For the third straight year and 11th time in the last 14 years, Osceola High sits on top of the Orange Belt Conference in boys wrestling.
Elijah Vansickle pinned St. Cloud’s Eann Mesa in the 215-pound championship match to give the Kowboys 206.5 team points and an insurmountable lead over the Longhorns, who finished second with 203 points. Tohopekaliga (126) edged St. Cloud (124) for third place.
“I am super proud of our guys for sticking together and pulling it out,” Osceola Coach Rick Tribit. “We were without a couple of starters today, including our state champion (unjured Isfandier Sharipov) and really had to juggle our lineup around. It came down to the very end and Elijah gave us the points we needed to win.”
The girls OBC Tournament was also a close battle between Osceola and Harmony, with the Lady Kowboys prevailing over the Longhorns, 216-180.
Harmony looked headed for victory when they were able to build a big team lead early during the finals.
Tristan Horn (28-1 at 106) and Nathan Lyttle (27-0 at 113) – two wrestlers who will be strong contenders to win state titles this year -- got things going for the Longhorns with back-to-back first-period pins.
Nathan Irving (120) won by technical fall, Landon Davis (126) took a decision, Max Butler followed with a pin at 132 before Cris Rodriguez (138) defeated Tohopekaliga’s Daniel Fortado, 12-10, in one of the most entertaining matches.
Rodriguez’s decision gave Harmony six champions in the first six finals. Aiden Maldonado (285) won a tiebreaker over Osceola’s Jaquille Knox to give the Longhorns seven OBC champions.
“Even though we lost the team title by a couple of points, today certainly felt like a victory in a lot of ways,” Harmony Coach Vic Lorenzano said. “Our guys in the lower weight classes stepped up and picked up some valuable bonus points and overall, I thought we wrestled extremely well today from top to bottom. Like Osceola, we were also missing a few starters but overall, it was a really satisfying meet.”
Osceola’s path to victory started at 144, where Ehab Shalaby took a 14-4 major decision over Harmony’s Brody Williams. Jonathan Olmo won by fall at 157 for the Kowboys and David Yi Sanchez won a narrow 10-9 decision over Tohopekaliga’s Bryan Battles at 165. Deacon Delong won by pin over Harmony’s Seth Scutero at 190 to set up Vansickle’s decisive match at 215.
Both Tribit and Lorenzano mentioned Yi Sanchez’s match at 165 as the turning point. “We had some guys step up big for us tonight, David’s win at 165 and Olmo’s pin at 157 were huge,” Tribit said. “If they lose that close match at 165, it could have turned the final result in our favor,” Lorenzano added.
In addition to the seven individual champions from Harmony and Osceola’s five, Tohopekaliga produced the other individual champions with Nathan Barrett winning at 150 and Josue Mota-Matte taking the 175-pound class.
Osceola’s girls team win, its fourth OBC title, was a mirror image to the boys’ win. While Harmony dominated the lighter weight classes in the boys’ tournament, Osceola picked up five champions in the first six weight classes in the girls tournament and then had to hold on as the Longhorns won four straight championships from 130-155.
Osceola’s champions were Aniyah Whayne (100), Alea Morales (105), Reinalyse Diaz-Derosa (110), Kamila Cruz-Cintron (120), Paola Ramirez (125), Denalie Dauphin (140), and Lily Tucker (170). The Longhorns sent five wrestlers to the top of the podium, including Kiley Vinson (130), Shelby Fillyaw (135), Sara Carisi (145), Zuhaily Caffery (155) and Kaetylnn Holt (235).
Gateway’s Daniella Rodriguez (115) and Victoria Batista (190) rounded out the list of girls champions.
“Girls wrestling is the fastest growing sport at the high school and college levels,” Tribit said. “It’s an all-inclusive sport that anyone can participate in and it is really exciting to see its growth.”
OBC Boys Championship Match Results
Team: Osceola 205.5, Harmony 203, Tohopekaliga 126. St. Cloud 124, Poinciana 54.5, Celebration 50, Gateway 44
106: Tristan Horn (Harmony) over Jovanni Ortiz (Osceola) (Fall 1:46)
113: Nathan Lyttle (Harmony) over Carter Rivera (St Cloud) (Fall 1:29)
120: Nevan Irving (Harmony) over Jacob Delarosa (St Cloud) (TF-1.5 2:00 (16-1))
126: Landon Davis (Harmony) over Matthew Hoenshell (Tohopekaliga) (Dec 18-12)
132: Max Butler (Harmony) over Jorge Feliz Macias (Celebration) (Fall 0:35)
138: Cris Rodriguez (Harmony) over Daniel Furtado (Tohopekaliga) (Dec 12-10)
144: Ehab Shalaby (Osceola) over Brody Williams (Harmony) (MD 14-4)
150: Nathan Barrett (Tohopekaliga) over Nathaniel Cabrera (Osceola) (MD 15-4)
157: Jonathan Olmo (Osceola) over Juan Hidalgo (Tohopekaliga). (Fall 2:49)
165: David Yi Sanchez (Osceola) over Bryan Batles (Tohopekaliga) (Dec 10-9)
175: Josue Mota-Marte (Tohopekaliga) 22-12, Jr. over Israel Serrano (Osceola) 2-1, Jr. (Fall 0:52)
190: Deacon Delong (Osceola) over Seth Scutero (Harmony) (Fall 1:52)
215: Elijah Vansickle (Osceola) over Eann Mesa (St Cloud) (Fall 5:04)
285: Aiden Maldonado (Harmony) over Jaquille Knox (Osceola) (TB-1 2-1)
OBC Girls Championship Match Results
Team: Osceola 216, Harmony 180, Gateway 95, Tohopekaliga 52, St. Cloud 50, Poinciana 26, Celebration 21
100: Aniyah Whayne (Osceola) over Aubrey McNichols (Harmony) (Fall 1:39)
105: Alea Morales (Osceola) over Sofia Ramos (Harmony) (Dec 11-4)
110: Reinalyse Diaz Darosa (Osceola) walkover win
115: Daniela Rodriguez (Gateway) over Alexandrea Karanereas (St. Cloud) (Fall 3:42)
120: Kamila Cruz-Cintron (Osceola) over Jariana Hernandez (Gateway) (Dec 12-7)
125: Paola Ramirez (Osceola) over Hailey De Meglio (Harmony) (Fall 3:28)
130: Kiley Vinson (Harmony) over Elisa Medina (Tohopekaliga) (TF-1.5 2:20 (16-0))
135: Shelby Fillyaw (Harmony) over Genesis Fuentes (Osceola) (Fall 1:22)
140: Denalie Dauphin (Osceola) over Emalee Douglas (Harmony) (Fall 1:13)
145: Sara Carisi (Harmony) over Destiny Schelmety (Poinciana) (Dec 2-0)
155: Zuhaily Caffery (Harmony) over Abigail Reid (Tohopekaliga) (MD 14-2)
170: Lily Tucker (Osceola) over Arianna Wilson (Gateway) (Fall 1:57)
190: Victoria Batista (Gateway) over Isabella Della Valle (Osceola) (Fall 1:06)
230: Katelynn Holt (Harmony) over Znaye Williams (Osceola) (Fall 0:46)
