Harmony comes off a season of sending seven wrestlers to the state tournament, scoring 47.5 points, and finishing seventh in the team standings. Although the Longhorns saw several talented athletes from that squad graduate, Vic Lorenzano’s team returns enough talent to once again challenge for the District 3A-9 championship.
“We’re not as deep as we were a season ago, but we have three guys who could make the state finals.” Coach Vic Lorenzano says. “We are definitely going to need some younger guys to step up and mature.”
Leading the list of returners is 2025 state champion Nathan Lyttle. The senior became the second wrestler in school history to record an unbeaten season (49-0) en route to capturing the 113-pound Class 3A state title. He Lyttle is looking to the Longhorn’s second multi-year champ after Sawyer Root.
“When an athlete is already a state champion, you expect any jumps in improvement to be fairly subtle, but Nathan’s improvement has been different,” Lorenzano noted. “He went to some high-level college camps this summer and spent time training in Pennsylvania. And although he was coming off an undefeated season, he looks different. He has been an absolute terror in the wrestling room this fall.”
Junior Nevan Irving also returns. He finished 53-9 last season and captured district and regional championships.
Other wrestlers back include Julio Bernaez, Aiden Lind, Brody Fitzgerald, Logan Hickson, Carlos Lopez, Logan Miller, Josiahs Irizary, Yadriel Serrano, Ashton Diaz, Dominic Hayward, Brayden Young, Adam Colvin, and Robert Usher.
The Longhorns roster will be bolstered by Tohopekaliga transfer Nathan Barrett, who went 36-4 at was sixth at state. Newcomers Jace Boutlier; Adriel Rodriguez; Leo Ortiz; and Sebastian Rodriguez could factor in.
“Nathan, Nevan and Nathan Barrett are three hammers whose individual work ethics provide leadership to the entire team,” Lorenzano added. “The intensity level of varsity can be a shock when kids move up from the junior varsity and those guys held with the adjustment and cam make everyone better.”
In preparation for the postseason, the Longhorns will participate in several highprofile tournaments this year, including one at Lake Gibson in January, where Lorenzano says “almost all the top teams in the state” will participate.
Harmony will compete in 3A-9 with Osceola, Celebration and Poinciana; Tohopekaliga and St. Cloud will compete in 3A-10. Gateway and Liberty will be in 2A-8.
Here is a look around the rest of the county:
OSCEOLA: It will be a big transition year for the Kowboys as former head coach Rick Tribit moved on, turning the reigns over to Jesus Cervantes.
The Kowboys return allstate performer David Yi Sanchez, who went 39-11 last year and was sixth at state. Ehab Shalaby (25-8), Jovanni Ortiz, (26-13), Angel Agramonte (2011), Jonathan Olmo (23-12), Diaaeldin Elghonemy (31-10) are also back; while Jose Herrera, a regional qualifier last season, transfers from Poinciana.
CELEBRATION: Much of his starting lineup graduated, so Storm Coach Charles Simpson will rely on a trio of seniors to lead the way this year: regional qualifiers Jared Alvarez (10-12), George Kotelawala (11-9) and Osceola transfer Israel Serrano (17-11).
POINCIANA: The loss of Herrera is a setback for fifth -year coach Jerry Bazilme, but the Eagles return six who made the postseason. The Eagles top returner is Raeven Velasco (19-16), who placed fourth in districts and qualified for regionals.
TOHOPEKALIGA: Longtime Florida wrestling expert and Kabra Wrestling Editor Brant Parsons predicts a big year for the Tigers, calling coach Jon Smorin’s team the favorite to win both district titles (District 3A-10 duals and IBT) this year. Tohopekaliga is coming off an outstanding season, where they saw two wrestlers reach the podium at the 3A tournament and took third place in tough District 10.
Smorin returns a plethora of talent, including state qualifiers Juan Hidalgo (36-26) and Bryan Batles (46-12, 8th place states); as well as regional qualifiers Valentino Benavides (31-17), Matthew Hoenshell (36-15), Josue Mota (32-23), Angel Mundo (27-23), Max Baylis (20-31), Carlos Rodriguez (2222), and Fabian Suarez (9-16). Newcomer David Landin could also be a force.
“We have a senior-laden team this year, and our end result will be based on their performance,” Smorin says.
ST. CLOUD: Now in his eighth season as coach, Eric Scrivens continues to rebuild the Bulldogs to their former glory. The team sent two wrestlers to the state tournament last year and finished fourth in districts and 13th in tough Region 3. Scrivens welcomes back state qualifier Carter Rivera (48-11); as well as regional qualifiers Jacob Delarosa (24-23) and Reynaldo Sierra (12-15). Christopher Karandres, Joel Garcia, Adiel Martinez, Milton Maysonet. Jett Aulet, William Goonan, Joenel Roman, and JT Wrona also return with either varsity of JV experience. Look for newcomers Hunter Craine and Eli Dhaiti to become factors.
“We are a good mix of kids ranging from a state qualifier in Carter Rivera to a bunch of athletes like Jacob Delarosa and several others that are starting to reach their potential,” Scrivens said. “But we also have a bunch of guys that are new to the sport but have worked extremely hard in the off-season. We will learn our lessons and try to get better each week.”
GATEWAY: With a solid group of returning wrestlers, look for the Panthers to make a strong run in District 2A-8. Head Coach Travis Hill returns state qualifier Jason Perez (2919); as well as regional qualifiers Daniel Abreu (16-21), Colin Gould (9-22), Matias Cuevas (15-25), Gabriel Hernandez (6-17), Anthony Garcia (719), Andre Andrade (6-20), and Jomar Martinez (3-10) off a squad that finished second to Lyman at last year’s district tournament.
“We had a couple of kids move away and that is going to hurt our depth a little,” Hill says. “But we have a solid group of guys that have worked hard this off-season.”
LIBERTY: The Chargers hope to participate in districts for the first time since 2022 as first-year coach Justin Jusino starts to rebuild the Liberty program.
