Harmony’s Nathan Lyttle was simply unbeatable on a wrestling mat in 2024-25, winning the Orange Belt Conference, district, and regional championships before going on a 4-0 run through the FHSAA 4A state tournament to finish the season 48-0 and winning a state title—and the nod for Osceola News-Gazette Wrestler of the Year.
Lyttle capped his perfect season at 113 pounds with a 2-1 win over Lake Mary’s Damonyal White. It was not the easiest of roads for Lyttle in the state tournament, who also had to outduel Flagler’s Kevin McLean in the semis, 6-5, to complete his perfect season. He joins St. Cloud’s Mikey Ziss (weightlifting) and Poinciana’s Levi Lee (track) as the only Osceola County athletes to win individual state championships in the 2024-25 school year.
But with one year of high school wrestling left, how does one approach the final season after reaching perfection? For Lyttle, the answer is simple —just work harder and become even better. He has been striving towards that goal by keeping an incredibly busy schedule since the FHSAA tournament in March.
“To stay on the top of your game, you need to compete against the best,” the rising senior, who is home-schooled, says. “There are always new athletes coming up that are going to be great and everyone else is working to improve. If you get too full of yourself or buy into the hype, they can humble you in a hurry.”
After an impressive thirdplace finish in the state tournament and a 41-3 record in his sophomore season, Harmony coach Vic Lorenzano credits Lyttle’s dedication and hard work for his perfect season and state championship.
“No one even reaches the state tournament without having talent and a tremendous work ethic,” Lorenzano said. “But Nathan’s dedication was nextlevel stuff. Last off-season, he traveled the country going to tournaments and training sessions to face the best in the country. And the thing is, Nathan is not even close to being satisfied with the results. After winning states he immediately went back to work –upping his schedule and training intensity for this off-season.”
The rising senior has already had an incredibly busy offseason. Since his high school season ended in March, he has completed a four-week training camp in Pennsylvania, with a stop at Harvard to train with college and international wrestlers.
Lyttle then went to a training session in Miami, returned to Pennsylvania for more training and then competed in the Southern Throne Championships in South Carolina, where he won both the folkstyle and freestyle championships. The National High School Duals. Pam Am Games, World Championships and Fargo Nationals are also on his calendar for this summer Lyttle, who will take a 99-3 FHSAA career record into his senior year with the Longhorns, says another undefeated season is just one of his goals.
“It will be difficult, but I want to go through an entire season without giving up a single point,” he said, noting earning All-America status at Fargo and winning a Pam Am Games medal were also on the list of goals next year.
He noted that the national and international competitions and training sessions have been tremendously beneficial and gives Lorenzano a ton of credit for his development into a nationally ranked wrestler.
“I really would not be anywhere without him,” Lyttle says. “He’s the best coach I have ever been around, but he means so much more than that to me. Coach Lorenzano has always been there to guide me both on and off the mat with any issues or problems that have come up.”
Lyttle says that he has already been in contact with many Division I colleges but said he will wait for the summer and next season to play out before selecting a school for the next level. “The attention has been great, and I have had some initial discussions with schools, but our plan is to wait and see how this summer and next season goes.”
Traditional county powers Osceola and Harmony dominated the All-County team with each school placing six wrestlers. Tohopekaliga claimed the other two spots.
All-County Wrestling
Wrestler of the Year: Nathan Lyttle, Harmony, Jr.
All County Team:
106 pounds — Tristan Horn, Harmony (46-2, state runner-up);
120 — Nevan Irving, Harmony (53-9, regional champion);
126 — Landon Davis, Harmony (31-17, district champ);
132 — Max Butler, Harmony (44-12, regional champ);
138 — Isfandier Sharipov, Osceola (29-9, 5th in state);
144 — Ehab Shalaby, Osceola (25-8, district champ);
150 — Nathan Barrett, Tohopekaliga (36-4, 5th in state);
157 — Nathan Cabrera, Osceola (3rd in state, highest OHS finisher);
165 — David Yi Sanchez, Osceola (39-11, 6th in state);
175 — Josue Mota-Marte, Tohopekaliga (OBC champ);
190 — Deacon DeLong, Osceola (36-6, regional runner-up);
215 — Elijah VanSickle, Osceola (regional runner-up);
285 — Aiden Maldonaldo, Harmony (OBC champ)
