Area schools hit mat for Day 1 of Beast of the Beach

FORT WALTON BEACH – The first day of Fort Walton Beach’s 6th Annual Beast of the Beach was, as Darwin put it, a survival of the fittest.

Area teams Choctawhatchee, Crestview, Fort Walton Beach and Niceville fought off injuries both before and throughout the day to perform at the highest level possible.

In Pool A, Fort Walton Beach finished 2-3 on the day, but got solid performances from Chris Lupo (182-pound weight class) and Matt Sheffield (195). Both finished 5-0 on the day.

Viking coach Tobi Marez was happy with his team’s improvement over the course of the day.

“We forfeited four weight classes due to injuries or various reasons,” Marez said, “but I thought the kids battled pretty well. As the day went on we were learning that we could win matches that we were dropping earlier, and that was the difference in some of our scores.”

The Vikings notched a win over cross-town rival Choctawhatchee early in the day.

“It’s nice to beat a rival,” Lupo said. “I’m looking forward to more matches. I’m hoping my teammates feel the same way.”

Choctaw, also in Pool A, finished the day just 1-4 with their lone win coming against Tate, 42-30.

Indian Heavyweight Nick Diunizio finished a perfect 5-0 on the day and Shamar Johnson (160) and Chris Nash (195) finished 4-1 to lead Choctaw.

Later in the day, Niceville and Crestview joined Marianna, Bozeman and Wakulla in Pool C. The Eagles finished 4-0 on the day, and spent much of the day fighting off the injury bug like seemingly everyone else.

Niceville coach Morrie Gesselter was pleased with his team’s performance.

“We’re really young, only got three kids back from last year” Gesselter said. “I’m really happy with the kids. I’m not used to this young of a team.

“We only have two seniors.”

Tanner Aull (145) was 2-0 on the day before sustaining a head injury and Zach Jenkins (Heavyweight) was complimented for his performance by his coach as well.

Crestview finished 2-2 on the day, but fell in their final match of the night to Niceville, 42-35.

“Everybody has wrestled well,” Bulldogs coach Josh Goudy said. “We just got to get a little bit more aggressive.”

Tyler Goudy wrestled extremely well for Crestview, and was undefeated through his first three matches.

Day two begins at 9 a.m. today at Fort Walton Beach. Tallahassee Lincoln, Gulf Breeze, Niceville, Pace, Crestview, Florida High, Bozeman and Milton all advanced to the winners’ bracket.

Arnold, Fort Walton Beach, Choctawhatchee, Haden (Ala.), Mosley, Wakulla, Marianna and Tate will be in the "Best of the Rest" bracket.

“We want to bring something home,” Lupo said. “We don’t want to give away all our trophies, so we want to win something.”