ST. CLOUD — Dunedin defending state champion Clarence Arrington continued his undefeated march toward another title Saturday at the Class 2A, Region 2 wrestling meet.
Arrington scored a 4-2 victory over Springstead's Andrew Smith in the 126-pound region final to improve to 35-0 this season. He was one of four Falcons wrestlers to qualify for the state meet next week in Lakeland.
Dunedin (86 points) placed fifth in the team standings.
Marc Allison (132), who had been rolling through the season, had to settle for getting through on a fourth-place finish Saturday. Alex Lebhar (138) won his consolation final in a 13-2 major decision over Auburndale's Devin Glenn to advance. Anthony Dampier (160) lost a 3-1 decision in his consolation final to Springstead's Billy Swift.
Meanwhile, Springstead, the back-to-back defending Class 2A state champion, captured its third consecutive region team title. The Eagles (196 points) topped runnerup Lake Gibson (187.5) and qualified nine for state.
Although Springstead fell short of last season's total of 12 wrestlers moving on to state, the Eagles crowned three individual region winners, including Mike McDonald (113 pounds), Stephen Pavao (120) and Jordan Rivera (138).
For Rivera, it was his second consecutive region title. The two-time state placer pinned over Harmony's Jeremy Beesley in 3 minutes, 11 seconds.
McDonald and Pavao needed more effort to capture their crowns. McDonald scored a 5-2 decision over St. Cloud's Joe McGinley in his final, while Pavao edged Lake Gibson's Sa'Derian Perry 6-4.
3A-2: Brandon rolls
KISSIMMEE — As expected, Brandon won the 3A-2 region team title, scoring 294 points, but second-place Osceola Kissimmee (212) and others showed the competition is creeping up.
Palm Harbor University was third (165), while Durant (48.5) and Riverview (46) grabbed top 10 spots at seventh and ninth, respectively.
"This is probably the best year for this region, as far as the level of talent involved, in the last 30 years," said Eagles coach Russ Cozart, who qualified 13 wrestlers and crowned six individual champions Saturday.
The 120-pound final was a rematch of last year's 3A state final at 113, when Brandon's James Flint beat Palm Harbor University's Jared Prince 3-2. This year's region final was 3-2 in favor of Prince, who used a foot grab both last week and Saturday. "I saw it, he was leaning in on his left leg so I went for it," Prince said.
St. Petersburg's Thomas Moser came into the event with a recently healed broken nose. He broke it again and was bumped to the consolation bracket. Trainers spent several minutes on the bleeding and Moser got more scratches on his face from the mask. Despite it all, he rallied to win his consolation semifinal and then his third-place match 3-2.
"I was just determined, all the hard work I put in, I couldn't give up," Moser said.
A-3: Robinson tops Gulf
TAMPA — Robinson crowned two region champions and qualified six for state to beat runnerup Gulf 165-128 at the meet hosted by Berkeley Prep.
Pinellas County schools were led by sixth-place Indian Rocks Christian, which qualified four for state: Jarred Wolfenbarger (113), Jay Dugmore (126), Conner Allshouse (138) and Shackleton Steward (220).
Admiral Farragut's Noah Huntley won the 285-pound title, pinning Bradenton Southeast's Michael Quintero in 5:36.
And Northside Christian's Alex Kruklinski won at 195 pounds.
2A-3: Largo's Derrick Doss (182) scored a 12-5 decision to win a region title while teammate Danny Bergstrom (195) fell just short in 3-2 finals loss at the meet hosted by Charlotte. Dixie Hollins teammates Luis Aldana (170) and Andre Matthews (285) both won their consolation finals to advance to state. Dixie Hollins was fifth and Largo ninth behind team winner Fort Myers Riverdale.
Times correspondent Andy Warrener and David Rice contributed to this report.