OHS girls also win; 12 county lifters set for 3A girls state championship
Although Osceola High has produced numerous state champions in recent years, it was Harmony that emerged as the deeper team – winning the last three Orange Belt Conference team championships. That streak ended on Saturday, when the Kowboys sent nine wrestlers to the finals – winning all nine championship matches – to score 231.5 points and win their first OBC team championship since 1999.
And, for good measure, the Kowboys also claimed the second annual girls’ OBC title.
Harmony, which came into the meet with several injuries, also sent nine to the finals and posted four individual champions to finish in second with 201 points. Host Tohopekaliga was third with 139.5; while Poinciana – who had the other individual champion – was fourth at 85.
Osceola Coach Rick Tribit said he was pleased with capturing the team championship in a meet that the Kowboys have traditionally treated as a warm-up for the state series.
“Winning this tournament and getting ready for the state tournament are not mutually exclusive,” Tribit said. “Wrestling is an individual sport, but events like OBC and the state duals tournament give it a team feel. Winning OBCs definitely means something to our guys.”
Talyn Fisk set the tone early for Osceola with in the 113-pound final. It would be the first of four scheduled head-to-head finals matches with Harmony that the Kowboys ended up sweeping.
Evan Martinez was comfortably ahead of the Longhorns’ Tanner Hinman before winning on injury default in the second period at 120; defending state champion Anderson Heap won by medical forfeit at 145; and Elijah Van Sickle (220) won by forfeit.
Osceola’s two other defending state champions, Cooper Haase and Gunner Holland, won the 150 and 170-pound classes. Heap (43-2), Haase (41-2) and Holland (40-3) all reached the 40-win plateau for the season Saturday.
The Kowboys also picked up titles when Isfandier Sharipov (21-12) won by major decision at 126; Bryan Gari took a 7-4 decision at 182; and Jomar Sanchez recorded a major in the 195 final by an 18-5 count.
“The thing I was most pleased about is we stepped up our intensity and effort in this tournament,” Tribit added. “Overall as a team, we definitely got better this weekend.”
Although Harmony dropped to second in the team race, the Longhorns had some outstanding performances. Rey Ortiz (132), Shawn McCallister (138), Antonio Falotico (160) and Nelson Toro (285) all took home gold. The four were a combined 8-0 in the tournament with all eight wins coming by pin fall.
“The final team standings reflect a solid effort by the guys today. We pushed nine into the finals and had four champions with four pins in the finals,” Harmony coach Vic Lorenzano said. “We relinquished the title but we did not so without putting up a dog fight.”
Toro, considered a major contender for a state championship, remained undefeated on the season at 35-0; while McCallister and Ortiz each improved to 37-2 on the year.
Although Tohopekaliga failed to win a weight class, they also had a strong tournament. The Tigers placed eight in the top three, including sending Nathan Barrett (132), Jayson Ortiz (138), Luis Rosario (182) and Chris Luyamda (195) to the finals.
Poinciana’s Landon Trigueros (18-1) picked up the other individual championship, winning major decision at 106. Gateway sent three wrestlers to the finals, as Ariel Molina (126), Meison Broche (152) and Elijah Abreau (285) all finished second. Celebration sent Chase Bloom to the 170 finals.
St. Cloud had three wrestlers reach the podium as Andrew Colantanio (285), John Fernandez (182) and Luc Beaulieu (113) all took third place.
Osceola (137 points) also claimed the girls team championship. Gateway (110) was second ahead of Harmony (90).
Osceola’s champions included Kealonie Vega (100), Anayah Wayne (105), Daniela Tabora (110), Kellyana Mack (130), Nyla Rockne (135), and Cathia Timus (145). Other champions include Gateway’s Suheleily Alifonso (115) and Emiliana Martinez (155); Poinciana’s Cynthia Olds (140) and Kaylie Collado (145); Harmony’s Shelby Fillyaw (120) and Morningstar Osceola (125); Celebration’s Hayleni Costa (170) and St. Cloud’s Emari Brown (190).
“Participation in girls wrestling in the county, state and the nation continues to grow,” Tribit said. “In only the second year of the OBC tournament, participation from our county schools has more than doubled.”
State girls weightlifting qualifiers: The state girls weightlifting championships is on Feb. 18 in Lakeland, and Osceola County will be well represented.
St. Cloud leads the way after second place team at the Class 3A Region 3 championships in Port Charlotte. Despite the high finish, Coach Cory Aun was not entirely pleased with several aspects of the competition.
“It was their first time hosting and frankly they had some inexperienced judges – many working their first competition. I believe they were doing the best they could, but we just felt that some mistakes were made that cost some lifters positions.”
Gaining automatic qualifiers into states as regional champs were St. Cloud lifters Ashley Aun (100 pounds), Abagail Davis and Kaitlyn Gallagher-Perez (110.
Celebration has five at-large qualifiers in the Olympic portion with Maria Gonzalez (113), Fabiana Millan-Profeta (154), Lylian San Miquel (164), Yomileanys Lopez (190), and Indiana Ramos (UNL). Harmony (Aliyanna Timmons-UNL) and Tohopekaliga (Alex Woodman-139) advance one lifer each; while Osceola had two qualify in Olympic style with Shannon Levy (129) and Damarial Cummings (183) getting through to the state championship meet.
In Class 2A, Gateway’s Shanetta Brown qualified as an at-large participant in the 183-pound weight class, while Liberty’s Wilandy Renard will compete as an at-large qualifier at 199.
