Outstanding team, individual efforts marked 2022-23 season

With fall football camps opening in less than a week, the 2023-24 school year is rapidly approaching. With that in mind, it is only fitting to take a look back at the recently completed school year and to remember the outstanding individual and team performances from Osceola County schools.

The individual accomplishments included six individual state champions. Osceola’s Cooper Haase tied legendary Kowboy Fox Baldwin by winning his fourth individual state championship; while Anderson Heap won his second as the Kowboys made another top five Class 3A team finish. Nelson Toro became Harmony’s first “home grown” wrestler to win a state championship, as he went 49-0 and captured the 3A championship at heavyweight.

Lady Kowboys wrestler Kealoni Vega became the first wrestler from Osceola County to win an officially recognized FHSAA title as she capped an incredible career.

In weightlifting, St. Cloud sophomore Michael Ziss won state weight lifting titles in both the Olympic and Traditional formats; while Abby Davis won a state title for the Lady Bulldogs.

But these were not the only individuals who excelled. Gunner Holland, who won state wrestling titles as both a freshman and sophomore, battled through injuries to take a bronze medal in the state tournament.

In track, Tohopekaliga’s Johan Comacho was the Osceola News Gazette’s Boys Track Athlete of the Year, winning a regional title and qualifying for states. Osceola’s Shannon Levy (100 meters), Gateway’s Amela Johnson (200 and 400 meters) and Harmony’s Drea Thompson (High Jump) also qualified for states by winning regional championships. In all, Osceola County sent more than a dozen track athletes to the state tournament.

Several other athletes deserve mention. Harmony’s Alex Tuyo made Osceola News Gazette’s All-County teams in football, soccer and track; while Longhorn senior Caden Scarborough was ONG Player of the Year in both basketball and baseball, where he was a sixth round draft pick of the Texas Rangers.

There was plenty to brag about in team sports. Osceola’s football team advanced all the way to the Class 7A state semifinal—losing a 14-7 heartbreaker to eventual state champion Lakeland. Five Osceola seniors ended up signing Division I scholarship offers. Harmony, behind senior Tyler Emans, earned an at-large playoff bid; while Poinciana posted just its second winning season in school history and set a school mark with eight wins.

The Lady Kowboys volleyball team went 265, won a regional title and lost in the state semifinals— dropping an exciting fiveset match to Hagerty. St. Cloud’s golf program set some county history, becoming the first Osceola school to qualify both its boys and girls team to the state tournament in the same year.

Basketball saw a record setting year for the Harmony boys and Gateway girls. While both came up short in a bid to win the Orange Belt Conference title, both won district tiles. The Lady Panthers would go on to win regionals and make the school’s first appearance in the State Final Four.

Celebration, long a county power in soccer, flexed its muscles again in that sport –winning OBC and district titles before falling in the regional final and finishing with a 143-1 mark. Harmony flag football team won OBC and District titles, advancing to regional play. Finally, Pedro Davila led the Storm Volleyball team to a great season—winning OBC, District and Regional titles as Celebration finished the season at 21-10.

Not only did Osceola teams and individuals have a great year on the playing field but they did it in the community and class rooms as well. Academics played a key role in Wednesday’s program. For a record ninth time in 14 years of the program, the Harmony Longhorns won the prestigious OBC Academic Championship. All Longhorn athletes had a cumulative GPA of 3.412— edging out St. Cloud (3.357) and Celebration (3.3354) for the title. The Bulldogs and Celebration tied for the team championship last year. Overall, county high school athletes had a cumulative GPA of 3.20. In addition to the overall academic title, St. Cloud’s girls’ golf (3.761) and Harmony’s boys’ volleyball (3.726) were named the top individual teams for academic achievement. Individually, Gateway’s Felipe Abreu was named Male Academic Athlete of the Year and Liberty’s Jennifer Baez earned Female Academic Athlete of the Year. Abreau has a perfect 4.0 GPA and a weighted 4.63 GPA and will attend UCF; while Abreu posted a 4.0 GPA and a 4.75 weighted GPA and will attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Celebration edged St. Cloud as the first recipient of the Advent Health Community Service Award as Adams noted that Storm athletes and coaches donated close to 3500 hours towards community projects this year.

The school year also saw several outstanding coaches step down. Longtime Osceola wrestling coach and athletic director Jim Bird stepped down before the start of the school year. Don Simon, the winningest football coach in Harmony school history, retired in the spring and moves on to Tohopekaliga as the school’s new athletic director, and Osceola baseball coach Scott Birchler stepped down after and two stints and 21 years as head coach that included eight district championships and one regional crown.

All in all, it was a truly remarkable year for high school sports in the 2022-23 year, with more promising memories ahead in the new year—which starts within the month.