State champion Derrick Williams headlines all-county wrestling team

Bozeman's Derrick Williams made program history becoming the first Buck to win a wrestling state championship. Williams defeated Jensen Beach's Gian Ortiz in the final of the Class 1A 120-pound weight class.

For all of his efforts Williams was named Bay County wrestler of the year, as voted by coaches around the county.

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"It means everything to me, I lost last year in the finals and to come back this year and win it, the honor means a lot to me," Williams said.

The senior was dominant all season, winning the treble of county, district and state titles. Before every match Williams keeps a routine of pacing back and forth and even a pre-match nap.

"I pace back and forth to get my blood flowing and before a finals match I find a quite corner and mediate to the point where I sometimes fall asleep," Williams said. "I wake up, warm up, feel calm and don't feel that much pressure on me."

In the finals match Williams was taken down by Ortiz but the senior came back repeating, "you got this", all the way to a state title.

"I kept saying, I got this, I can't lose, this is the last six minutes of my high school career," Williams said.

Wrestling Coach of the Year: Zane Turnipseed

North Bay Haven's Zane Turnipseed has completely transformed the Buccaneers' program. From struggling to gain interest, Turnipseed led North Bay Haven to a second straight district dual title and eclipsing the 100-win mark as a coach.

For all of his efforts, Turnipseed was named the Bay County wrestling coach of the year as voted by his peers.

"It is a nice feeling because the coaches are really good around here and have built up pretty solid programs," Turnipseed said. "It is great to be recognized by them and I am proud of the kids and the effort they put in."

Sophomores Zander Stillgess and Bear Siegal reached 100 victories in their varsity careers on the way to North Bay Haven defeating Bayou Rock Christian 62-18 for the program's second district championship.

Some factors Turnipseed credits to the program's recent dominant form is consistency in the weight room, on the mat and sticking to the formula at practices.

It is natural with any sport for athletes to get injured but he said that, despite half of his squad out with injuries at one point, he still found ways to keep them engaged.

"If it was a leg injury I would have them do push ups and different things like that to help teach the younger kids that you are not excluded from the team and keep conditioning up as much as possible," Turnipseed said.

Banji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or through X, formerly known as Twitter, @AdebanjiBamide1.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: All-Bay County wrestling: Bozeman's Derrick Williams wins first title