With the 2022-23 season starting last week with fall sport practices, but without any games for another couple weeks, it’s a good time to rflect on what we covered during the 2021-22 year — one where “normal” was replaced with “the new normal.”
“It probably would not be correct to say that things were 100 percent back to normal. In fact, a new normal has been created,” St. Cloud’s Bryan Smart, now its Athletic Director, said last fall. “But we are getting closer. Even though we still had to take some precautions and do things a little bit different, we still had a lot fewer disruptions in the schedule.”
As for some of the truly remarkable performances, running backs Tyler Emans (Harmony) and Oniel Senatus (Celebration) both turned in record-breaking football performances and were among the state leaders in touchdowns and rushing yards. John Walker and Derrick Leblanc led an outstanding Osceola defense that allowed just one yard per rushing attempt, as the Kowboys won nine games and made it to the regional semifinals.
The Game of the Year occurred late in the season, as the massive under(Bull)dogs St. Cloud pulled the upset and defeated Harmony, 31-30, in the Soldier City Classic. Along the way, excellent freshman stars emerged, including Harmony linebacker Dalten Phelan and Osceola’s Taevion Swint.
St. Cloud dominated Orange Belt Conference girls and boys golf. Senior Morgan Beaulieu led the Lady Bulldogs to the state championship tournament and finished in a tied for fourth in the 3A individual tournament. Celebration’s Catalina Edwards earned All-State honors with an 8th place finish in the Class 4A state cross country meet, which the Harmony girls and Tohopekaliga boys’ teams boys qualified for. Tohopekaliga won its first-ever Orange Belt Conference team championship. Eric Capestany ’s girls’ volleyball team went 22-3 overall; all three defeats came against district champion Lake Nona.
Celebration’s Felipe Costa brought the county its first swimming and diving state champion in more than 22 years. He won the 100 backstroke and had a hand in all 81 Storm team points as Celebration had its highest state finish ever (10th). As usual, wrestling was the major story in winter sports. Harmony, with its superior depth, won another OBC team title, it was Osceola who stood out as Anderson Heap, Gunner Holland, and Cooper Haase were all state champions — the Kowboys 16th year in a row with one. Haase, a junior, claimed his third.
In basketball, Steve Mason (Osceola boys), Justin Marino (Gateway girls) and Chad Ansbaugh (St. Cloud girls) guided teams to their regionals, as those girls teams played an epic OBC title game; the Bulldogs won but the Panthers reached their st-ever regional al; a 37-35 loss to Bishop Moore left them one bucket from the Final Four.
Adriana Rosa of Harmony won weightlifting state championships in the traditional and snatch competitions. St. Cloud was the top girls’ team in the county, winning OBC, district and regional titles and sending eight lifters to the Class 3A state meet.
In soccer, Celebration recorded an undefeated OBC and regular season before losing to Sarasota Riverview in the state regional playoffs.
In the spring, Osceola’s baseball team not only won an OBC and district title. Harmony’s flag football team, behind the performance of co-players of the year in Drea Thompson and Martha Edwards, won OBC and district titles. _e Celebration boys’ volleyball team was the class of the county, winning OBC and District Championships before falling in regionals in Tampa Bay Heat.
Boys weightlifting saw St. Cloud’s Julian Sykes win both the traditional and snatch competitions at the state championship. He joined Harmony’s Isaiah Balado to give Osceola a pair of double gold medalists in the sport. Sykes would go on to gather a silver and bronze in the AAU Junior National Championships.
In lacrosse, the Celebration girls won another district title; while the Tohopekaliga Tigers’ not only established a girls’ beach volleyball team, but qualified for the state championship in their first year of existence.
Change was a big part of the school year. Coaching changes were abundant, significantly the return of Mason as Osceola basketball coach after the resignation of ultra-successful coach Nate Alexander, who left teaching for private business. Long-time assistant Eric Pinellas took over for Osceola football coach Doug Nichols.
With the promotion of Smart to athletic director at St. Cloud, the move of Rick Tribit from Celebration to Osceola and Lonnie Flores transferring to Liberty – e schools will have new athletics directors in 2022-23.
In all, it was another pretty incredible year for high school sports in Osceola County.
“We had seven of our athletes win individual state championships this year and St. Cloud won a state title in Uni d Basketball,” Osceola Schools’ Athletic Director Ryan Adams said. “The county saw several schools add new sports in beach volleyball and lacrosse. We had more than 80 senior athletes sign grant-in-aids to play at the next level. All this was accomplished while our athletes continued to excel in the classroom.”
