Harmony Edges Out Wellington and Osceola to Claim Region 3 Wrestling Title, 30 County Wrestlers Headed To States

By: J. Daniel Pearson

While Harmony head coach Vic Lorenzano says his team does not have the overall depth that it has had in the past couple of years, he would have a hard time convincing the other 30 schools at the FHSAA Class 3A, Region 3 Wrestling Championships of that.

The Longhorns won a total of four individual championships and placed three others in the top four to win the team title with 164 points. Harmony edged out second-place Wellington (159) and third place Osceola (132.5) for the championship.

“Wrestling especially in the State IBT (Individual Bracket Tournament) is such an individual sport. You obviously are trying to get as many as your wrestlers as possible to states,” Lorenzano said. “But the team score and the team championship certainly means something to our kids, coaches, parents and fans. Regionals are always going to be a tough tournament with a talented field, and it was a great weekend for us.”

In the growing wrestling rivalry between Osceola and Harmony, it was the first time this season the Longhorns came out in front of Osceola – at the Kowboys who both the Orange Belt Conference and District Championships earlier this year – as well as finishing in front of Harmony in both the district and regional dual meet tournaments.

Harmony was extremely tough at the top of its line-up—taking four championships and a fourth in the five lightest weight classes.

Tristin Horn took out Olympic Heights’ Chris Schnobrick, 6-2, to win the 106-lb. weight class and move to 45-1 on the season; while Nathan Lyttle remained undefeated on the year (47-0) and should earn a top seed in the state tournament at 113 with a 10-2 major decision over Park Vista’s Nicolas Degrossi. Nevan Irving (52-7) earned Harmony’s other regional title with a fall over Freedom’s Nathan Fisher in the 120-lb. final.

But it was the 138-lb. champion Max Butler, who really set the tone for the Longhorns on the day.

Butler was locked in a tremendous semifinal match Wellington’s Kai Benedett; where he won in sudden victory overtime; before dominating Boca Raton Community’s Javin Taylor by majority decision in the finals, 18-10. Lorenzano said Butler’s match epitomized the “gritty effort” his team displayed all weekend.

Lyttle, who finished third in last year’s state tournament, said he was looking forward to the challenge of winning a state championship. “I’m pretty familiar with the guys I am going to see next week, I wrestled a lot of them this season,” Lyttle said. “The goal remains the same, stick to the game plan, take one match at time.”

For the first time in years, host Osceola did not have a regional champion. Still the Kowboys will send six to the state championship next week as Isfandier Sharipov (138), Ehab Shalaby (144), Nathan Cabrera (157) and David Yi-Sanchez (165) all won consolation finals and advance to states with third place regional finishes.

They will be joined by silver medalists Deacon Delong (190) and Elijah VanSickle (215), both whom lost close, tough matches in their finals. Delong fell 5-3 to Jupiter’s Alex Davis after narrowly missing two potential match-tying takedowns in the final seconds; while VanSickle’s 2-1 loss to Colonial’s undefeated Logan Silva (40-0) came on a third period penalty point for stalling.

Those six wrestlers will attempt to keep alive one of the most impressive sports streaks in county history, as Osceola High has had at least one individual state champion in each of the last 18 years.

Tohopekaliga posted a strong tournament.

Nathan Barrett (150) ran his season record to 33-2 and claimed a regional championship with a 5-3 win over Viera’s Edwin Torres. They also had a finalist in Bryan Batles, who was pinned by Wellington’s Mac Andrews at 165-lb. Those two, along with Juan Hildago (4th-157) will represent the Tigers in the state championship.

St. Cloud will send two to states in Carter Rivera (3rd-113) and Eann Mesa (4th-215); while Celebration qualified Austin Werner (4th-150).

While those six schools were competing in the Class 3A, Region 3 Championship; Gateway sent a large contingent to the Class 2A, Region 2 Championship in Brandon. Although the Panthers took 12 to the tournament; only Jason Perez (4th -113) advanced out of the super tough regional that included state powers Lake Gibson, Jesuit and Brandon.

The FHSAA State Wrestling Tournament is slated for Silver Spurs Arena (Mar. 6-8), where Osceola will once again serve as host school for the championships. Champions will be crowned in three classifications (1A-3A) in the boys’ tournament. Now in its third year as an officially recognized FHSAA Sport, the girls will compete in a single classification (1A); although that could change in the future as girls’ wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation. Ticket and other information on the state championship tournament can be found at www.FHSAA.com. A total of 30 wrestlers, including eight regional champions, will represent county schools at the state tournament. Here is a list of Osceola County state championship qualifiers:

Boys

Name, School , Weight Class