A roundup of Southwest Florida high school sports, including flag football, softball, and weightlifting from May 4-9, 2026:
WEDNESDAY
Class 2A Boys Weightlifting
LaBelle’s Justin Thach won the Traditional 129 weight class state championship with a lift of 485 pounds, helping the Cowboys to a fourth-place team finish in Traditional. LaBelle finished tied for 4th in Olympic. Marquay Bradshaw placed second in Olympic (570 pounds) and third in Traditional (630) at 199 pounds. Jacquay Bradshaw took 3rd in Olympic (590) at 219 pounds and tied the state record for the snatch lift (270 pounds).
Fort Myers’ David Arthur was third in Traditional for 129 with a 445-pound lift and second for Olympic with 385 pounds. The Green Wave’s Ryan Malkani was fourth at 183 in Olympic with a lift of 530.
Dunbar’s Sandler Pierre was fifth for Traditional (675) and fifth Olympic (535) at 219 pounds. Riverdale’s Stefan Moerschel placed sixth at 169 Traditional.
MONDAY
Flag Football
Dr. Joaquín García 13, Bonita Springs 7: Monday night’s Region 2A-4 flag football semifinal had the makings of another defensive battle. But this time, it was Bonita Springs that was out-defended.
The Bull Sharks’ undefeated run came to an end with a 13-7 loss to Dr. Joaquín García. They completed their third season with a 19-1 record while the Bulldogs (14-5) earned a happy bus ride back to Palm Beach County and a bid for a regional championship.
“In year three, going 19-1 playing six or seven out of county games and winning all but one of them, that’s a great step forward for us,” Bonita coach Thomas McGuire said. “Winning the district championship is a great step forward for us. It’s developing a culture. There’s not a girl on this team that wasn’t crying after the game.”
The heartbreak of it was that the Bull Sharks had led the game from the second quarter until midway through the fourth. But errors – some forced, some not – opened the door for the Bulldogs to score 13 unanswered points and claim the win.
“I knew that this was a team that was going to have an athletic edge on us, McGuire said. “And I said our goal was just to be decisive and sometimes we made the wrong decisions.”
García’s defense kept Bonita quarterback Kinsley Brereton off her game, picking off three of her passes and sacking her 7 times.
With Bonita up 7-6, the Bulldogs marshalled a drive down the field. Defensive back Morgan Dahlke made a touchdown-saving flag pull at the 2 yard line, and then linebacker Kylee Terry broke up a pass in the end zone, making it fourth-and-goal.
But the Bulldogs saved a trick for the right moment. After playing nearly the whole game doing no-hands blocking as a sort of slot back, running back Addison Kolnick took a direct snap. Nobody saw it coming, and she scored easily.
Late in the first quarter, Terry intercepted a pass with nothing but grass in front of her. But her flag had fallen off and she looked back, thinking that the play was over. When she realized it was not, she started running and lost control of the ball and the play was whistled dead at the García 30.
Fortunately for the Bull Sharks, it was not a missed opportunity, it just took much longer to cash it. Karol Blanco-Ortiz converted a fourth down by catching 10-yard pass from Brereton at the 19-yard line. Then Brereton threw back-to-back passes on third and fourth down to Jaslene Garcia for a touchdown. Blanco-Ortiz took an option pitch and passed to Kyleigh Weick to complete the point after and make it 7-0.
Things took a turn late in the third quarter when, in a play from the Bull Sharks’ 16, Brereton threw an interception that Milana Butmankiewicz brought to the 2 as time expired. Quarterback Maliyah Newton started the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass to Brianna Stockhausen. The Bulldogs failed to convert the PAT, so Bonita Springs continued to lead the game until the Kolnick score.
Brereton completed 22 of 32 passes for 139 yards. Blanco-Ortiz caught 8 passes for 62 yards.
— Dave Montrose
Northwestern 20, Bishop Verot 0: The Vikings (14-2) saw their season end at Traz Powell Stadium. In the loss, Lila Dinkel completed 10 of 21 passes for 86 yards, adding 49 yards rushing. The senior had 6 flag pulls (2 for loss), 1 sack, and a pair of interceptions on defense. Caroline Ward added 5 receptions for 56 yards and 4 flag pulls.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: SWFL Roundup: LaBelle weightlifter captures Class 2A state title
Reporting by Alex Martin, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
