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ALL-AREA WRESTLING TEAM
WRESTLER OF THE YEAR CHRIS FAVOROSO
All-Area First Team
First Team continued
Johnley Cadet
Donald Christman
Konnor McHale
Kolin Stapp
Josh Conroy
Jean Filemond
Hunter Taroli
Cory Vickers
Zach Finnegan
Jarvis Gamble
Brandon Way
Aaron Wiechel
Cody Herl
Austin McHale
Clayton Williams
Ian Wiswell
JOHNLEY CADET
BRANDON WAY
DONALD CHRISTMAN
AARON WIECHEL
Port St. Lucie junior 182 pounds Statistics: 37-5, District 14-2A champion, Region 4-2A champion, fourth in Class 2A
Port St. Lucie senior 285 pounds Statistics: 44-8, District 14-2A, third in Region 4-2A, fifth in Class 2A
Sebastian River sophomore 106 pounds Statistics: 38-9, District 13-2A champion, Region 4-2A runner-up, fifth place in Class 2A
MOLLY BARTELS/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Jensen Beach High School’s Chris Favoroso is the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers All-Area Wrestler of the Year for 2014. To see more photos, go to TCPalm.com.
JOSH CONROY
Pinning down a legacy Jensen Beach junior has two state titles
Jensen Beach senior 220 pounds Statistics: 41-5, District 14-2A champion, third in Region 4-2A, sixth in Class 2A
JEAN FILEMOND
Fort Pierce Central senior 170 pounds Statistics: 24-16, District 9-3A runner-up, Region 3-3A qualifier
ZACH FINNEGAN
Sebastian River senior 285 pounds Statistics: 28-5, District 13-2A champion, Region 4-2A runner-up, Class 2A state qualifier
JARVIS GAMBLE
Fort Pierce Westwood senior 195 pounds Statistics: 20-9, District 13-1A champion, fourth in Region 4-1A, Class 1A state qualifier
CODY HERL
Sebastian River senior 138 pounds Statistics: 34-7, District 13-2A champion, Region 4-2A runner-up, Class 2A state qualifier
AUSTIN MCHALE
Jensen Beach senior 160 pounds Statistics: 44-17, District 14-2A champion, third in Region 2-4A, Class 2A state qualifier
KONNOR MCHALE
Jensen Beach sophomore 106 pounds Statistics: 54-9, District 14-2A champion, Region 4-2A champion, third place in Class 2A
KOLIN STAPP
Jensen Beach senior 132 pounds Statistics: 31-12, District 14-2A champion, Region 4-2A runner-up, sixth in Class 2A
in his pocket; looking to capture a third
By Jon Santucci Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers
Jensen Beach High School 195-pounder Chris Favoroso already has put together one of the best prep wrestling careers in Treasure Coast history. And he’s only a junior. Favoroso became the first twotime state champion in Jensen Beach history in February when he beat Tampa-Jesuit’s Nick Mosco 3-1 in an overtime thriller. He has a chance to join Fort Pierce Central middleweight Perry Parks (1994-96) as the only three-time state champions in area history. Favoroso, who went 53-2 with 27 pins in 2013-14 and was undefeated during the postseason, is the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers All-Area Wrestler of the Year for the second year in a row. “I’ve been here almost a decade and in those 10 years, by far, there is no one like him,” Jensen Beach coach Tom McMath said of Favoroso. “He’s already won two (state titles) and he’s trying to win his third. He finished fifth as a freshman, so hopefully he will be a four-time place winner and a three-time champ. “In my mind — obviously, I’m biased — if he can come out on top next year, I don’t think there’s any debate who the best wrestler to come out of this area is.” While Favoroso has a lot on his plate — he also is one of the top
HUNTER TAROLI
Port St. Lucie senior 145 pounds Statistics: 25-4, District 14-2A champion, Region 4-2A qualifier
CORY VICKERS
Okeechobee senior 220 pounds Statistics: 24-6, District 14-2A runner-up, fourth in Region 4-2A, Class 2A state qualifier
football players in the area and is drawing interest from colleges in both sports — legacy is something he thinks about. He takes pride in seeing his name on the banner hanging in Jensen Beach’s gym that lists the school’s state champions. It matters to him that he is the first one to be listed twice. “I want kids to look up on the wall and go, ‘I wonder how good that kid was?’ I want to leave a good name for
myself,” Favoroso said. He has done nothing to hurt his reputation so far. Despite admitting he struggled to stay motivated at times during the regular season, he dominated almost every time he stepped on the mat. That’s one of the things McMath said separated Favoroso. He wasn’t simply trying to get a win. He wanted to prove he was on a different level than his opponent. “It was tough getting everyone’s best shot every time out,” Favoroso said. “But I wanted to make it a hard six minutes for them. I made it a personal goal to not go the full six minutes. I wanted to end it early — either to pin or tech the kid before the six minutes ended.” Favoroso only had one close match during the first three rounds of the FHSAA Finals — a 5-4 win against Cypress Lake’s Corey Kerkesner in the quarterfinals — then took on Mosco in the finals. Despite being the aggressor for most of the match, Favoroso was unable to get a takedown during regulation and the match went into overtime. Favoroso scored the winning takedown in the final seconds of overtime. “I’ve probably watched that match over 300 times,” he said. “It’s definitely exciting. Every time I watch it, I’m on the edge of my seat. It gets to that last 15 seconds of overtime and I’m still surprised sometimes. It happened so fast.”
