BRANDON — It’s been a back-and-forth between Lake Gibson and Jesuit high schools the last several years and that was once again the case in the Class 2A, Region 2 IBT tournament Saturday at Brandon High School.
And once more, Lake Gibson found itself on top for its ninth regional championship in a row and 10th overall. The Braves will take 12 of its 14 to state, which is slated for Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.
“We knew it was going to be tough. Obviously, there’s a lot of good schools in this region. And we were facing Jesuit again, so I knew that was going to be a challenge. … We lost some individuals out of our lineup who are not going to state that were big components that we were banking on for next week. We took some shots. … But I guess the motto for this week was survive and advance, which we did just that. I just wish we could have gotten all 14. We were in position to (advance) all 14 but we didn’t. Twelve is a good number,” Lake Gibson Hall of Fame head wrestling coach Danny Walker said after the match.
Those 12 and the entire team contributed to a team score of 274.5, while Lakeland was sixth with 96 points, Auburndale placed 10th with 49, Kathleen finished 17th with 32 and Lake Region registered 18th with 30 points.
For Lake Gibson, there were some good trends that helped the program rack up all these points. But Walker said he would like his team finish off matches.
One district champion who finished off his match was Lake Gibson senior wrestler Tyler White (126 pounds, 30-6), who won a 8-7 decision over Jesuit’s Ethan Smith. White was able to execute several takedowns and sweeps, which eventually wore down Smith.
“It feels great. I got third my sophomore year. I was runner-up my junior year. So, to finish the job and get first against a familiar opponent, it feels good,” White said.
Other individual regional champions were the following: Lake Gibson’s Jaxson Hackett (106, 43-6), Lake Gibson’s RJ Phelan (113, 21-3), Lake Gibson’s Roberto De Jesus (132, 31-5), Lake Gibson’s Jaxson Arfaras (157, 35-16) and Lake Gibson’s Jeremiah Chavis (215, 38-4).
And, along with these champions, the following Class 2A, Region 2 Polk County high school wrestlers will head to state: Auburndale’s Daniel Buford (126, third, 39-17), Lake Gibson’s Isaac Lowe (144, second, 32-14), Lakeland’s Travonte Burgess (150, second, 55-5), Lake Gibson’s Spencer Timm (150, fourth, 30-17), Lake Gibson’s Konstantin Khaspekian (165, second, 28-10), Lakeland’s Mateo Martinez (165, third, 43-12), Lake Gibson’s Paul Wright (175, third), Lakeland’s Xazavien Lamones (175, fourth, 30-13), Lake Gibson’s Mason Desandolo (190, second, 27-14), Kathleen’s Ryder Osborn (190, fourth, 27-14), Lake Gibson’s Leyland Callahan (285, third, 35-10) and Lake Region’s Jakari Johnson (285, fourth, 19-5).
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Gibson wrestling wins a 10th regional title, advances 12 to state
Reporting by Robert Magobet, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
