Sports

St. Cloud’s Kaitlin Gallagher, who earned all-state honors with a fourth-place finish at 110 pounds at last year’s Class 3A state meet, returns as the Bulldogs aim for a 12th consecutive Orange Belt Conference team championship Friday at Harmony High. PHOTO/ST. CLOUD HIGH SCHOOL

St. Cloud’s Kaitlin Gallagher, who earned all-state honors with a fourth-place finish at 110 pounds at last year’s Class 3A state meet, returns as the Bulldogs aim for a 12th consecutive Orange Belt Conference team championship Friday at Harmony High. PHOTO/ST. CLOUD HIGH SCHOOL

Can Bulldogs hoist the OBC girls weightlifting crown again?

J. Daniel Pearson
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
St. Cloud Coach Cory Aun knows it may be a struggle for his team to capture a 12th consecutive Orange Belt Conference championship Friday at Harmony High starting at 5 p.m. And it is something that he is actually happy about.
Chris Combs (2) brings the ball up court in the third quarter in Osceola's 55-25 OBC-clinching win Friday over Poinciana.  PHOTO/DAN PEARSON

Chris Combs (2) brings the ball up court in the third quarter in Osceola's 55-25 OBC-clinching win Friday over Poinciana.  PHOTO/DAN PEARSON

Kowboys clinch OBC with big win over Poinciana

J. Daniel Pearson
Saturday, January 8, 2022
Chris and Sean Combs combined for 23 points as the Osceola Kowboys (10-4) wrapped up another Orange Belt Conference Championship Friday with a 55-25 win over Poinciana on Friday night.
Osceola County Player of the Year Ariana Warner sets a ball during Tohopekaliga’s regional playoff match against Lake Nona. The Lady Tigers went 22-3 this season and were OBC Champions. PHOTO/DAVID JESTER PHOTOGRAPHY

Osceola County Player of the Year Ariana Warner sets a ball during Tohopekaliga’s regional playoff match against Lake Nona. The Lady Tigers went 22-3 this season and were OBC Champions. PHOTO/DAVID JESTER PHOTOGRAPHY

All-County Girls Volleyball — Tigers won with Warner

J. Daniel Pearson
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Tohopekaliga High senior Ariana Warner, who led the Tigers to a 22-3 record this season, is the Osceola News Gazette’s (ONG) 2021 Volleyball Player of the Year. That honors goes along with also being named Player of the Year by county coaches on the Orange Belt Conference All-Volleyball Team.
Harmony’s J.C. McNichols (top) will lead his Longhorn teammates into the FHSAA District Dual Championships on Saturday at Winter Springs. McNichols is undefeated and the top-ranked wrestler in Class 3A at 145 pounds. PHOTO/J. DANIEL PEARSON

Harmony’s J.C. McNichols (top) will lead his Longhorn teammates into the FHSAA District Dual Championships on Saturday at Winter Springs. McNichols is undefeated and the top-ranked wrestler in Class 3A at 145 pounds. PHOTO/J. DANIEL PEARSON

Dual-ing for districts; wrestlers hit the mat

J. Daniel Pearson
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
After the Christmas break, high school wrestling swings into full gear as all county schools participate in FHSAA District Dual meets this week. The top two teams in each district meet will advance to the regional duals scheduled for the following week.
Fooling nobody, Harmony tailback Tyler Emans set season rushing and scoring records in just nine games. FILE PHOTO

Fooling nobody, Harmony tailback Tyler Emans set season rushing and scoring records in just nine games. FILE PHOTO

No surprises — Harmony’s Emans ran to school records

J. Daniel Pearson
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
You did not need to be a football scout to figure out the Harmony Longhorns offense in 2021. It was a pretty good bet quarterback Aiden Parks was going to take the snap, turn and hand off — likely to junior Tyler Emans. And it’s not like opposing coaches didn’t know it.
Osceola defensive tackle John Walker (55) had 13 sacks and, with his linemates like Derrick LeBlanc (10)3, caused havoc for opposing offenses all season. PHOTO/JANA STULTZ

Osceola defensive tackle John Walker (55) had 13 sacks and, with his linemates like Derrick LeBlanc (10)3, caused havoc for opposing offenses all season. PHOTO/JANA STULTZ

Osceola’s Walker anchor of stingy D-line

J. Daniel Pearson
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Osceola High was once again the dominant team in the county and a good reason for that was their defense, which allowed just 11 points a game, recorded three shutouts and allowed less than 500 total rushing yards all season.
The girls from Neptune Middle School won the county middle school volleyball championship. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The girls from Neptune Middle School won the county middle school volleyball championship. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Osceola Co. fall middle school sports winners named

Staff Report
Sunday, December 26, 2021
The Osceola County School District has crowned middle school sports champions for boys and girls in four sports thus far in 2021-22 through the Osceola County Middle School Athletic Conference (OCMSAC).
Freshman Taevion Swint led Osceola with 12 rushing touchdowns. FILE PHOTO

Freshman Taevion Swint led Osceola with 12 rushing touchdowns. FILE PHOTO

ALL-COUNTY FOOTBALL: County’s top coach, freshman, 2-way player

J. Daniel Pearson
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Prior to 2021, Celebration High had just one winning season its 18-year history (7-4 in 2015). Things changed this year. The Storm, behind the direction of first-year coach Rich Pringle and the outstanding play of Oniel Senatus, matched that thanks to a 33-0 bowl game win over Freedom.
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