- April 26, 2024
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Jordan Mills watches the referee as he slaps the mat, signaling the sophomore's pin of Cornelous Bentley-Greene of Belleview in the 170-pound district championship match. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Dylan Parkinson in a match at the season-opening Matanzas Duals on Dec. 4, 2021. Parkinson finished second at district at 138 pounds. File photo.
Tyson Mills, right, wrestles St. Augustine's Brayden Lovingood in the 152-pound final at the District 4-2A tourney. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Landon Wright, right, won the 195-pound third-place match at district against Mainland's Josh Newman with an 8-7 decision. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jordan Mills improved his season record to 44-4 with two wins at district. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas district champs Tyson Mills, Jordan Mills, Carter Wilder and Christian Borgmann. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jordan Mills, bottom, hits a standing leg counter against Cornelous Bentley-Greene of Belleview in the 170-pound final. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Adyn Cox was the runner-up at 182 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Tyson Mills gets set to pin his opponent. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas finished second at the District 4-2A wrestling tournament Feb. 16 at Matanzas. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Landon Wright is one of 11 Matanzas wrestlers who qualified for regionals. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Carter Wilder won a district title for the second year in a row. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Adyn Cox, right, wrestles Sawyer Vanrider in the 182-pound championship match. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jordan Mills scores a takedown. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jordan Mills pinned both of his opponents at the District 4-2A tournament Feb. 16 at Matanzas. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Dylan Parkinson likes being part of a team.
Parkinson, whose family moved to Palm Coast from Oceanside, California in July, will continue to have a big team around him. He is one of 11 Matanzas wrestlers who qualified for regionals.
The Pirates’ three returning state qualifiers — Carter Wilder, Tyson Mills and Jordan Mills — all defended their district championships, and Christian Borgmann also won his weight class at the District 4-2A district tournament Feb. 16 at the Matanzas gym.
Matanzas finished second in the team standings to New Smyrna Beach, 230-212.
Parkinson (138 pounds) was one of three Pirates to finish second in his weight class. Bradyn Cox (160) and Adyn Cox (182) were also runners-up. Kyler Corley (120), Braden Hawley (126) and Landon Wright (195) all finished third, while Joel Douglass (220) finished fourth and also qualified for the regional championships Feb. 25-26 at Tallahassee Chiles.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class moved on.
Wilder pinned both of his opponents in the 113-pound class to improve to 31-5 on the season. Tyson Mills pinned his three opponents at 152 pounds to improve to 39-5. And Jordan Mills pinned his two opponents at 170 pounds to improve to 44-4.
Borgmann, a sophomore who started wrestling just this season, had one opponent in the 106-pound class — New Smyrna’s Richard Crunkilton, who had defeated him twice this season.
This time, Borgmann won a 1-0 decision to improve to 13-14.
“It shows what we’re doing in practice works,” Pirates coach T.J. Gillin said. “Christian is a first-year kid who’s going to region as a No. 1 seed. Adyn Cox was fifth last year at district, and (this year) he punched his ticket to the finals.”
Perhaps no one has improved more on the Pirates than Parkinson, whose team at his charter school in California, had about five wrestlers, he said.
“Everything’s better here — better coaching and a better team atmosphere,” Parkinson said.
The junior will take a 35-16 record into regionals.
“Day in and day out, this kid has gotten better and better and better. You can’t get this kid tired. I’ve tried.”
MIKE FRIES, Matanzas assistant coach on Dylan Parkinson
“Day in and day out, this kid has gotten better and better and better,” assistant coach Mike Fries said. “You can’t get this kid tired. I’ve tried. He just smiles. His takedowns have exploded. He’s able to get in with his setups. His top game is almost unstoppable. He grinds kids into the mat. He's one of the kids we'll plan next year's team around.”
Parkinson has been surfing and competing in jiujitsu since he was 6 years old. But those are solitary sports. He said he never really felt like he was part of a team until he joined the Pirates.
“I like the friendship. It’s been amazing,” he said. “I haven’t surfed or done jiujitsu in months. Wrestling is all or nothing now. I’m committed to the sport.”
