Gulf Breeze High standout wrestler Beau Doerr won the 138-pound championship on Saturday to headline the Region 1-2A finals at Palatka High.
Doerr -- the 2012 News Journal Wrestler of the Year -- won three out of four matches with a pin, including the championship final against Belleview's Landon Delk, who Doerr took down in 2 minutes, 32 seconds. In the second round, Doerr bested Middleburg's Kyle McClinton with a 4-2 decision.
"Beau just totally dominated," Dolphins coach Matt Alt said. "He just used his speed, agility, fundamentals and technique, and came away with the championship."
With the region title, Doerr now advances to the Class 2A finals on Feb. 15 and 16 in Lakeland. Gulf Breeze's Nicholas Staviski (120 pounds) and Greg Manfredi (126 pounds) also will compete at the state meet after finishing second and third, respectively, on Saturday.
Pace High also had a strong showing at the region championships, tying Gulf Breeze for fifth place overall.
The Patriots' Steven Murray (106 pounds), Will Diamond (182 pounds) and Zachery Thaler (195 pounds) had top-four finishes to advance to the state meet. Thaler and Murray both finished fourth in their weightclasses, while Diamond had a third-place finish.
Though the Dolphins took seven wrestlers to state last year, Alt was impressed with the team's performance at region.
"We had a great tournament," Alt said. "As to be expected, the competition at the regional is a lot tougher than it is at districts. But we've been working toward this goal (of taking wrestlers to state), and I'm just really proud of how we did today."
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