7 Wakulla wrestlers qualify for state tournament

Clayton Manzi qualifies vs Walt Maddox of Marianna.

By WALT JACOBS
Correspondent

On February 28th, in spite of only having nine wrestlers competing, Wakulla placed second as a team in the 1A Region 1 Championship.

Aaron Robison vs Wyatt Martin of St Johns Country Day School.

Wakulla finished 8 points behind Florida High, which scored 153 points with 13 wrestlers.
North Bay Haven, South Walton, and Suwannee rounded out the top five.
Individually, William Harvey and Brady Jackson won their second consecutive Region Championships each on Saturday.
Harvey defeated Stanton Prep’s Leonardo Torres 11-7 in the 128 pound finals.
Jackson defeated Mikah Ikeda of The Bolles School 8-7 in the 138 pound finals.
Clayton Manzi and Blake Barodte both placed second in their respective weight classes of 165 and 215 pounds.
Aaron Robinson and Troy Thaxton placed third in their weight classes of 144 and 150 pounds.
Robinson pinned Bishop Kenny’s Ryan Hancock. Thaxton won 8-5 over Ry Miller from Cornerstone Classical Academy.
Additionally, Patrick Cooksey placed 4th at 132 pounds.
All seven Wakulla wrestlers punched their tickets for the FHSAA State Championship in Kissimmee. The tournament will be held March 5th-7th.

Blake Barodte vs Brannon Spurlin of Stanton Prep.

Brady Jackson pins Crew Richter of Fernandina Beach.

Patrick Cooksey qualifies vs Carter Delossantos.

Troy Thaxton qualifies vs Brady McAlister of NBH.

William Harvey vs Leonardo Torres of Stanton Prep.

WRESTLERS of the WEEK

COACH’S CORNER

COACH’S CORNER

“It’s been a great week for our guys that competed. We were down 5 guys, we competed hard, and we took second in the Region.”

– Coach Nate Litowsky

CORRECTION

Last week we mistakenly reported that Brady Jackson “set the all-time career takedowns record with 222.” On February 19th, Jackson set the record for the most takedowns in a season with 222. The previous record was set by Julian Harvey in 2022 with 212. We regret the error. Congratulations, Brady.