Osceola High saw Cooper Haase and Anderson Heap each won individual championships and Gunner Holland reach his finals as the Kowboys found success in the 10th annual Knockout Christmas Classic at Silver Spurs Arena.
Considered one of the top holiday high school wrestling tournaments in the nation, the prestigious two-day event welcomed 63 teams from 11 states. Those teams included eight state team champions, 53 individual defending state champions and more than 200 state place winners.
“I’m not only extremely proud of our three finalists and two champions but I am also proud of our entire team,” OHS Coach Rick Tribit said following the event. “To get three guys to the finals in a tournament of this magnitude is a great achievement, but I am also so proud of how the entire team wrestled. We won a lot of matches the last two days against a great field and we had some guys wrestle their tails off and make tremendous progress which will give us a lot of confidence moving forward.”
Heap won the first title for Osceola at 142 pounds with a thrilling 8-5 win over two-time Georgia 5A state runner-up Tyler McKnight (17-1) of Cass High School. The two battled to a 5-5 tie through two periods, before Heap got an escape and a match-clinching takedown in the final minute.
“I just stuck with my game plan,” Heap said. “He (McKnight) is a really good wrestler and I just had to be patient and take I was able to hit my shot at the end.”
Anderson was not challenged in his first four matches, reaching the finals with a 9-2 decision over Jay Eversole (Lakeway Christian, Tennessee) in the quarterfinals and a 13-4 major decision over Jace Parent (St. Francis, Ga.) in the semifinals.
Haase would then take care of business at 152 pounds, where he dominated his weight class. He took a decisive 13-5 win over Lake Gibson’s Gianni Maldonaldo in the finals. All five of Maldonaldo’s points came on escapes that Haase did not contest. Haase, who is bidding to become Osceola’s second four-time state champion, won his first three matches via pin fall, and scored a 11-3 major decision over Devin Stone in the semifinals. Stone, the 7A Georgia state champion from Thompson High, was 17-0 heading into the match.
“I sort of felt Maldonaldo would try to force the action in the finals and he did,” Haase said. “I was able to counter his moves. The plan was to get the takedowns and pile up points.
“I really have a hard time describing Cooper,” Tribit said. “He is so elusive, opponents just have a hard time dealing with him. On top of that, nothing ever seems to phase him or bother him on the mat.”
Osceola’s bid for a third champion came up just short, as Winter Springs’ Elijah Penton edged Holland in the 170-pound final. Holland also came into the finals as the second seed with a 13-0 record. The two wrestled to 0-0 standoff in the first period, with Holland picking up an escape and Penton gaining a penalty point as the match was tied 1-1 through two periods. Penton got an escape midway through the third period and took Holland down on a single leg attack to go up 4-1. Holland got an escape but Penton fought off several takedown attempts in the final 30 seconds to hold on for the 4-2 win.
“Gunner just got out of football and is nowhere near as good as he will be in another month or two,” Tribit said. “He lost a tough one, but there’s no doubt in my mind he will rebound.”
Several other Osceola wrestlers performed well in the difficult tournament. Evan Martinez (120) went 4-2 and made it into the consolation bracket. Isfander Sharipov won three matches at 126; as did Bryan Gari at 182. Jomar Sanchez won twice at 195.
South Dade – the defending 3A Florida champion – won the team title with 206 points. 2A Champion Lake Gibson was second at 156.5 points; and 1A Champion Jensen Beach was third with 145. Osceola (123.5) was seventh.
In addition to the boys’ tournament, 85 schools sent girl wrestlers. Osceola, Harmony, Gateway and St. Cloud all had representatives. Osceola’s Kealoni Vega took first place in the 100-pound. weight class; Cathia Thomas was 4th at 140. Gateway’s Emiliana Martinez went 5-2 in the tournament to capture 4th place at 170 pounds.
10th KNOCKOUT CHRISTMAS CLASSIC
Championship Round Results
106: Andrew Punzalan (Cypress Bay) 25-1, Sr. over DJ Clarke (Buford, Ga.) 20-2, Fr. (Dec 5-2)
113: Antonio Mills (Mill Creek, Ga.) 23-0, Fr. over Tyler Washburn (Palmetto Ridge) 14-4, Sr. (Dec 4-1)
120: Sebastian Degennaro (Jensen Bch.) 6-0, So. Over Christian Fretwell (Lake Gibson) 4-1, So. (Dec 5-0)
126: Jake Crapps (Cass,Ga.) 17-0, Jr. over Jarvis Little (Summit, Tenn.) 19-4, Jr. (Dec 9-3)
132: Gunner Andrick (Pt. Pleasant, WV) 20-3, So. over Amantee Mills (Mill Creek, Ga.) 26-2, Sr. (Dec 7-2)
138: Drew Gorman (Buford, GA) 22-0, So. over EJ Solis (South Dade) 14-1, So. (MD 10-1)
145: Anderson Heap (Osceola) 16-0, Jr. over Tyler McKnight (Cass, Ga.) 17-1, Sr. (Dec 8-5)
152: Cooper Haase (Osceola) 17-0, Sr. over Gianni Maldonado (Lake Gibson) 4-1, Jr. (MD 13-5)
160: Dominic Bambinelli (Mill Creek, Ga.) 28-0, So. over Christopher Minto (Mariner) 16-1, Sr. (Dec 4-3)
170: Elijah Penton (Winter Springs) 17-0, Jr. over Gunner Holland (Osceola) 13-1, Jr. (Dec 4-2)
182: Frank Solorzano (Lake Gibson) 5-0, Sr. over Zach Weidler (Cypress Bay) 17-1, Sr. (Dec 3-1)
195: Brian Burburija (Countryside) 6-0, Sr. over Luke Cochran (Jefferson, Ga.) 21-1, Sr. (Dec 10-6)
220: Sawyer Bartelt (South Dade) 12-0, Jr. over Bryson Getz (St. Vincent, Ohio) 36-8, Sr. (Fall 0:41)
285: John Levy (Carrollton, Ga.) 6-0, So. over Caleb Rodriguez (First Baptist-Naples) 4-1, Fr. (Dec 4-2)
