Kowboys strong at Powerade wrestling

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Kowboys strong at Powerade wrestling

Sports

Thursday, 07 January 2010 00:40

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
The holiday tournaments are over, and now the county’s prep wrestlers begin preparations for next month’s state tournaments.
Osceola High grapplers measured themselves against many of the top wrestlers in the East over the holiday break at the Powerade Christmas Tournament at Canonsburg, Pa.
With only eight OHS wrestlers participating, the team placed seventh overall (77 points) from a field of 44 and sent three wrestlers to the finals. Central Dauphin High, Pa., (174) won its third consecutive Powerade title.
Osceola’s Gabriel Bird (145) remained unbeaten and won the tournament championship, while Joe Locksmith (135) and Pete Baldwin (140) were runners-up.
Baldwin lost the championship match to nationally No. 1-ranked Josh Kindig, who has committed to Oklahoma State.
Tim Locksmith (119) placed seventh for OHS. Jeremy Strickland (125) and Alex Rivera (130) also won matches. Chris Pagan (160) competed and narrowly lost his two matches.
The tournament is ranked No. 4 nationally by Amateur Wrestling News.
“It was a great tournament for our guys. To finish seventh with only eight guys, and for three to reach the finals was awesome,” Coach Jim Bird said. “I’m not sure many people understand what a big deal this is. You’re talking about competing against some of the best programs in the country. Even the guys from up there who aren’t ranked, our guys will tell you that everyone they wrestled was tough. They are so solid fundamentally; they almost never get out of position.”
Gabe Bird, a four-time state qualifier, is enjoying his best high school season.
“He’s dialed in more than he has been in the past. He hasn’t given up a point on his feet,” Coach Bird, the wrestler’s father, said.
The Kowboys won eight matches at the South Dade District 16 Duals prior to the Powerade tournament, losing only to the host school.
“We’ve wrestled well, but we still have to keep working and keep learning,” Coach Bird said. “Even guys who have won tournaments are still working on their weaknesses. I’m happy with the progress the whole program is making. We had a lot of the young guys in here over the break working hard.”
The Powerade and District 16 tournaments, combined with the Kowboys Kup in early December, have left the Kowboys weary as they prepare for the state tournament, where they are the defending Class 3A champions.
“We’ve got some guys who are beat up,” Bird said. “We may have a couple who sit out for a week or two, but that’s OK. We’ll have them ready for the important tournaments that are coming up next month.”
Osceola will host the A.J. Jones Memorial Duals Saturday at the Kowboys gym. Sixteen teams will participate, including Poinciana. Action begins at 9 a.m.; the finals begin at 6 p.m. Admission is $5.
Pete Baldwin’s brother, Fox Baldwin, a seventh-grader at Lake Highland Prep, went 8-1 at the Lemon Bay High 1A Wars, losing only to Wakulla senior Tyler Hill at 121 pounds for the championship. Fox Baldwin has won 100 varsity matches in less than two seasons. He is believed to be the youngest wrestler ever to attain 100 varsity victories.
Celebration won five matches at the Harmony holiday tournament, with 119-pounder Josh Douglas winning all nine of his matches to earn Outstanding Lightweight, along with Harmony’s Chris Valdez.
Celebration’s Cameron Ward was 8-1 at 189 pounds.
The Storm competes at the Lake Mary Tournament of Champions Friday.
Harmony travels to the Jacksonville Terry Parker Duals this weekend.
The Longhorns had to pull out of the holiday tournaments after several team members became ill.
“We used the break to get healthy,” Coach Chris Todd said.
Chris Valdez (119) and Matt Vaughan (130) won championships at the Harmony Christmas tournament last month with 9-0 records. Both wrestlers are 22-2 for the season.
The team welcomed Chris Grillo (140) to the lineup after he underwent knee surgery over the summer. He won six matches.
Freshman Ariel Dominguez (103) went 8-1 at the Harmony tournament.
Liberty wrestlers go to Viera High Saturday for the Hawks Duals. Liberty placed ninth at the Lyman Invite.
Felix Betancourt (130) won the championship and Aric Fernandez (171) placed fourth. Victor Martinez (152) was sixth for the Chargers.
“We had a great outing, the guys wrestled pretty tough and we finished ninth despite taking only 10 wrestlers,” Coach Eric Scrivens said.
Poinciana travels to Citrus High for the Rob Hermann Hurricane Cup Friday.
Mike Shepherd (103), Keith Stevenson (112), Benson Bazileme (125), Tavarus Alcime (152), Luis Lino (189) and Brian Lesniak (215) all have displayed state tournament potential, Coach Buckie Wells said.
“Our focus has been on the individual wrestler and preparing for the state meets,” Wells said.