Region 3A-1: Preview and Predictions

FRIDAY-SATURDAY FEBRUARY 27-28, 2026 - at DeLand High School

Friday: Weigh-in: 10 a.m. | Wrestling starts: 11:30 a.m.

Saturday: Weigh-in: 8 a.m. | Wrestling starts: 9:30 a.m.

Welcome to one of my favorite traditions - the region previews.

For those that are reading one for the first time, here's a quick summary of what the region preview is.

I look at each bracket notate where wrestlers are ranked in the Kabra Wrestling Rankings and then start to break it down even more. You can find those rankings marked on the bracket images in the previews this year.

I look for head-to-head matchups, common opponents, and how each wrestler has been trending in the stretch run. I then question my rankings - and myself - and play out the entire bracket.

What follows is my best guess for how 3A-1 will play out.

You can print the 3A-1 region bracket here. (PDF)

I've carefully predicted the four state qualifiers in the order that I think the will finish. I've also listed wrestlers that could prove me wrong and make it to Kissimmee.

I will be wrong with these picks, and I'm okay with that. In fact, I love when kids prove me wrong (or prove me right).

These previews and predictions are meant to bring excitement to one of the exhilarating and heartbreaking weekends in sports.

I assure you that I have no bias in my picks and truly wish the best for every wrestler competing this weekend.

And as always, these picks are for entertainment purposes only.

Now onto the preview:

Picks made based on current brackets at 10:00 p.m. on February 25, 2026.

Kabra's Picks

1. #2 Chase Wolgamuth (Hagerty)

2. #3 Jacob Hald (Flagler Palm Coast)

3. #19 Cody Rich (Buchholz)

4. #20 Alec LaVoie (Tocoi Creek)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #21 Achilles Rodriguez (Lake Mary); Ridge Ashmore (Fletcher)

Opening round match to watch: Ashmore vs. Rodriguez

Kabra says: Wolgamuth and Hald met at the state duals with the Hagerty sophomore coming out on top with a second period pin. Rich owns a win this season over LaVoie, so we gave him the edge should they meet in the third place spot. The first round match between Rodriguez and Ashmore will shape the chasing field to get onto the podium here.

Kabra's Picks

1. #7 Vincent Nikollaj (Hagerty)

2. #9 Joseph Dailey (Flagler Palm Coast)

3. #17 Rhett Durden (Bartram Trail)

4. #18 Luke Mims (Creekside)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #20 Ottis Aquino (Timber Creek); #25 Jimmy Godwin (Oviedo)

Opening round match to watch: Mims vs. Godwin

Kabra says: The road to the final is a little smoother for the freshman Nikollaj. He and Dailey have not faced this year and the two have no faced the other two members on our podium. That could make this weight end up looking different than what we envision.

Kabra's Picks

1. #3 Kevin McLean (Flagler Palm Coast)

2. #16 Kaiden Olavarria (DeLand)

3. #20 Zachary Lim (Nease)

4. #21 Jacob Imboden (South Lake)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #24 Trae Ison (First Coast); Joel Rivera (Apopka)

Opening round match to watch: Rivera vs. Judah Blount (Oakleaf)

Kabra says: McLean enters the weekend as one of the bigger favorites in this region. The two-time state placer (third each of the last two years) looks poised to win his second career region title as a sophomore. The rest of the field is more of a toss-up with 6-7 wrestlers having the skillset to reach Kissimmee. A potential Olavarria-Lim quarterfinal looms in this bracket.

Kabra's Picks

1. #3 Mario DiBella (Bartram Trail)

2. #6 Connor Barnes (Oakleaf)

3. #10 Joey Davis (Lake Brantley)

4. #16 James Druda (Creekside)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #20 Sullivan Harkins (Buchholz); #21 Caden Laravuso (Lake Mary)

Opening round match to watch: Jeson Medina (Hagerty) vs. Buster Bossardet (Flagler Palm Coast)

Kabra says: DiBella controlled his district final with Barnes, winning the between returning state placers 7-1. Davis, who is making his fourth region appearance, has wins over Druda and Harkins and is a good pick to book his first trip to Silver Spurs.

