FHSAA Wrestling Season Kicks Off with Reclassification: 2A Becomes the Toughest Division in Florida

Perennial Powerhouses Somerset Academy and Jensen Beach Join 2A, Creating a 'Brutal' Path to State Championships

Sam Mustafo, RJ Felon, Coach Danny Walker and Christian Fretwell kneel around 15 Class 2A state championship and state runner-up trophies won by Lake Gibson. Winning a 2A state championship will be much harder this year with Somerset Academy and Jensen Beach joining the classification. All three wrestlers will be competing at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman tournament in Ohio this weekend. / Bill Kemp

WINTER HAVEN, FLORIDA – Class 2A wrestling in Florida has undergone a dramatic transformation, supercharged by reclassifications that introduce perennial 1A powerhouses Pembroke Pines, Somerset Academy and Jensen Beach into the mix.

Since Lake Highland Prep left the FHSAA mats after the 2020 season, Somerset and Jensen Beach have ruled the roost, winning every 1A Duals and IBT state championship.

“We are the smallest school in 2A now,” Somerset coach Joe Blasucci said. “When it happened, I was like, ‘I don’t care.’ That’s not out of arrogance. It’s just that I am tired of the same faces anyway.”

The tandem joins 2A monsters Lake Gibson and Tampa Jesuit, which have captured every 2A state title since 2020 except for 2021 when Punta Gorda Charlotte took home the IBT state trophy.

“The new 2A is brutal. All the coaches are talking about it,” said Lake Gibson coach Danny Walker, 48, who is now in his 24th season. “The 2A Duals are going to be a dogfight. The IBT is going to be a dogfight.”

As in year’s past, Lake Gibson and Jesuit won’t be tangling in the finals or semis, both programs are parked in Region 2, which means they’ll probably square off in the regional finals Jan. 24 with only one team advancing to the state semifinals the next day, all held at Osceola High School in Kissimmee.

“The first duel meets in 2A are just going to be crazy tough,” Walker said. “Right now I think the favorite is going to be Tampa Jesuit. They return all those guys off their team from last year and they were very, very young.

“I feel like the upper weights are going to be the deciding factor. Lower-weight wise and middle-weight wise, we are pretty solid. It should come down to the uppers, but I think we will be alright if we keep doing what we are doing. It’s not a guarantee but (a state title is) very doable.”

Bausci said he wasn’t overly impressed with 2A in the past, but now feels it's the toughest classification in the state.

“I don’t want to offend my friends at Lake Gibson or Jesuit, but 2A was a little thin. Now, think about it, we have Somerset, Jensen Beach, Lake Gibson, Jesuit and Charlotte, everyone that has won in the past few years except for (Miami) South Dade, is now in 2A. We have everyone in one place now. I will definitely say, 2A is going to be the toughest division.”

Jensen Beach coach Tom McMath, now in his 19th season, said each season becomes tougher and tougher and with the 2A facelift, he sees no easy path to state championship.

“It is what it is,”McMath said. “There’s going to be first-round matchups and quarterfinal matchups where there is just going to be stud after stud going after each other. 

"We can’t control that and we are just going to continue to focus on ourselves, and be the best that we can be. We are always up for a challenge. It should be fun. I’m just excited because it’s wrestling season again, whether it is 1A or 2A.”

5 Florida schools slated to wrestle at Walsh Jesuit Ironman

More than 800 wrestlers from 200-plus schools will descend on Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio for the prestigious Walsh Ironman Tournament, considered by many as the top high school wrestling tournament in the nation.

Five programs from Florida will be sending athletes to the tournament this year, including  Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, Jensen Beach Lake Gibson, Orlando Lake Highland Prep and St. Johns Neumann.

“There are so many great wrestlers and Division 1 kids there, getting to the second day is challenging enough,” said Walker, who is bringing RJ Felon (106), Christian Fretwell (132) and Sam Mustafo (165). 

“Just about every college coach and program is walking through those hallways and gymnasium and looking for kids, and kids they don’t know about.”

Though state champion wrestlers will find the sledding tough at Ironman and may be eliminated in the early rounds, Walker said it is important for athletes to watch the entire event to bring home a visual for success.

“We always stay and watch the finals just so they can see these kids are no different. They do the same things that we do every single day, from drilling, to their diet, to their every single thing. Sometimes the difference between the top wrestler and everyone else is they do this thing just a little bit more, and that changes everything,” Walker said.