Twenty-one Clay County wrestlers will take to the mats with some of the best athletes in the state today through Saturday in Lakeland at the state championships.
Two of the county’s contingent are undefeated – Clay High two-time state champ Cory Baudendistel (135 pounds) and Ridgeview’s Stephon Cohens (130). They go into their respective divisions (1A for Clay and 2A for Ridgeview) as favorites to win state titles.
Three other wrestlers – Clay’s Garret Soileau (45-2 at 112) and Steven Joseph (46-1 at 119), and Fleming Island’s Adam Taylor (35-2 at 145) – have two or fewer losses this season, but will be hard to beat as they ascend the ladder toward the championship final.
And still others, such as Ridgeview freshman Jonathan Dixon (33-4 at heavyweight), Clay’s Seth Siemenski (20-3 at 171) and Fleming Island’s Mike Snavely (27-4 at 171) are capable of getting hot and making serious runs at titles.
Clay, which won the state championship in 2004, will again be back in the thick of things in the Class 1A team race. The Blue Devils had a phenomenal regional tournament, defeating second-place Suwannee by 56 points and sending all 11 of their entrants onto states, four of them as regional champs. No Clay wrestler finished worse than third. (Clay didn’t have entries in three weight classes.)
Fleming Island was third in the Region 1-2A tournament, sending five individuals to states.
Ridgeview sends three athletes to the 2A state competition, while Middleburg will have two wrestlers in the field.