Kabra's Picks

1. #7 Robert Twilley (Flagler Palm Coast)

2. #8 Immanuel Gibbs (Tocoi Creek)

3. #12 Brentley Crawley (Hagerty)

4. #20 Jonathan McPherson (Ocoee)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #13 Carmen DiBella (Bartram Trail); #21 Santiago Carrion (Creekside)

Opening round match to watch: Harrison Proulx (Timber Creek) vs. Carrion

Kabra says: Two-time state placer Twilley owns a 10-9 win this season over Gibbs, and that’s enough to earn the top spot on our podium heading into the weekend. The Palm Coast junior beat the transfer from Texas in the final of the Flagler Rotary last month. The bracket separated Twilley and the one wrestler in this field to have a win with Crawley (1-1 this season) on the bottom half. The bracket give and taketh away though and returning state qualifier DiBella could be waiting in the quarterfinals.

Kabra's Picks

1. #3 Sebastian Bonachea (Oakleaf)

2. #9 Raphael Taquechel (Ocoee)

3. #16 Douglas Dowda (Oviedo)

4. #24 Lenny Fries (Flagler Palm Coast)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #25 Sergio Declet (Lake Brantley); Landon Caviness (Tocoi Creek)

Opening round match to watch: Declet vs. Michael Lenz (Creekside)

Kabra says: Three-time state placer Bonachea is solid pick atop this bracket as he looks to end his high school career on the podium again this weekend. Our picks are for the quartet of district champions to advance to Kissimmee and we can’t find any head-to-head matches between any of them.

Kabra's Picks

1. #3 Hunter Jessee (Hagerty)

2. #8 John Antonucci (Tocoi Creek)

3. #21 Jonathan Hipp (Fletcher)

4. Gabriel Moy (Flagler Palm Coast)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Anthony Cromwell (Timber Creek); Joao Cardoso (Olympia)

Opening round match to watch: Anthony Lyle (Sanford Seminole) vs. Jonathan Matthews (Lake Brantley)

Kabra says: Jessee and Antonucci met last month in the finals of the Flagler Rotary and the Hagerty junior came out on top with a 7-1 win by decision. The two are solid favorites to meet in their second finals this weekend. Hipp will look to turn his first region tournament appearance into a podium finish with us expecting Moy to found out the four advancing.

Kabra's Picks

1. #5 Prince Fortuna-Abdullah (Buchholz)

2. #11 Michael Fries (Flagler Palm Coast)

3. #20 Jordan Essix (Ocoee)

4. #21 Aiden Kavades (Orange City University)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #22 Donavan Bain (Oviedo); #24 Aurelio Gutierrez (Hagerty)

Opening round match to watch: Aden Pierce (South Lake) vs. Gutierrez

Kabra says: With a 3-0 head-to-head record this season between the two, Fortuna-Abdullah is our pick to win the region and finish ahead of Fries. The top half of this bracket appears to have the easier path with the bottom of the bracket loaded with ranked wrestlers. It could also include a Kavades-Bain rematch (Kavades won by fall in December) in the quarterfinals that could go a long way to painting how this podium looks.

Kabra's Picks

1. #1 Nikolas Blake (Hagerty)

2. #8 Luke Manghisi (Creekside)

3. #10 Khalil Baker (Lake Mary)

4. #18 Dylan Leamon (Buchholz)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #15 Ronden Ricks (Flagler Palm Coast); #24 Josiah Edwards (Oakleaf)

Opening round match to watch: Leamon vs. Edwards

Kabra says: Blake is not just a big favorite here, he’s one of the bigger favorites in all of Class 3A. The three-time state placer (4th, 2nd, 3rd) is set to continue his quest for a state title with a win here. An intriguing semifinal lurks in the bottom half with Manghisi and Baker lined up to potentially meet. When they met this season at the Bill Scott, the Creekside junior prevailed 9-7. Ricks earned a tough draw with Blake likely waiting in the quarterfinals meaning the Palm Coast junior will need to beat a Top 10 wrestler in the blood round.

