Wakulla falls short at 1A Regional Duals
By WALT JACOBS
Correspondent
Coliseums have occupied landscapes all over the world from the times of ancient Rome to modern day America. No matter where one has stood or currently stands, it has always been a place of blood, sweat, and tears. It is a place of immense jubilation and extreme sorrow. Only those who have stood in the middle of the arena can completely comprehend the heights and depths of either.
The Suwannee Coliseum in Live Oak was the site where the top two finishers from 1A District 1 and District 2 were scheduled to meet to vie for a spot in the regional championship finals to be held later in Kissimmee.
In the first round, District 1 champ Bay High was set to face off against District 2 runner-up Wakulla. The District 1 runner-up North Bay Haven, did not make the trip due to extenuating circumstances, consequently, Suwannee advanced to round two by forfeit.
Only six days earlier, Wakulla defeated Bay High 68-5. This time, Bay came with a plan and prepared to battle. The contest began at the 128-pound weight class and when the 215-pound weight class had concluded Bay led Wakulla by a slim margin 29-23. A pin by Blake Barodte over Bay’s Robert Peters tied the score 29-29. Subsequently, Brayden Hodges collected a forfeit putting the War Eagles ahead by 6. Bay would have to win the final two matches and one of those would have to be a pin. At 113, Patrick Cooksey quickly dashed Bay’s hopes and secured Wakulla’s win with a pin over Aiden Davis. Matthew Thaxton followed that up with a pin over Kristian Amaya bringing the final score to Wakulla 47 Bay 29.
Lately, Wakulla’s arch-nemesis has been the Suwannee Bulldogs. For the past two seasons, the Bulldogs have been the obstacle preventing the War Eagles from winning the region. The last time Wakulla advanced to the regional championship was in 2022 when they squeaked out a win over the Bulldogs 31-30. At the conclusion of that contest, the score was tied 30-30. To break the tie, the officials consulted the tie-breaking criteria and Wakulla was declared the winner on the merits of having scored first more times throughout the dual.
So far this season, Wakulla and Suwannee have battled on two occasions. Wakulla won the first dual 45-32 on December 12th and Suwannee won the second meeting 42-30 on December 30th.
Much more was at stake this time around. The winner would advance to the regional final and would be among the favorites to secure a place in the state finals.
The dual began at 132 pounds and Suwannee came out with its foot firmly on the gas and never slowed down except on a few brief occasions.
Wakulla notched wins from Colt Sanders at 138 and Troy Thaxton at 144. Sanders got a major decision over Jonathan Gonzalez and Thaxton pinned Jose Garcia in 2:26.
By the time the dual reached 126, where William Harvey secured a 17-2 technical fall over Rylan Milian, Suwannee had already firmly seized victory. The final score was Suwannee 55 and Wakulla 15.
Wakulla had a few close contests throughout the dual that slipped away. Patrick Cooksey lost a close, but high scoring match 18-13 at 113. Nate Jacobs lost a 5-3 heartbreaker versus an opponent that he was previously 3-0 against. Blake Barodte did an outstanding job in a losing effort, while filling in the void left by the loss of Mason Blair.
After the dual, Suwannee head coach John Wainwright commented, “The district continues to push each team to get better every year. Wakulla, Florida High, and Suwannee all seem to be preparing wrestlers to compete against South Florida. This year’s tournament,” he said, “was very competitive. I look forward to watching Coach Litowsky and Coach Phillips battle next year.”
GATOR BRAWL
On January 17th and 18th, the War Eagles headed to Wewahitchka High School to compete in their annual Gator Brawl. The team enjoyed a lot of success over the course of the two-day tournament. Wakulla had four wrestlers in the finals and six wrestlers placed in the top four.
Nate Jacobs was the War Eagles’ lone champion at 144 pounds. In a field of 19 teams, Wakulla finished second as a team, behind Middleburg.
GATOR BRAWL
RECORDS AND PLACEMENT
106-Brayden Hodges: 2-3/6th; 113-Patrick Cooksey: 6-3/4th; 120-Matthew Thaxton: 7-2/2nd; 126-William Harvey: 4-0/14th; 132-Caleb Thompson: 3-6/13th; 132-Zach Wardrup: 0-3/16th; 138-Colt Sanders: 7-1/2nd; 144-Nate Jacobs: 9-0/1st; 150-Aaron Robinson: 4-1/2nd; 157-Auston Ryals: 5-4/7th; 165-Cole Manning: 6-4/8th; 165-Gavin Mitchell: 6-4/9th; 175-Wyatt Brown: 4-1/7th; 215-Blake Barodte: 4-1/3rd; 215-Noah Vernon: 3-2/5th
RYAN BLACKWELL GIRLS INVITE
The Lady War Eagles competed in Gulf Breeze on Saturday, January 18th, in the Ryan Blackwell Girls invite. Julia Baggett compiled a 2-1 record. Both victories came by pinfall and garnered her 2nd place in the tournament. Abbie Blanchard went 2-2 and placed 4th.
WRESTLER of the WEEK
Nate Jacobs
“Nate experienced a tough upset at Suwannee, falling in the final seconds of the match. Instead of letting that moment define him, he used it as fuel and at Gator Brawl he showcased absolute dominance and skill going undefeated on the weekend without anyone coming close.”
Coach Nate Litowski
COACH’S CORNER
“We came up short at Regionals. Now it’s time to breathe, refocus, chase greatness and get our guys to Silver Spurs.”
– Coach Nate Litowsky
