KISSIMMEE — It has been since 1999 that a Bay County wrestler won an individual state championship.
Make that had. More precisely, had, had.
Arnold’s Richie McClanahan and Brock Carlan each won titles on Saturday as the Class 1A State Wrestling Tournament concluded.
The last local wrestler to claim that accomplishment was Bay’s Earl Crawford.
“It’s one of those things; I’ve been coaching 20 years and we’ve come close a couple times,” Arnold coach Jeff Skipper said. “We talked that it’s not just about getting here, it’s about doing something when you get here.
“The whole crew, the coaching staff, school administration, former Arnold wrestlers who came out here to cheer us on. It’s about building a program.”
In addition to the championships, Paul Patterson placed third for Arnold at 138 pounds. McClanahan was paying close attention to his teammate’s fate.
“I got a text and knew Paul won, and had to go out and wrestle a tough match,” said McClanahan, a sophomore who wasn’t quite 1 year old when Crawford won his state title. “I did have a tough weight class, very tough top to bottom.”
McClanahan, 56-3 this season, improved on a runner-up finish in 2014 by edging Jake Brindley of Lake Highland Prep 4-3 in the 126-pound finals. Earlier Saturday, McClanahan advanced through the semifinals with a 7-2 decision over Calab Ashe of Key West.
“I fought hard in the semis and had to prepare myself mentally,” McClanahan said. “I wasn’t going to come out second place again.”
Not to be outdone, Carlan followed at 132 pounds with a 2-1 win over Jay Dugmore of Indian Rocks Christian to finish his final season 58-5. Carlan pinned Austin Rasmussen of Deltona in 39 seconds of the semifinals to reach the championship match.
“I made it here two times and was wrestling for placing only to lose out,” said Carlan, who demolished his weight class with two pins and a technical fall until his final match. He led 2-1 entering the third period, chose the down position and was able to ride it out.
“Having Richie and Paul with me, and this my senior year I needed to get some respect,” said Carlan, who is looking ahead to wrestling in college. “It’s pretty awesome.”
Patterson ended his junior season with a third-place medal at 138. Skipper said that Patterson has had to battle to maintain weight all season because of his height, and the fact he adds extra muscle to play football.
Patterson lost 10-4 to Keaton Koselke of Mariner in the semifinals, but was far from finished. He defeated Matthew Seymour of Taravella 4-3 to earn his way into the third-place match, then edged Alexander Perez of Monsignor Pace 4-3.
Patterson, 53-5 for the season, won four of five matches at state and three by 4-3 decisions.
“This is definitely the hardest tournament we come to and it’s just a different atmosphere,” said Patterson, who admitted that cutting weight became a strain.
“At the beginning of the year it wasn’t so bad, but it definitely wore on me. It was very tough. But now I can’t wait for next year.”
Randy Koscak also wrestled on Saturday in the 195-pound division. He was eliminated on a pin by Cody Ochat of Wakulla in 4:56 to finish 2-2 at state, 41-11 on the season.
Skipper was elated on Friday when every Marlin who made the trip to state, and it was a school-record seven who advanced, won at least one match.
Brian Girard, Michael Harris and Michael Mosley all were eliminated on Friday, but not without having their hand raised once.