Kabra's Picks

1. #5 Benjamin Wolgamuth (Hagerty)

2. #6 Nikita Chechkovsky (Tocoi Creek)

3. #7 Marcus Bouie (Sandalwood)

4. #21 Liam Kealey (Buchholz)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #12 Joseph Foalima (Flagler Palm Coast)

Opening round match to watch: Kealey vs. Dylan White (Bartram Trail)

Kabra says: Could we have another Flagler Rotary final rematch here? Wolgamuth topped the returning state placer Checkhkovsky in the final at Palm Coast, winning a 7-3 decision. The road will be a little tougher on the top with a potential meeting between Wolgamuth and Bouie in the quarterfinals.

Kabra's Picks

1. #1 Gavin Isaacs (Lake Mary)

2. #2 Vladislav Chechkovsky (Tocoi Creek)

3. #12 Larry Mims (Creekside)

4. #15 Uriah Fackler (Ocala Forest)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #17 Malik Bouralham (Bartram Trail); #24 Doyvonne Leadon (Flagler Palm Coast)

Opening round match to watch: Cedric Harris (Oakleaf) vs. Amir Azizov (Horizon)

Kabra says: Oh boy, now this is a potential final that could be worth the price of the admission ticket alone. Both wrestlers are returning state finalists and when they met this past summer, Isaacs scored a 4-0 win. Expect fireworks if they meet again here.

Kabra's Picks

1. #3 Theodore Brase (Fletcher)

2. #4 Killian Lonergan (Creekside)

3. #5 Thomas Thorne (Hagerty)

4. #10 Antonio Browning (Orange City University)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #11 Francis Kealey (Buchholz); Marcus Young (Apopka)

Opening round match to watch: Kealey vs. Antonio Aguilar-Greig (Nease)

Kabra says: Five wrestlers in the top 11 means that at least one state-worthy wrestler will miss out here. This is a tough bracket. Brase holds the edge to win his first region title, holding wins over both Lonergan and Thorne, but his narrow 5-2 decision last week shows that we could see another tough battle if they meet again here. Another district finals rematch could be on display here as we project Browning and Kealey to meet in the blood round. The Orange City University senior won 8-5 in last week’s meeting.

Kabra's Picks

1. #1 Grady Isaacs (Lake Mary)

2. #4 Markyle Bouie (Sandalwood)

3. #5 Silas Metayer (Ocoee)

4. #7 Jude DiCicco (Hagerty)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #11 Bryce Jackson (Horizon); #17 Charlie Thompson (Bartram Trail)

Opening round match to watch: Thompson vs. #23 Brandon Roberts (Apopka)

Kabra says: This bracket will be one to watch. We’ve gone with the four district champions to end up on the podium, but we could see it laid out a few different ways. The only meetings we could find between the four was a 4-2 win for Isaacs over DiCicco in SAC final earlier this month and Metayer topped DiCicco 5-4. Metayer and Jackson could meet for the third time in the blood round here. The Ocoee senior owns two razor-thin victories between the two this season.

Kabra's Picks

1. #1 Renzo Cooligan (Hagerty)

2. #2 Derryl Godbolt (Buchholz)

3. #3 Gerald Logan (DeLand)

4. #7 Braylon Lawrence (Tocoi Creek)

Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #6 Chris Jules (Oakleaf); #8 Tyler Duvermont (Ocoee); #9 Aidan Korth (Flagler Palm Coast); #12 Fuad Maali (Olympia); #13 Jakari Upshaw (Evans)

Opening round match to watch: Lawrence vs. Korth

Kabra says: The top three ranked in the state, seven of the top nine and nine of the top 13 are in this bracket and to be honest, the only one we’re pretty sure about is Cooligan in the top spot. With this weight class being so deep, we’re going to add a whole collection of guys who could prove us wrong. How this podium ends up is a guess at this point, this weight class starts hard and gets tougher.

Next

2026 Region 3A-2 Preview