Sunshine State of Mind
Ortiz, Boe, and Fredenburg claim titles for Florida
Florida led all other states in number of Sophomore champions at NHSCA’s this past weekend. Adaias Ortiz and Lucas Boe of Lake Highland Prep and Madden Fredenburg of Cocoa Beach each claimed titles for the Sunshine State. Just north, Ronan An led a quartet of Georgia sophomores as he claimed the 220 lb. title. Pennsylvania still led the way in terms of number of All Americans with 13 but Florida and North Carolina were in the pack of states hunting the 2nd spot (both states finished with 6 AA’s … Georgia had 4, Alabama had 2, and South Carolina finished with 1 AA).
I realize that An gets the cover photo and that there is some level of cognitive dissonance with the title being Sunshine State of Mind, but the photo is too good to pass up (and I didn’t make one using it after the Georgia State Tournament). Regardless the SE had a great weekend in the Sophomore division with An, Ortiz, Boe, and Fredenburg winning titles and 15 others from the SE making the podium.
Ronan An won six in a row to claim the 220 lb. title over top seed Danny Zmorowski of Ohio (an Ohio D3 State Champ in 2025). An’s toughest match might have come in the semis to New Jersey State Placer Anthony Jackson. An got an early takedown and rode that to a 4-2 decision over the tough Jackson. Although he was tied 1-1 to Zmorowski in the 3rd before getting a takedown and nearfall to claim the title 6-2. An finished his weekend without surrendering an offensive point and outscored his opponents 49-9 (all 9 points came on escapes).
Fredenburg, who was 3rd in Florida in 2025, didn’t give up a single point in 5 matches to claim the 285 lb. title. But many of his matches were exceptionally close. He down Jaden Rakestraw of Georgia 2-0 in the quarters, top seed Caleb Tyler of Pennsylvania 1-0 in the semis, and Colorado’s Champion Dyes 2-0 in the finals. Lake Highland Prep showed that they weren’t just senior heavy this year as two Highlanders claimed titles as Sophomores. Lucas Boe dominated early and won his first 5 matches each with either a fall or technical fall. In the semis he drew Pennsylvania’s Jack Chamberlain, a 2x top 8 finisher at National Preps. Boe used three 1st period takedowns to build a 9-2 lead and then cruised to a 10-6 decision. In the finals, Boe outlasted fellow Floridian Kyle Gallo 2-1 to claim the 160 lb. title.
Adaias Ortiz, the 2024 State Runner-up in 3A at Osceola, has been on a roll as we finished the 2024-2025 high school season. Ortiz came in the 12 seed at National Preps and knocked off everyone except the eventual Champ Matt O’Neill to take 3rd. He continued that roll this weekend … winning his first four matches by fall or technical fall before grinding out a 3 decision wins for the 126 lb. title. The run began with a 5-0 decision over Thomas Baker of Oklahoma in the quarters, then a 1-0 decision of Mason Bauer of Ohio in the semis (Bauer was 3rd in Ohio this past year in D1), and finally a 2-1 win over Kavi Garvey of California in the finals.
All American runs by State:
Alabama
David Hill - 2nd at 113. Hill of Oak Grove was seeded 3rd and showed he deserved every bit of that seed as he ran to the 113 lb. finals. Hill dominated early with falls and technical falls in each of his first 5 matches before being pushed to a full match in the semis with an 11-6 win over Dominick Morrison of Pennsylvania (A PA State Placer). Hill took on Kentucky State Champion Jackson Wells (who is unbeaten in high school) in what would go down as one of the most memorable finals of the 2025 NHSCA’s. Hill got the early takedown, but an escape, a takedown and 4 nearfall put Wells up 8-3 after the 1st period. Hill started with an escape in the 2nd, but was taken down midway through the 2nd and trailed 11-4 before Hill got a reversal and used a turk and a half to take Wells to his back for 4 nearfall. After a wild 11-10 first two periods … the two went scoreless in the final period to give Wells the win.
Sheldon Sharp - 5th at 195. Sharp of Bob Jones won his first match before losing in the Round of 16 to fall into the consis. Sharp then won 3 in a row to make the podium including a 6-4 decision of Trey Robinson of South Carolina in the bloodround. Sharp finished the weekend with a win over Plemons of North Carolina, a loss to Krooner of Ohio before gutting out a 10-9 decision over Potter of Virginia to take 5th.
Florida
Adaias Ortiz - NHSCA 126 lb. Champ
Lucas Boe - NHSCA 160 lb. Champ
Madden Fredenburg - NHSCA 285 lb. Champ
Kyle Gallo - 2nd at 160. Gallo of Zephyrhills Christian was the #7 seed (I believe) won his first four matches with relative ease before taking out the 2 seed Noah Tucker of Maryland 7-5 in the quarters. Gallo followed that up with a 6-5 decision of New York State Placer Wyatt Boice. That win put Gallo in the finals opposite fellow Floridian Lucas Boe. After a scoreless first period, Boe got a reversal to start the 2nd and Gallo quickly got an escape to make it 2-1. Gallo chose bottom in the 3rd but could not get an escape and Boe took the title 2-1.
