Key West and Coral Shores sent their best wrestlers to Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale on March 1 for the FHSAA 1A Region 4 championships. There, the Conchs and Hurricanes competed against the top talent from a pool of 34 teams.
When the final match was scored, Key West was third in the region, with Coral Shores in eighth. Key West’s impressive team placement was fueled, in part, with a first-place finisher in 175-pound Alfredo Corrales. Corrales, a senior, is the new regional champ, and will represent the Southernmost City at the FHSAA 1A State Championships at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee this week.
Corrales will not be the only athlete wearing a Conch singlet at states; three more Key West grapplers qualified with top-four finishes at regionals. Abram Canet was the regional runner-up at 132 pounds and Jake Ferguson (120) and James Searcy (150) each placed fourth for an automatic bid to the big show. Joining the gentlemen will be Maria Halushka, who placed third in the girls competition on Feb. 22.
Joining the Conch five will be a trio of talent from the Upper Keys. Coral Shores’ Sebastian McCoy punched his ticket by securing the regional runner-up spot at 120 pounds. Costa Tuttle at 106 pounds and 150-pounder David Beltran each finished in the third-place spot in their weight classes, making it a total of eight athletes from the Keys competing at the highest level in prep wrestling.
Weigh-ins and round one begin Thursday, March 6, with later rounds and the semifinals on March 7. Finals are scheduled for March 8, when state medalists will be determined.
