- April 24, 2024
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After two full days of wrestling, it came down to the final seconds Saturday night for two Matanzas High School wrestlers.
James Rumph (220 pounds) lost a tough 11-5 decision to Mathew Sheffield, of Fort Walton Beach, in the finals.
In the 285-pound finals, Steven Moseley lost 5-3 to Devon Brooks, of Orange Park, on a take down with less than 15 seconds in the final period.
Despite losing the regional finals, however, both Rumph and Moseley advanced to this weekend’s state finals, which will take place Friday, Feb. 15, and Saturday, Feb. 16, at The Lakeland Center.
The finals feature the top 16 wrestlers from Florida’s four regions.
A trip to the state finals is a first for both Rumph and Moseley, who are practice partners throughout the season.
“They work hard and they push each other,” Matanzas coach John White said Saturday afternoon. “I have really seen them develop throughout this season. They started off great, but they’ve gotten better as the year has gone on, and I think we see the results today.”
Rumph will enter the state finals with a 15-6 record; Moseley has a 31-9 record.
As a team, Matanzas finished in 10th place out of 24 teams, tallying 64 points. Lincoln High School, from Tallahassee, finished in first with 132 points.
White would’ve liked to finish higher, but finishing in the top 10 was his goal.
In the week leading up to states, White said worrying about weight won’t be an issue for Rumph and Moseley.
“We’re going to focus on maybe eliminating a few mistakes that we saw this weekend and continue to focus on fundamentals,” White said.
Follow @aobrien7 on Twitter for coverage of this weekend’s state wrestling finals.
FPC QUALIFIES TWO FOR STATES
Two Flagler Palm Coast wrestlers qualified for the Class 3A state wrestling finals, which will take place Friday, Feb. 15, and Saturday, Feb. 16, at The Lakeland Center.
Alfred Shavers (113 pounds) lost in the regional championship, 11-3, to Austin Day, of Winter Springs.
Shavers heads into the final 16 with a 37-9 record.
Jake Kosachiner (120 pounds) lost in the consolation finals, 13-0, to Chuck Weiss, of Lake Mary.
Kosachiner heads into the final 16 with a 37-9 record.
FPC finished 10th in the Region 1-3A championships with 56 team points. Winter Springs won the region with 174.50 points.
