Red Knight wrestlers make it to regionals

The North Fort Myers High School wrestling team suffered some heartbreak at the District 2A-11 tournament on Friday at Island Coast in Cape Coral.
There was some triumph as well as the Red Knights put four wrestlers into regionals this weekend at Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda.
For Red Knights coach Frank Drake, it was a case of hard work for all his wrestlers, as well as some blunt assessments of where his team stands.
“I’m proud of the guys the way they’ve worked this year. It’s been a long season, but we’ll keep working to get into the state tournament,” Drake said.
The heartbreak came as two senior wrestlers had real opportunities to become district champions, one losing out in triple overtime and the other lost control of the match in the third period.
Brandon Nesta, whose father is Cape Coral Councilman Lenny Nesta, had a classic battle in the 195-pound final with Charlotte’s Dalton Mills. In a match that featured no takedowns, it came down to escapes. The match was tied 1-1 after regulation, and after no points were scored in the first overtime, Nesta escaped to take a 2-1 lead.
Two points are needed to win, however, and Mills was able to put himself on the bottom and get out of Nesta’s grasp for the win in the third overtime period.
“That was a heartbreaker, but you can’t get in that situation. You have to do it before overtime,” Drake said. “He’s come a long way, but he’s just not over the hump. We have three days to prepare. He’s a hard worker, but still a hair short, he has to win the big match.”
Deyrel Diaz on paper looked like a favorite to beat Fort Myers’ Matt McQuinn in the 182-pound final, but McQuinn hung tough, and having a bye in the opening round made him slightly fresher as he scored a takedown and a near fall in the third period to put the match out of reach in a 10-5 decision.
North got a third-place finish from sophomore Peter Joseph in the 106-pound class, who beat Christian Navarro of Fort Myers in the consolation final 8-6.
In the 138-pound class, Joey Ciganek overcame a heartbreaking 5-3 overtime loss in the second round to Charlotte’s Sam Spence on a quick takedown. He downed Emerson Nein of Island Coast with a pin at 2:18 to claim third place.
As a team, the Red Knights finished sixth in an eight-team district.
“We have three days to get ready for the regional tournament and do better. We’ll keep working hard and see if we can get a few kids into states and see what happens,” Drake said.