Lake Gibson’s Eljiah Grey suddenly turned Chris Morales and picked up the pin with 14 seconds remaining to lead the Braves to a stirring 39-27 quarterfinals win at the FHSAA Duals Class 2A state quarterfinals on Friday at Kissimmee Osceola High School.
KISSIMMEE — What a turn of events.
Right in the midst of a tight, heart-stopping battle with Spring Hill Springstead, Lake Gibson’s Elijah Gray suddenly turned Chris Morales and picked up the pin with 14 seconds remaining to lead the Braves to a stirring 39-27 quarterfinals win at the FHSAA Duals Class 2A state quarterfinals on Friday at Kissimmee Osceola High School.
Lake Gibson will now face St. Johns Creekside Saturday in the state semifinals at 1 p.m. with a berth in the state championship riding in the balance. The finals are slated for 6. Creekside advanced after turning back Tallahassee Lincoln 41-27.
“We’ve never wrestled Creekside before. We really don’t know much about them,” Lake Gibson head coach Danny Walker said. “I've got to get on the internet and get a whole lot of studying in. It is going to be a late night.”
The Braves were clinging to a 13-9 lead when Gray’s pin picked up the crucial three-bonus points for a six-point win and thrust Lake Gibson to a 19-9 lead.
“That was huge,” Walker said. “That is the way he is. That is the way he wrestles.”
Gray said Morales was trying to put a pin-move on him when he quickly countered, got the tun and the upperhand.
“Always wrestle hard to the end of the match. That is what they teach us and that is what I did,” Gray said.
A match earlier, Lake Gibson’s Nathan Lawwell was pinned by Jackson Barker in an 132-pound match, meaning the Braves did not have much breathing room going into Gray's match.
“We were down. I was down, and Springstead had gained momentum. So Elijah Gray closed that momentum right off," Walker said.
The second-ranked Braves picked up wins from Chase Ayers (106), Connor Williams (113), Shannon Hanna (126), Curtis Felton (145), Miguel Hernandez (160), Kaleb Ross (170), Ashton Habeil (182) and De’Yaveyun Joseph (220) to rack up the 39 points and advance. One Lake Gibson team point was deducted in Joseph’s match for unsportsmanlike conduct.
On the other side of the 2A bracket, Jenson Beach will face top-ranked Fort Myers Riverdale, coached by former Lake Region head coach Chris Haywood. Riverdale advanced with a 44-19 win over Charlotte and Jenson Beach advanced with a 40-27 win against Boca Raton Olympic Heights.
McKeel Academy was eliminated in an 1A quarterfinal by Englewood Lemon Bay 42-31 but the Wildcats held an early 16-3 in the dual.
“My kids were going against an elite group but the overall fight of my kids was outstanding,” McKeel head coach Frank Olinger said. “My kids made a few mistakes but they know where they are and we’re going to clean them up and be ready for the IBT (individually bracketed tournament) in a few weeks.”
McKeel picked up wins from Cody Brown (113), Marlon Benavidez (120), Cole Friend (126), Lucas Kimmel (152), William Strickland (182) and IIeia Witkus (195), the latter two were both forfeits.
Bill Kemp can be reached at Bill.Kemp@newschief.com; follow him on Twitter @BillKempSports