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Tussle of Muscle Holy Smokes!

By Randy Lefko Sports Editor
Posted 2/19/20

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Fleming Island High wrestler Gannon Janssen opened the Tussle of Muscle dual match against Clay High, at Clay High School, with a thunderously fast pin over Clay’s …

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Tussle of Muscle Holy Smokes!


Posted


GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Fleming Island High wrestler Gannon Janssen opened the Tussle of Muscle dual match against Clay High, at Clay High School, with a thunderously fast pin over Clay’s Dominic Martin to set the tone for the rest of the night in the annual wrestlefest between the two storied programs as Fleming Island blasted a 48-12 win for their fourth straight Tussle of Muscle title.

District Tournaments
District 1-3A: FIHS, OHS at Nease, Sat., Feb. 22, 3 p.m. finals
District 2-2A: OPHS, MHS at Lincoln, Sat., Feb. 22, 5 p.m. finals
District 4-1A: RHS, CHS at Clay, Thurs., Feb. 19, 5 p.m. finals
District 5-1A: KHHS at Pedro Menendez, Thurs., Feb. 19, TBD

For Fleming Island coach P.J. Cobbert, who had mentioned earlier in the season that he wanted to bring his team back to “old school” wrestling to try and wrestle away a state title from state champion South Dade, the contest was a short message.
“Keeping matches close means nothing to us,” said Cobbert. “We don’t wrestle to not get pinned. That’s the difference in the two programs. Clay’s tough, their kids got pride, but we want to win every single match we go to. It’s a great rivalry; all the kids know each other, the parents work together. It’s great for wrestling.”
For Clay coach Hunter Hill, the shell shock of the ferocity was apparent.
“Shoot, P.J. does a great job of just putting guys up front and being strong,” said Hill. “Our strategy was to try and create scrambles and maybe get a a little luck on the rolls. We were definitely the underdogs here.”
Janssen quick finish of Martin was followed by a slugfest rematch between Fleming Island’s Tanner Hill and Clay Cale Hoskinson after their epic 3-1 Clay Rotary championship match just five days ago. Both wrestlers danced through the first period without fanfare before both scored one point escapes to score the match 1-1 into the third period.
In the third, Hill, staying low in front of Hoskinson, executed a lightning fast single leg takedown with a minute left in the match. Hoskinson would get one more point, 3-2, on an escape with Hill snagging a strong front headlock that ended with no score as time ran out.
At 160, Fleming Island freshman Jhoel Robinson was too fast and too strong for Clay senior Tucker Reape, but Reape was able to wrangle out of scoring holds throughout the match before succumbing to a twisted knee to lose 9-1.
At 170, Class 3A second ranked Luke Chop dismantled Clay’s Isiah Clifford to the tune of a first period pin to put Fleming Island up 19-0.
One guy on the sideline, a former state meet 170 pounder for Fleming Island, was Heath Whiddon, returning to the mats and assisting Cobbert in his coaching.
“I just try and keep up with coach P.J. and say the right things,” said Whiddon, who also had two-time state champion Briar Jackson on his side as well as 182 pounder Anthony Breeden helping out. “I’m Cobbert trained, so there’s no dilemma in me saying stuff out of school. It was cool to see other alums out here in this type of match.”
At 182, Fleming Island’s Gavin Smith bumped up to face Clay’s Jordan Bell, got a quick inside trip in the first period as showcased good mat speed over the bigger Bell to win a 5-2 match.
At 195, Nick Janssen and Clay’s Joe Grelli, an athletic offensive lineman for the Blue Devils, had one of the more grueling matches with a 1-0 score into the third finished with a flurry in the final 24 seconds to put Janssen up 3-1 and Fleming Island with a 25-0 lead as the Clay strong crowd simmered.
“We kept telling them to get the little victories, an escape here, a close finish here, but they were ready to skunk us, I think,” said Hill. “We got a few wins and that’s a plus for us and those guys can walk away knowing they won a big one, but Fleming Island is strong top to bottom.”
At 220, with the state’s top ranked wrestler in Class 3A, Chad Nix, sitting out, Jeffrey Lascano stepped up against a taller Garrett Tyre with both wrestlers attempting to position for underhook throws throughout the match. At the end of three periods, with the score tied at 1-1, Lascano was able to grab a single leg takedown to win in overtime 3-1 and put Fleming Island up 28-0.
In the heavyweights would be where Clay would get some team points with massive Derrek Mosley able to out-muscle Fleming Island’s Raul Gonzalez in overtime after a 1-1 match. Gonzalez chose to defer to Mosley in the first of two 30 seconds rounds of escape possibilities and the gamble went to Mosley who was able to escape in round one, then hold on to Gonzalez in round two for the win.
As the lighter weights opened, with Fleming Island forfeiting at 106, a Tussle of Muscle rematch was imminent with Clay’s Tazz Hampton, still recovering from mononucleosis, putting himself on the mat to face Hunter Herrington in a match Hampton won last year.
“I knew the team needed me get out there,” said Hampton, prior to the match. “I didn’t know what my wrestling shape would be, but I knew I was going to fight it out.”
Herrington fired out to a quick 6-2 lead off a fast-moving offense with Hampton’s points coming off escape moves.
Herrington continued his attack on Hampton wanting to forget last year’s match, but Hampton was able to wiggle out of a near fall situation only to be thrown violently to his head late in the second causing a stop in action as officials wrangled over the throw.
Hampton gallantly returned to the match and was able to survive through a 14-4 loss to give up just four team points instead of six with Fleming Island now up 32-9.
In Clay’s second rematch in five days with Fleming Island, Luke Davis answered critics with a second win over Fleming Island’s Ryan Hobson after his pin in the semifinals at the Clay Rotary. Davis eeked out a 3-1 win to bring the score to 32-12.
From there, Fleming Island finished up with Riley Holton tossing around Josh Kumpf to a 13-1 win, Isaac Padgett pinning Aidan Mayo and Tyler Williams dropping an Easton pin hold on Luke Boree to end the night at 48-12.