By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

After winning its second tournament championship of the season, Osceola’s wrestling team will embark on a treacherous holiday schedule that will see the squad participate in events at Miami, Georgia and Pennsylvania over the next two weeks.

“It’s going to get pretty busy,” Kowboys Coach Jim Bird said.

Osceola swept through the 12-team Danny Byron Duals at the OHS gym last weekend with an 8-0 record, adding that championship to its Marvin Haven Duals title.

Six Kowboys wrestlers were unbeaten against a field that included Louisiana’s state runner-up, New Orleans Jesuit, and Lake Gibson, ranked No. 1 in Class 2A and last year’s state runner-up to Springstead.

The Kowboys defeated Jesuit, 51-24, for the championship Saturday. Jensen Beach stopped Olympia, 40-33, for third place.

The Kowboys travel to South Dade Friday and Saturday for the District 16 Duals, a showcase for Miami-area wrestlers. South Dade has won or been the state runner-up 14 times over the past two decades.

After that, the Kowboys travel to Suwanee, Ga., next week for the Kyle Maynard Duals and then to Canonsburg, Pa. Dec. 29-30 for the Powerade tournament, billed as Pennsylvania’s toughest and a FloNationals major.

Osceola’s victory at the Byron Duals was, literally, a team effort, Bird said.

“I told the guys after the tournament that this might be the best team we’ve had here in terms of depth,” Bird, who coached the Kowboys to the 2009 Class 3A championship and to second place in 2011.

“We pretty much go two deep at every position, and at 106 we have four kids who all can compete,” Bird said. “These guys believe in the system. You show them what to do, and they’re all in. We had 15 in at 6 a.m. for practice Monday morning. We have so many JV kids that we’re doing extra practices at night in the gym to handle them all, and they don’t complain a bit.”

Ariel Dominguez (106), Tim Locksmith (132), Fox Baldwin (138), Miguel Crespo (145), Chris Pagan (170), Jhalen Flanders (182), Andrew Connors (195) and Rashad Marshall (220) all were unbeaten at the tournament.

Bird said freshman heavweight Franklyn Lantigua (14-3), who won seven matches at the Byron Duals, has been outstanding.

Deven Acevedo (106), Paul Zupofska (145) and Kenny Martin (152) lost once for OHS.

“We don’t have superstars on this team, just kids who work their tails off and who want to get the job done,” Bird said.

Baldwin, a freshman and the Class A state champion at 119 pounds last year for Lake Highland Prep, is 17-0 this season and went up to 145 pounds to defeat Jensen Beach state runner-up Mike Hess by injury default Saturday after leading 8-0. Baldwin has 14 pins, second on the team to Locksmith, who has 15 pins and is 17-1.

Danny Byron was a member of the Kowboys wrestling team for several seasons and placed third at the Class 3A tournament in 2007. He was killed in Melbourne over the summer in a hit-and-run accident. The tournament was renamed from the Kowboy Kup in his memory. Byron’s parents, Dan and Tori Byron, joined the team for the championship trophy presentation.

The tournament ran smoothly, Bird said, thanks to a large support system of volunteers and parents who are dedicated to the program’s success.

“We had everyone out of the gym by 3 o’clock Saturday, and that was after everyone wrestled five matches,” he said. “I had many people come to me and say it was the best-run tournament they have been to. It’s why teams are always asking to come here, because it’s a great experience.”

Bird plans to utilize the team’s depth at South Dade this weekend.

“There are eight matches available down there, but no one is going to wrestle eight times. We’ll look at whatever matchups look interesting and plug guys in where it will help us the most,” Bird said. “We’re not going to do anything that will detract from our long-term goals.”

After the holidays, Bird said the team will slow the pace. OHS will host the A.J. Jones Memorial tournament Jan. 7 before going to the Orange Belt Conference tournament Jan. 14 at Celebration.