GREG HERNANDEZ Okeechobee junior 285 pounds KYLE KIRKHAM Jensen Beach freshman 120 pounds VINNY LOVAGLIO Jensen Beach senior 138 pounds ANDREW MAGRANE Sebastian River junior 220 pounds JOEY MCKENNA Martin County senior 160 pounds ANTHONY OREO Fort Pierce Central sophomore 106 pounds
NATE PODARAS Jensen Beach sophomore 285 pounds NATHAN RIVERA St. Lucie West Centennial senior 138 pounds KYLE ROBB Jensen Beach junior 170 pounds KYLE ROWARS Jensen Beach junior 126 pounds KIRK VERA Port St. Lucie sophomore 106 pounds TIM WHALEN Port St. Lucie senior 145 pounds
Wrestler of the Year
CHRIS FAVOROSO
Jensen Beach junior, 195 pounds Statistics: Favoroso compiled a 53-2 record and was the District 14-2A champion, Region 4-2A champion and Class 2A state champion — his second consecutive state title. During the regular season, Favoroso took first in his weight class at the Steadwell/Grow Memorial Tournament and Flagler Rotary Invitational. Favoroso, who is the first two-time state champion in Jensen Beach history, also was the All-Area Wrestler of the Year in 2012-13. Coach Tom McMath: “I hate to sound redundant — Chris doesn’t technically do everything right — but he puts in the time and work and he gets better every week. When the lights are on, he wrestles his best.”
Honorable Mention JAMAR BELEZAIRE Treasure Coast junior 285 pounds BASIL BRADSHAW St. Lucie West Centennial sophomore 220 pounds SERGIO CABRIALES Fort Pierce Central senior 126 pounds HUNTER CARRINGTON Vero Beach sophomore 120 pounds WILLIAM DAVIS Fort Pierce Central sophomore 285 pounds ROBERT HECKLER Vero Beach sophomore 138 pounds
Jensen Beach junior 113 pounds Statistics: 50-11, District 14-2A champion, Region 4-2A champion, Class 2A state qualifier
CLAYTON WILLIAMS
Jensen Beach junior 152 pounds Statistics: 31-17, District 14-2A champion, Region 4-2A runner-up, Class 2A state qualifier
IAN WISWELL
Jensen Beach senior 145 pounds Statistics: 56-8, District 14-2A champion, Region 4-2A champion, fifth in Class 2A
Coach of the Year
TOM McMATH
Jensen Beach, eighth year This season: Jensen Beach finished fourth in Class 2A at the FHSAA Finals with a schoolrecord 87 points. It was the sixth consecutive top-10 finish for Jensen Beach, which is an area record. The Falcons had five wrestlers place at the state tournament, including state champion Chris Favoroso. Jensen Beach tied a school record with 28 dualmeet wins and won the Steadwell/Grow Memorial Invitational, District 14-2A and Region 4-2A tournament titles. Quotable: “Now that the season’s over and I’ve had time to reflect, it was a pretty amazing season. Pretty much every tournament we were in we won or finished second. We sent nine guys to state and had five guys on the medal stand. The kids have a lot to hang their hat on. They’ll go down as one of the best teams to come out of Jensen Beach.”
All-Area Schedule Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Girls soccer
Boys soccer
Wrestling
Girls basketball
Boys basketball