Miguel Rojas - 4th at 182. Rojas of Lake Highland Prep dominated his first four matches - winning each by technical fall. In the semifinals he lost 3-2 in the ultimate tiebreaker to JT Smith of Nebraska. Rojas finished his weekend with a technical fall of Abel Varzeas of Massachusetts before losing to top seed Eli Knight of West Virginia to take 4th.
Lazaro Soto - 6th at 113. Soto of Southwest Miami is one of the few wrestlers to move up in weight for NHSCA’s. Soto won a Florida 3A State Title just a few weeks ago at 106 jumped to 113 and made a run to an All American spot. Soto won his first four matches before dropping his quarterfinal match to Pennsylvania State Placer Dominick Morrison. Soto bounced back with a 2-0 win over Tommy Gretz of Pennsylvania to make the podium and the downed 2x Georgia State Champion Noah Brown 6-3 before losing to top seed Cason Craft of Oklahoma and Pierce Hurd of South Dakota.
Georgia
Ronan An - NHSCA 220 lb. Champ
John Gill - 4th at 220. Gill of Woodland had a long road back to the consi finals after losing in the round of 16. Gill dominated on the backside - winning all four matches by fall. He finished the weekend with a loss to Anthony Jackson of New Jersey to take 4th.
Amir Ferguson - 4th at 285. Ferguson of Southwest DeKalb entered as the #3 seed and won some tough matches early to make the semis opposite Champion Dyes of Colorado. Ferguson finished the weekend with a loss to Dyes, a win over Landon Lee of New York before taking a 7-3 loss to top seed Caleb Tyler of Pennsylvania.
Noah Brown - 7th at 113. Brown of Gordon Lee won his first 3 matches before falling to South Carolina’s Montero Royal in the Round of 16. Brown won his next two matches to put himself in the bloodround opposite Nebraska State Champion Cole Caniglia. Brown, trailing in the match, got the fall in the 2nd period to make the podium. A loss to Florida State Champ Lazaro Soto and a win over Izaya Schickley of Pennsylvania ended his weekend in 7th place.
North Carolina
Tobin McNair - 6th at 152. McNair of Wakefield won four in a row to make the semifinals. He lost to eventual champ Max Fortier in the semis to drop into the consi semis where he lost to Nicky Negron of Pennsylvania. McNair finished by medically forfeiting to Augustus Smith to take 6th.
Keyshon Morrison - 7th at 220. Morrison of Lake Norman put himself in a tough spot after dropping his opening match 15-11 to Mason Adams of Minnesota. That meant Morrison needed to make a run on the backside … and he did. Morrison won 5 in a row including a 6-3 decision of Max Thomas of Massachusetts in the bloodround to make the podium. Morrison lost to Georgia State Champion John Gill in the consi quarters before downing Jackson Barnhisel of Texas to take 7th.
Jack Harty - 7th at 182. Harty of Northern Guilford won his first three matches including a 9-8 barnburner over Logan Hinton of South Carolina to make the quarters. Harty then lost to Wyatt Hanssen of Utah 8-5 to drop into the bloodround. Harty finished the weekend with a win over Duke Martin of Pennsylvania to make the podium, a loss to Abel Verzeas before pinning Pennsylvania’s David Clayton to take 7th.
Gavin Lopez - 7th at 195. Lopez of Green Hope won his first two matches before losing to Carter Brown of Missouri in the quarters. Lopez rebounded with a fall of Michael McCullough of Colorado to make the podium. Lopez finished the weekend with a loss to Zaky of Virginia before downing fellow North Carolinian Aidan Plemons to take 7th.
Antonio Escobar - 8th at 285. Escobar of Northeast Guilford won his first match before losing to #2 seed and Colorado State Placer Champion Dyes in the Round of 16. Three wins on the backside including a 4-1 decision of Jaden Rakestraw in the bloodround put Escobar on the podium. He finished with losses to Landon Lee of New York and August Moser of New Jersey to take 8th.
Aidan Plemons - 8th at 195. Plemons of Watauga won his first two matches before losing to Max Konopka of Connecticut in the quarters. A 6-3 win over Nevada’s Oscar Casarez put him on the podium. Plemons finished with losses to Alabama’s Sharp and North Carolina’s Lopez to take 8th.
South Carolina
Sy Strobel - 4th at 145. Strobel of West Oak had quite a run in the deep 145 lb. bracket. Strobel lost very early to Chance Ruble of Missouri in the Round of 64 and had a daunting road ahead of him. Strobel then reeled off 9 wins in a row to make the consi finals. Wins in that run included a 7-6 win over National Preps All American Raymond Fitzgerald of Pennsylvania to make the podium, a 7-5 win over Ohio D1 State Placer Guardian Miller, and a 9-7 win over Colby Houle of Connecticut. Strobel finished with a loss to Wyatt Fry of Pennsylvania. Strobel was 10-2 on the weekend.
Ronan goes to North Cobb not North Gwinnett