Monroe County wrestlers were busy last weekend in their relentless pursuit of a state tournament bid. The boys grappled their way through the FHSAA 1A District 16 brackets for a chance to move on to regionals on Feb. 24 and 25 at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Ft. Lauderdale. The district contest was held in Bobby Menendez gym at Key West High School on Feb. 17, and the Conchs certainly made the most of the home mat advantage.
Coach Chaz Jimenez and his wrestling Conchs won the 14th consecutive district title for Key West, with all 14 athletes qualifying for the next step on the road to states. Nine Conchs were named district champions in their weight classes as Abram Canet, Dostmukhammad Bakhtiyorov, James Searcy, Alfredo Corrales, Alexander Marcotte, Elijah Miranda, Weston Andrews, Ralph Riche and Andre Otto captured a distinct advantage in their brackets heading into regionals.
Lazaro Diaz was the district runner up in his weight class, Justin Tran finished third, Skylar Fosshage and Morgan Sukion were fourth, and Prometheus Delacercla finished fifth in his bracket. The top four in each weight class automatically qualify for regionals, with occasional at-large bids available for wrestlers in challenging districts, as was the case for Delacercla.
Key West won’t be alone at Gibbons this weekend as Coral Shores advanced five athletes to regionals. The top Hurricane wrestler was Finn McDonough in second place, followed by third place finisher Sebastian McCoy and fourth place finishers Devin Smith, Jayden Angel and Jack Hill. The ‘Canes finished sixth as a team in the district tournament.
While the boys were at home extending their school record, the girls were in Wellington for the FHSAA 1A Regional Championship tournament. The Lady Conchs finished in seventh place as a team, though their qualifying team included just four athletes. In comparison, multiple teams with eight, nine and even 10 athletes finished well below Key West in the 28-school event. The successful showing was even more impressive for a team in its inaugural year.
Ailee Briggs led the girls, winning a runner-up medal and sealing an appearance at the state event. Shannon Brigs and Sheyla Figueira both captured third place medals and will join Ailee at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee for the FHSAA State Championships, held on March 2-4. There they will be joined by the boys team, creating a sea of crimson and gray to cheer them on in a season that has already helped solidify the Conch tradition of victory on the mats.
