LAKELAND, Fla.—The Fire were able to hang on for a win over Cumberland in its first match of the day, before dropping matches to a pair of Top 10 opponents.
Southeastern finished the annual Fire Duals with a 1-2 record, which included a late rally against No. 3 Indiana Tech. The Fire defeated Cumberland 24-21, before losing to Life 25-17, and Indiana Tech 18-15.
Against Cumberland, the Fire got a first period fall from Ethan Owen, and a third period fall from Matthew Cates to secure key bonus points for SEU, which won five of the 10 matches. Chris Williams bumped up to 197 and nearly came away with a win over No. 9 Deandre Jones, but a third period escape gave the win to Jones. Williams is ranked 13th at 184.
The Life match was a back-and-forth affair through the first five matches until Cates came away with a huge first period pin, bumping up to 174 to put the Fire up 17-13 with three matches left.
At 184, Williams battled with third-ranked Hunter Smith through the overtime periods before losing on the riding time tiebreaker, 4-3.
The Running Eagles came away with a pair of decisions and a first period fall by top-ranked 197-pounder Dalton Bailey to secure the match.
Southeastern found itself in a 14-3 hole against Indiana Tech, but won four of the final five matches. Kyle Kirkham’s thrilling 4-3 victory at 149 over No. 6 Thomas Garty helped build momentum. Kirkham picked up a takedown to take the lead, and was able to hold the advantage long enough to negate Garty’s riding time bonus.
Jason Davis and Williams both scored 6-0 victories at 184 and 197, respectively. Ben Cruz closed out the day with a 10-3 decision over Dylan Cain.
The Fire will next face St. Andrews University in a match held at Osceola High School in Kissimmee during the high school dual state meet.
NO. 8 SOUTHEASTERN 24, CUMBERLAND 21
125: Keyshawn Laws (CUTE) over Zac Branning (SOEA) (Fall 2:36)
133: Ethan Owen (SOEA) over Micheal Mora-Colon (CUTE) (Fall 0:42)
141: Jake Watters (SOEA) over Alema Favors (CUTE) (Dec 5-4)
149: Evan Cole (CUTE) over Kyle Kirkham (SOEA) (Dec 4-3)
157: Evyn Insalaco (SOEA) over (CUTE) (For.)
165: Matthew Cates (SOEA) over Jacob Clark (CUTE) (Fall 5:46)
174: Zach Diviney (CUTE) over Nathan Ferkovich (SOEA) (Dec 10-8)
184: Jason Davis (SOEA) over John Olivieri (CUTE) (Dec 10-3)
197: De`Andre Jones (CUTE) over Chris Williams (SOEA) (Dec 3-2)
285: Jon Floyd (CUTE) over Aris Knight (SOEA) (Fall 5:36)
NO. 7 LIFE 25, NO. 8 SOUTHEASTERN 17
125: Stephen Moreno (LIUN) over Zac Branning (SOEA) (Dec 8-1)
133: Ethan Owen (SOEA) over Lucas Patterson (LIUN) (TF 15-0)
141: Jake Watters (SOEA) over Mason Calvert (LIUN) (Dec 4-0)
149: Denver Stonecheck (LIUN) over Kyle Kirkham (SOEA) (Fall 2:23)
157: Nosomy Pozo (LIUN) over Evyn Insalaco (SOEA) (MD 17-5)
165: Angel del Cueto (SOEA) over Phillip McBride (LIUN) (Dec 6-2)
174: Matthew Cates (SOEA) over Anthony Carter (LIUN) (Fall 2:45)
184: Hunter Smith (LIUN) over Chris Williams (SOEA) (TB-2 (RT) 4-3)
197: Dalton Bailey (LIUN) over Jason Davis (SOEA) (Fall 1:50)
285: Bradon Hill (LIUN) over Aris Knight (SOEA) (Dec 5-3)
NO. 3 INDIANA TECH 18, NO. 8 SOUTHEASTERN 15
125: Sawyer Miller (INTE) over Zac Branning (SOEA) (TF 21-4 6:38)
133: Erique Early (INTE) over Ethan Owen (SOEA) (Dec 8-2)
141: Gaige Torres (INTE) over Jake Watters (SOEA) (Dec 7-4)
149: Kyle Kirkham (SOEA) over Thomas Garty (INTE) (Dec 4-3)
157: Jon Watkins (INTE) over Evyn Insalaco (SOEA) (Dec 7-3)
165: Angel del Cueto (SOEA) over Mason Gaines (INTE) (Dec 10-4)
174: Scott Sopko (INTE) over Nathan Ferkovich (SOEA) (MD 12-4)
184: Jason Davis (SOEA) over Zach Davis (INTE) (Dec 6-0)
197: Chris Williams (SOEA) over Tyler Moser (INTE) (Dec 6-0)
285: Ben Cruz (SOEA) over Dylan Cain (INTE) (Dec 10-3)
MATT’S MATCHUPS 2025-26 HOOPS – WEEK 12
February started on a positive note as I went 16-3 (84 percent) last week. With three weeks left in the regular season, my overall record is now 164-54, which has me at 75 percent for the season. TUESDAY Adams (11-5, 1-3 NIC) at Riley (14-4, 3-1 NIC): On their...