State Champions!

Two State Champion wrestlers, Roman Lermer '24 and Draven McCall '25, were recognized in front of the Jesuit student body and presented with their State Championship gold medals by head coach Sal Basile at Convocation on Wednesday (March 8).

A few days earlier, on March 4 in Kissimmee, Lermer and McCall had each captured Class 2A individual State titles with powerhouse performances. Lermer, wrestling at 113 pounds, defeated rival Camren French of Charlotte 8-2 to capture his second straight State crown. Lermer also defeated French last year for the title.

McCall won in even more dominating fashion. After winning his first three matches at State without yielding a point, including a 1-0 semifinal win, McCall cruised to a 13-2 win in the final. 

The other three Jesuit wrestlers who qualified for the State Tournament also had sensational meets and reached the podium.

• Brandon Cody '24 advanced all the way to the championship match before finishing as State runner-up at 152 pounds.
• Gavin Young '23 won his first match at State and then lost in the quarterfinals to fall into the consolation bracket. There, Young battled back for three straight wins to finish in 4th place at 145 pounds.
• It was the same story for Jayden Bowles '25 at 132 pounds. After losing in the quarterfinals, Bowles rallied in the consolation bracket for three straight wins to also finish in 4th place.

The State titles by Lermer and McCall continue a phenomenal run of championship success for the Tigers at State wrestling. Over the past five years, Jesuit's 17 individual State Champion wrestlers are the most of any Florida school.