Weekend UpdateReport From DurantBy: KW

With only 3 Dade County teams in attendance, it is hard to see where these wrestlers will stand come GMAC time, but we got a chance to see how they compare with some of the best teams in any classification.

103 - The only wrestler present was Jacob Grant SD. He had a good showing for his first high school tournament (2 - 2), but he will not be the starter come the end of the year.

112 - Quintavian McPhearson SD placed 4th, but was 1 bad call away from being in the Finals. Jonathan Olivera SW was there but got disqualified from the tournament Friday night as he was wrestling the eventual champion. Not sure what happened, so I won't speculate. Braddock's wrestler Julio Fernandez did not do very well.

119 - Omi Acosta SD took a big jump to the head of the list for Dade's best wrestler in what could become a very loaded weight class with his semi final win over Gabriel Chandler Brad by a score of 7 - 5. Acosta's luck ended with an injury in the Finals vs Pete Baldwin of Osceola. Chandler did not rebound in an extremely loaded weight class and fell to 6th place. Southwest's Shaddy did not win a match.

125 - Mario Montoto Brad was seeded 6th, but made it to the Finals before he was pinned by Scottie Sentes of Riverdale. This showing should move Mario up in the rankings. Southwest's Joel Blanco did not have a good draw, he lost to Mario in the first round and Matt Jones of Osceola in the wrestlebacks. South Dade's Josh Williams did not preform as expected.

130 - Rat is still the top of Dade County, even with his last second loss to Brett Jorge of Lake Gibson. Southwest's Oxsunn Ramirez had 2 pins and was in the quarterfinals before an injury forced him out of the tournament. Braddock's Fitz Rodriguez looked decent and might have won some more matches if he didn't have to wrestle SW's Ramirez in the first round.

135 - Wilson Metelus SD had 2 first period pins and a 7 point semi victory before he fell to Aron Sanchez Riverdale in the finals. Randy Pineyro Brad lost in the first round, but stormed back with 5 wins in the consolation bracket to place 5th. Southwest's Uxsunn Ramirez did not wrestle in this tournament.

140 - South Dade's Tico Baez is still the best wrestler in his weight class in the state. Tico started the tournament with 3 first period pins and finished with 2 minor decisions including a 3 - 2 victory over 2time State Placer Gabriel Bird. Braddock's Danny Villalobos only wrestled Dade County wrestlers on Friday (1st match vs SW, 2nd match vs Tico). Danny was 1 match from placing. Southwest's Joel Blanco had 2 pins for the tournament, but was pinned by Villalobos of Braddock.

145 - Elyse Fontaine SD, had an excellent showing in his first tournament. Elyse recorded 2 pins and 2 major decisions on his way to a 5th place finish. Braddock's Jhonathan Medina wreslter well, recording 3 pins and a minor decision before he was eliminated 1 match away from placing. Southwest's Daniel Campos went 1 - 2 with a pin. Danny had the unfortunate luck of facing Medina Brad in the first round (1 of 3 times Brad and SW meet in the 1st round).

152 - Daniel Perez Brad had a pretty good tournament and placed 4th. Danny lost his first match, but had 5 straight victories in the wrestlebacks to set up a rematch with Thad Klenovich of Springstead (who defeated Daniel in the first round). Danny went 5 - 2, but only lost to 1 wrestler. South Dade's Daren Anguiano did well in his first match as a Varsity wrestler. Daren had 3 pins and a major on his way to a 6th place finish. Southwest's Alex Porras went 2 - 2 on the weekend with 2 pins.

160 - Luis Montalvo pinned his way through the tournament. Should have been considered for heavyweight OW, but the weight class was not loaded as 171. Both Eddy Rodriguez SW and Javier Hernandez Brad did not win a match.
171 - Shawn King went 4 - 2 with 3 pins en route to a 4th place finish. Eddie Torres SW went 3 - 2 with 3 pins, but did not place, he was 1 match away. He lost to Champion Jacob Harmer and the 6th place finisher Chris Cox from Olympia. Chrisitian Lopez Brad did not win a match.

189 - Travus Webster SD was unseeded but on the strength of 4 pins he finished 4th. Steven Caballero Brad went 3 - 2 with 2 pins, he looked good coming off of football season.

215 - Both Southwest and South Dade had some new wrestlers who did ok, each attained a record of 1 - 2. Melvin Amaya SD and Giovanni Garzon SW.

285 - South Dade's Wain Elliton earned 1 pin to pick up some bonus points for South Dade. I expected more for Joe Vazquez of Southwest, but I'm not sure what happened as I didn't get to see him wrestle on Friday.

South Dade missing 3 wrestlers still had a great showing. They got some big points from some unexpected sources, but also got a goose egg where they can not afford to be held scoreless.

Braddock could have had more than 4 placers, but had some bad first round draws. Randy and Danny showed some great poise by placing high after losing their first match. Having Eric out of the line up might have hurt the morale of Braddock.

Southwest did not have a tournament that Mendez would have liked to have. I didn't get to see very many of their matches on Saturday. I fully expect that the Eagles will be healthier when the season winds down in Janurary.