STATE RUNNER-UPS
The big banners adorning the walls of Osceola High gym are reserved for outstanding team achievement. Only team state champions and state team runner-ups earn the spots on the top of the wall.
Now Rick Tribit-- the Athletic Director -- will have to figure where to make room for another banner after Rick Tribit -- the wrestling coach -- guided his team to a second-place finish at the Class 3A State Dual Championship over the weekend.
The Kowboys got to the finals in impressive fashion, defeating defending state champion Palmetto Ridge (45-29) in Friday night’s quarterfinals and Ft. Pierce Central (38-30) in the semifinals on Saturday morning. Osceola ran into a buzz saw in the finals, dropping a 42-9 decision to state power South Dade – a team that won their fifth state dual championship in six years of the event, to go with their 19 Class 3A team titles in the traditional IBT state championship tournament.
“I am extremely proud of how these kids clawed and fought their way through this tournament,” Tribit said “The final result was not totally unexpected, there’s a reason South Dade had won 23 state team titles coming into the tournament – including 14 of the last 15 Dual and IBT championships. They have great wrestlers, great coaching and a great program. We beat Palmetto Ridge and Ft. Pierce with a couple of gutty performances.”
Osceola’s three defending state champions – the “Triple H” trio of Anderson Heap, Cooper Haase and Gunner Holland – played a huge role in getting the Kowboys to the finals. The trio accounted for 49% of the team’s points in the tournament, despite only wrestling nine of 42 total matches.
The Kowboys had to come from behind in both victories. After dropping the first two weight classes and falling behind Palmetto Ridge 10-0, Osceola would battle back and tie it 15-15, before Heap got a pin at 142, Haase picked up a forfeit win at 150 and Holland pinned his opponent at 160 as Osceola went ahead for good at 36-15.
Falling behind 15-6 early against Ft. Pierce, the Kowboys trailed by seven points (27-20) with four matches remaining. Heap brought them back to within one by recording a fall over Damion Allison, Haase pinned J.T. Apicella in the next match to put Osceola up 32-27 before Holland clinched the win with a second period pin over Bryan Malara.
While South Dade dominated the championship match, Osceola did win three of the 13 contested weight classes (a double forfeit occurred at 220). All three wins came from the “Triple H” group, but all were hotly contested.
Heap defeated Misha Arbos, 10-7, with a takedown and back points in the final seconds of the third overtime period; Haase needed an escape and takedown late in the third period to get by Gavin Balmeceda, 6-3; and Holland got a takedown in the final 15 seconds of his match to beat Lawrence Rosario, 3-1.
With the wins, all three recorded perfect 3-0 records in the Duals Championships. Tribit noted that he was not surprised all three were severely tested in the South Dade match. “Those guys are quality wrestlers and have competed against our guys plenty of times in the past. Both sides knew what to expect,” Tribit noted.
With a month left in the regular season, Osceola and other county teams will begin preparations for district tournaments that begin on Feb. 18. A tournament of interest will be the Orange Belt Conference Championships on Feb. 4. Harmony has won the last three in a row after upending long time champion Osceola in the 2020 championship.
