Florida wrestlers win nine national titles at NHSCA | 51 All-Americans
BY BRANT PARSONS — The state of Florida performed well at the NHSCA Nationals this weekend in Virginia Beach with nine wrestlers winning titles and 51 total wrestlers finishing the weekend on the podium.
Here’s a look at how Florida did:
National Champions
100: Paola Perez (Mater Lakes Academy) p. Pia Hill (CA) 1:08
Perez won all but one of her matches by fall, including the championship.
152: Howard Hill (St. Johns Country Day) dec. Lucas Drake (PA) 8-3
The freshman battled through each round to win the title, winning three straight decisions at the end to win the national title.
138: Illia Kyryianenko (South Broward) dec. Timmy Boda (Merritt Island) 14-7
The two Florida sophomores battled it out in the championship match with Kyryianenko jumping out to a big lead in the first and then holding on to win.
220: Colton Bell (Lake Highland Prep) dec. Bruno Pallone (MT) 1-0
The Lake Highland Prep sophomore beat the top seeded wrestler in the bracket after riding him the entire third period.
285: Grant Silverfield (Lake Highland Prep) p. Kolton Kemp (PA) 3:33
The explosive sophomore controlled the final from the start, scoring four takedowns before winning the national title by fall.
152: Charlie Desena (Lake Highland Prep) p. Bentley Sly (NC) 2:56
Desena dominated all of his matches in the senior division, winning the final by fall after jumping out to a 6-0 lead.
160: Zeno Moore (Lake Highland Prep) dec. Tucker Roybal (UT) 10-5
Lake Highland’s Moore won his second straight NHSCA national title after winning it as junior last year.
170: Nadav Nafshi (Lake Highland Prep) p. Jackson Angelo (Lake Highland Prep) 0:49
The senior Nafshi won the battle of teammates in the final by fall.
127: Roy Barak (Florida) dec. Dean Senteney (IN) 4-0
Barak went 6-0 on Sunday to win a national middle school title.
Girls
Third place
100: Carson Robertson (SC) dec. Rebecca Marin (Doral Academy) 9-6
132: Willow White (South Dade) d. Kimber Alford (AL) MFF
285: Avyon Bonner (CA) p. Zeinab Mourad (Douglas) 3:01
Fifth place
107: Grace Jawulski (Brandon) tech. Josie Wilson (KS) 19-2
145: Jameson Strickland (PA) dec. Lyla Kasztner (Florida) 5-4
185: Selieni Paseka (CA) p. Arheanna Bryan (Taravella) 2:53
Seventh place
100: Kylie-Ann Thatch (CA) p. Alexandra Thomas (Cooper City) 3:18
185: LaNesha Gause (NC) p. Makayla Ocean (Archbishop McCarthy) 1:17
Freshman
Finals
126: Alex Marchetti (PA) maj. Lucas Barrios (Mater Academy) 10-2
Third place
120: Riley Alcantar (Florida) p. Kane Drake (Jensen Beach) 2:25
126: Ethan Reilly (Lake Highland Prep) maj. Jalel Naghib (St. John Neumann) 11-0
Seventh place
182: Bryce Velez (Citrus) dec. Luke Nichols (GA) 15-8
Sophomores
Fifth place
138: Bruce Li (Mater Lakes) p. Joe Scott (NY) 2:44
Seventh place
160: Manny Gusfa (NJ) maj. Rocco Ruiz (Columbus) 15-3
Juniors
Third place
170: Braylon Stewart (LA) dec. Vlad Chechkovsky (Tocoi Creek) 4-1
Fifth place
120: Lazaro Soto (Southwest Miami) dec. Derion Williams (OH) 4-2
132: Reid Yakes (Tampa Jesuit) dec. Gabriel Serros (NM) 8-5
145: Mason Basile (Tampa Jesuit) p. Xavier Gonzalez (SC) 2:35
182: Shepard Stephens (UT) dec. Kyle Gallo (Zephyrhills Christian) 6-5
220: Mark Feldman (PA) maj. Gregory Reyes (Jensen Beach) 13-2
Seventh place
160: Konstantin Khaspekian (Lake Gibson) p. Ryker Cox (NY) 2:46
285: Austin Goodpaster (KY) p. Tyce Cole (Jefferson) 1:55
Seniors
Third place
138: Yandel Morales (Lake Highland Prep) maj. Blake Boyer (PA) 18-5
285: Kaz Morosetti (RI) dec. Blake Elder (Jensen Beach) 4-0
Fifth place
113: Gary Mendez (Mater Academy) tech. Joseph Gamez (CO) 17-1
138: Clint Plotner-Legg (Lake Highland Prep) d. John Stewart (AL) MFF
195: Daniel Damm (West Boca) p. Malaki Washington (WV) 3:05
220: Kaden Cryer (CA) p. Kaleb Johns (Springstead) 13-2
Seventh place
126: Caleb Gauthier (Palm Harbor University) p. Bryce Schnelzer (VA) 3:31
285: Luis Jimenez (Brandon) d. Avery Rhymer (NC) MFF
Middle school
Finals
230: Zachary Leftwich (VA) p. Gable Herl (Florida) 2:02
Third place
112: Lucas Layne (Florida) dec. Jett Hines (WV) 4-1
119: Davien Martinez (CO) dec. Bryce Stone (Florida) 7-1
Fifth place
112: Ethan Halstead (NC) dec. Noah Desmond (Florida) 6-4
119: Beau Abbott (GA) dec. Cale Wimberly (Florida) 4-1
135: Christian Day (Florida) d. Emmitt Myers (WV) FF
154: Trevor Hess (PA) p. Brody Leal (Florida) 0:48
