Osceola senior Aniyah Wayne (second from right) placed fourth at 100 pounds in the girls’ state wrestling championship. (Photo/J. Daniel Pearson)
It was not the ending of Nathan Lyttle’s high school career anyone wanted, but it was still an outstanding season from the senior captain as he lost a heart-wrenching 3-2 decision to Miami Southwest’s Lazaro Soto during Saturday’s 120-pound final at the FHSAA Class 3A wrestling championships at Silver Spurs Arena.
Lyttle, who went 48-0 as a junior in winning the 113-pound class, got off to a dominating start in this year’s tournament— recording a pin and two technical falls to easily advance to the championship match.
As expected, he ended up facing Soto, the reigning 103-pound champion. The two entered the third period in a scoreless tie. Soto elected to start the final period on his feet, giving up the automatic escape point to Lyttle. But inside the final minute, Soto got a take down for a 3-1 lead. Lyttle escaped with 30 seconds remaining, but couldn’t find the winning point.
“Tough match for Nathan,” Harmony coach Vic Lorenzano said. “I felt he actually dominated the match and he had several good shots, but Soto was able to fight off the takedown attempts and hold on. The setback certainly doesn’t dimmish the great season and career that Nathan had.”
Counting a third-place finish as a sophomore, Lyttle had three state podium finishes in his career.
Senior Nathan Barrett also reached the state championship match for Harmony at 150 pounds. Barrett was impressive in his run to the finals, taking two tech fall wins before winning 9-3 in Friday night’s semifinal against Southwest Miami’s Nelson Hued.
In a rematch with South Dade’s Armad Williams—they met in last year’s semifinals— Williams prevailed again, 5-1, but he was aided by a first period call where a Barrett takedown was later disallowed on a close out-of-bounds call.
Despite the finals setbacks, it was a great meet for the Longhorns who finished with five all-state performances including freshman Leo Ortiz (5h-113); and juniors Sebastian Rodriguez (4th-103) and Nevan Irving (6th Place-132).
The five all-state finishes were enough for the Longhorns to finish 5th in the team race with 77 points. South Dade, with six 3A champions, won an unprecedented 17th consecutive state title.
Lorenzano had predicted earlier in the week that the state tournament moment would not be too big for his freshman. Ortiz won his first two matches handily before barely missing the finals by falling 6-4 in the semifinals to South Plantation’s Donovan Jenkins—a match he led 4-1 going into the final period.
“He’s going to be an outstanding wrestler for us in the future,” Lorenzano noted. “He just improved every week and never let anyone intimidate him.”
One other county wrestler on the boys’ side earned all-state honors, as St. Cloud’s Carter Rivera reached the podium with a fourth round 6-1 consolation win over Brandon Lemke (Bloomingdale), before bowing out of the 7th place match with an injury.
Two county girls’ wrestlers also earned all-state honors. Osceola senior Aniyah Wayne placed fourth at 100 pounds and Harmony’s Kaetlynn Holt was eighth at 235.
Mater Lakes (210 points) won the Class 1A Championship; Lake Gibson (179) edged Somerst (173) for the 2A team title. Orlando’s Freedom (125) won the single classification girls’ championship.
Osceola County 2025 All-State Wrestlers
Girls
Anniyah Wayne (Osceola, Sr., 1A-100, 4th Place)
Win Dec. Kailani Hasenauer (Sebastian River), 3-1
Loss Dec. Ashlie Schlegel (Palmetto), 9-12
Win Dec. Lydia Gonzalez (South Dade), 3-2
Win Dec. Josie Reeves (Freedom) 4-0
Win Dec., Rylie Beville (Cocoa Beach), 7-3
3rd Place Match: Lose Dec., Sayun Cacares (Lincoln), 5-8
Kaetlyn Holt (Harmony, So., 1A-235, 8th Place)
Win Fall Makhaila Norfleet (Lakeland), 3:19
Loss Fall Zelnab Mourad (Douglas) 5:29
Win Fall Taylor Morgan (Riverview) 2:58
Lost MD Makayla Brianvil (Lincoln Park) 2-14
7th Place Match: Lose by fall Sabrina Richards (Boca Ciega); 2:71
Boys
Carter Rivera (St. Cloud, 3A-120, 8th Place)
Lost Maj. Dec. Justo Medina (Davenport), 3-14
Won, Dec. Jaron Montalvo (Winter Park, 3-0
Won, Dec. Brandon Lemke (Bloomingdale), 6-1
Lost, Dec. Janmichel Broche (Bradock), 5-7
7th Place Match: Lost, Injury For. Jayden Williams (Wellington Community)
Leo Ortiz (Harmony, Fr., 3A-113, 5th Place )
Won, Dec. Vincent Nickollas (Hagerty), 2-0
Won, Tech, Fall Luke Mims (Creekside), 20-3
Lost, Dec. Donovan Jenkins (South Plantation) 4-6
Won, Dec. Tyler Metellus (Monarch) 8-7
Lost, Fall Chris Schnobrick (Olympia Heights), 2:31
5th Place Match: Win, Dec. Vincent Nickollas (Hagerty), 6-5
Nathan Barnett (Harmony, Sr., 3A-150, 2nd Place)
Won, Tech Fall, Aiden Kavades (University Orange City), 20-2
Won, Tech Fall, Ricky Montolvan (Doral Academy), 17-1
Won, Dec. Nelson Hued (Southwest Miami), 9-3
Championship Match: Loss, Dec. Armad Williams (South Dade), 5-1
Nathan Lyttle (Harmony, Sr., 3A-120, 2nd Place)
Won, Fall Niccolo Pellicano (Venice), :57
Won, Tech Fall, Janmichel Broche (Braddock), 17-2
Won, Tech Fall, Lincoln Darby (South Plantation) 17-1
Championship Match: LosS, Dec., Lazaro Soto (Southwest Miami),3-2
Nevan Irving (Harmony, Jr., 3A-132, 6th Place)
Won, Fall. Davian Lopez (Hialeah Gardens), :57
Won, Dec. Robert Twilley (Flagler Palm Coast), 8-5
Lost, Maj. Dec., Guillermo Jaramillo (South Dade), 13-0
Lost, Immanuel Gibbs (Treasure Coast), 3-6
5th Place Match: Lost, Dec. Brentley Crawley (Hagerty), 4-11
Sebastian Rodriguez (Harmony, Jr., 3-A, 102, 4th Place)
Won, Tech Fall, Miseal Guerrero (Homestead), 16-0
Won, Dec., Jacob Held (Flagler Palm Coast), 10-5
Lost, Dec., Eli Valdez (Park Vista Community). 6-4
Win, Dec., Ajani Fields (Boone), 8-7
3rd Place Match: Lost, Dec. Chase Wolgamuth (Hagerty), 9-6
