Osceola wrestlers found success in the elite Gold Bracket, as Anderson Heap and Cooper Haase claimed championship round titles at the two-day Danny Bryon Memorial Invitational that wrapped up Saturday afternoon at the Kowboys Gym.
It was a warm-up for the Kowboys hosting the 2021 Knockout Christmas Classic at Silver Spurs Arena – one of the largest and most prestigious high school holiday wrestling tournaments in the country.
In all, 22 teams competed last weekend. Friday, the top two wrestlers from each of three brackets advanced to Saturday’s Gold Bracket, where wrestlers faced a round-robin competition. Osceola sent a total of six wrestlers into the top bracket. Jomar Sanchez placed third at 220; while Gunner Holland took fourth.
“We don’t pay a lot of attention to the final results, because we often move kids into weight classes they ultimately will not be competing in at during the state tournament,” Kowboys Coach Jim Bird noted. “But this is a great early season event to gain experience. You know if you make it to the gold bracket on Saturday you are going to have to face five hammers (tough competitors). From a competition standpoint, it’s really a great tournament.”
Haase, who won a state championship last season at 120, was dominant on Saturday as his closest match was a 17-7 major decision over Freedom High School’s Eric Aja at 138. Haase recorded three falls and a technical fall in remaining perfect on the season with a 12-0 record.
Heap also remained undefeated, going to 11-0 by taking the 126-pound title. He cruised in his first four matches, getting two pins, a technical fall and a major decision before facing Camden’s (Georgia) Riley Dahlgren, who brought a 21-0 record into the final match.
Trailing 1-0 and having his choice of positions to begin the final period, Heap elected to start standing. He recorded a late takedown and held Dahlgren down for the remainder of the match to secure an exciting 2-1 win.
“Absolutely a great performance by Anderson and a really significant victory,” Bird said. “Dahlgren is a two-time defending state champion in Georgia and we knew it was going to be a tough battle for him.”
Bird also had praise for Sanchez, who could have become Osceola’s third gold bracket winner after winning his first four matches on Saturday. But he gave up a takedown in overtime and lost 3-1 in sudden victory to Olympic Height’s Parker Poloskey. Sanchez just missed winning the match in regulation but his escape was ruled after the buzzer in the third period and a potential match-winning takedown in overtime was also disallowed after being ruled off the mat.
“Jomar is a go-getter who has just been getting better and better with each practice and match,” Bird said about Sanchez, a junior. “He had an outstanding tournament and gave us a great effort this weekend.” With Sanchez’s loss, three wrestlers finished in that group with identical 4-1 records. Although he defeated Southwest Miami’s Jonathan Fraga earlier in the day, Sanchez was placed third behind Fraga, due to the tie-breaking criteria used.
The third and fourth place finishers from Friday’s preliminaries were placed in the Blue Bracket for Saturday, while the remaining wrestlers where placed in the White Bracket. Gateway, Celebration and Poinciana also participated.
Other place winners from the county included Poinciana’s Landon Trigueros, who went 5-0 on Saturday to take first place at 105 in the Blue Bracket, and Gateway’s Hector Perez, who recorded three pins in winning the 152-pound White Bracket. Gateway had a big day Saturday, also taking third place finishes in the White Bracket at 106 (Talyn Fisk), 132 (Jessiah Glass), and 145 (Meison Broche). Osceola also had a podium finisher in the Blue Bracket at 138 in Bryan Gari.
Named after a former Kowboys wrestler who passed away in a 2011 accident, the Danny Byron Invitational featured some of the best teams in Florida, including eight-time defending Class 3A state champion South Dade, 2021 Class 3A runner-up Miami Southwest, state power and recent two-time 2A state champion Lake Gibson, Florida powers Fleming Island, Jensen Beach and Palm Bay, as well as Georgia state powers Camden and Colquitt.
For the tournament, Camden County led all teams with three Gold Bracket champions; Osceola and Jensen Beach had two each.
