round repelling desperate attempts by Rousseau to gain control, and hung on for the 1-0 win.

“He put his arm down, I grabbed it and got him off balance,” Tiedeman explained. “After I got the lead, I just kept throwing my legs and rode him out.”

Tiedeman is a perfect 5-0 so far this season against wrestlers who he could face in the individual regionals.

Other Ridgeview winners were sophomore Gabe Guzman at 113 pounds, Saeid Ejmali—one of only three seniors in Ridgeview’s starting lineup— at 138, sophomore Malachi Martin at 152, and heavyweight Nai Rousseau.

Orange Park coach Justin Daniels took encouragement from the Raiders’ loss.

“The result was what I expected,” said Daniels. “But this was an improvement from the last time we saw them [Creekside].”

The Raiders were smelling an upset when Cameron Broughton and Dean Garci won the first two matches of the night for Orange Park at the 120 and 126 pound weight classes. But the match quickly soured, as Creekside reeled off five straight wins and received two forfeits from the 132 to the 182 weight classes to take control.

Reed Danielson brought the skid to a halt by pinning Creekside’s Trey Chesser in the third round of a match tied at 4. Danielson, wrestling in the 195 pound weight class, won despite being penalized a point for an illegal throw.

“Reed likes that big throw,” commented Daniels. “It sets the tone for the match, and it sometimes gets him in trouble.”

Freshman Devon Bailey was the other Orange Park winner. Ahead 2-0, the 106-pounder pinned the Knights’ Kai Pelleriti with just eight seconds remaining in the first round.

“He is a scrappy kid,” Daniels said of Bailey. “Once he learns to slow down, he is going to be really good.”