In and Around Osceola Sports: Winter Sports Back in Full Swing, Two Schools Name Head Football Coaches

By: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola

Following the holiday break, the winter sports scene is back full force. Still the biggest news came off the field, as not one but two county schools named new head football coaches for the 2024 season. Here’s a look around Osceola County for the Week of Jan. 8-14.

WRESTLING

Both Osceola and Harmony easily advanced to this week’s FHSAA State Dual Meet Championships by winning District Championships. At the 3A, District 9 championships, Harmony easily advanced with big wins over Oak Ridge (78-6), Cypress Creek (84-0) and Freedom (63-13). Osceola advanced in the 3A District 5 meet, getting a first round bye as top seed before defeating Bartow (71-12) and George Jenkins (46-22).

Both schools are hosting sub-regionals this week. On Thursday, Jan. 11, Osceola will host Strawberry Crest and George Jenkins will wrestle Steinbrenner. The winners will then meet with the victor advancing the eight-team, single elimination State Dual Meet Championships at Osceola High School, Jan. 19-20.

Harmony will host Ft. Pierce Central on Thursday and if victorious will move on to take on the winner of Viera – Freedom for a trip to the state championship.

Following its victory in the District Duals Championship on Thursday, Osceola traveled to Jensen Beach this past weekend for the Cradle Cancer Invitational. Osceola, which was without Gunner Holland and several other injured wrestlers, still managed a 10^th place finish with 102.5 points in the highly competitive event that was won by 16-time state champion South Dade (268.5). Freshman Adaias Ortiz (106) and senior Anderson Heap (150) took individual championships for the Kowboys.

In girls wrestling, Osceola sent a contingent of grapplers to the McKeel Invitational in Lakeland. Paola Ramirez earned a silver medal in the Knockout Tournament – placing second at 115.

The big event this coming weekend is the Cousins Milton Winter Invitational, hosted by St. Cloud on Jan. 12-13. South Dade, Harmony, Winter Springs, George Jenkins and Hagerty are among the top teams scheduled to compete in the event.

In boys’ soccer, county teams will use this week to prepare for the Orange Belt Conference Tournament next week, Jan. 15-19. Perennial state power Celebration has won five of the last six OBC Tournaments – including the last two in the row – but will face challenges from three or four other outstanding teams which should make for a wide-open OBC Tournament.

St. Cloud (8-2-2) may have set the tone as a favorite with a big 2-1 win over arch-rival Harmony last Friday. Upstart Tohopekaliga (9-3-0) came up with a surprisingly big 4-0 win over Gateway (7-2-0), who finished runner-up to Celebration last year. The Tigers will have a super busy week, as they will play four times before the start of next week’s OBC.

In girls soccer, two weeks left in the regular season and several Osceola County teams will be looking to improve their district seeding position, including Celebration (9-2-0), Tohopekaliga (10-3-0) and Orange Belt Conference champion Harmony (9-3-0). The Longhorns looked impressive last week in beating Osceola (14-0) and St. Cloud (5-0). Senior Emely Rodriguez leads the Tigers in scoring with 19 goals, including a couple in Tohopekaliga’s 8-0 win over Liberty. Celebration returns to action this week for the first time since the Christmas Holidays.

FOOTBALL

Celebration looked a little north and tabbed former Lake Buena Vista defensive coordinator Jed Ebersole to become its next head coach; while Poinciana is placing its trust in a former player Taron Mallard.

Ebersole, 40, spent the 2023 season with the Vipers. Joining a team that went 1-9 and had allowed more than 30 points per game in 2022, Ebersole helped turn the program around in his one season. Last year, LBV recorded its first winning record in school history, going 5-4 and allowed just 18.4 points per game.

Prior to that, Ebersole coached at Windermere High for three years. His highlights there included helping the Wolves to their only state high school playoff win ever. As the school’s liaison for college scouting, he assisted 12 Windermere players in moving on to college football.

“We are really excited to have Coach Ebersole to take over our football program. We believe his knowledge and experience can turn this program into a winner,” Celebration Athletics Director Chad Boudreaux said. “After speaking with him over the past few weeks and really getting to know him, Mr. Todd (CHS principal Christopher Todd) and I really feel that we all have the same goals moving forward. Coach Ebersole’s vision for this program is going to move us forward, and hopefully make us a competitive team. I really look forward to seeing Coach Ebersole and his staff in action.”

Mallard is just 25-years-old and replaces Randy Beeken as head coach. Beeken was told the administration had decided to move in a different direction, despite guiding the school to a 12-8 record over the last two seasons – including the best season in Poinciana history (8-2) two years ago.

A 2016 graduate of Poinciana, Mallard played football and basketball for the Eagles and was a member of the school’s 2016 state championship team, where he averaged 7.8 points per game.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Harmony coach Duke Leonardo kept his team on the winning track last week, with a 57-47 win over Gateway in the first home game in the Panthers new gym. (Read about it here: https://www.positivelyosceola.com/harmony-longhorns-stay-hot-in-boys-basketball-spoil-gateway-panthers-debut-in-new-facility/ ). The Longhorns are on a five-game winning streak and remain undefeated against county opposition (7-0) this year. The Panthers (6-7) rebounded the next day with a 67-62 overtime win over Faith Christian. Gabe Haynes led the way with 16 points for the Panthers.

Although they have dropped two of their last three, Poinciana (8-4) will have a chance to reach 10 wins on the season this week when they host Celebration (1/9) and Mater Brighton Lakes (1/10) in a pair of home games.

A young Osceola team (5-7) gave state power Seminole (13-2) a solid game on Saturday, before dropping a 78-65 decision. Seminole is ranked #6 in Class 7A and Kowboys pushed them to the limit by taking a tie game into the fourth quarter. Jordan Mundle had 26 and Luke McCrimon had 21 in the loss. They will have a chance to get to .500 this week as they host Davenport Ridge and Gateway this week.

After a heartbreaking 54-53 home loss to Satellite, Tohopekaliga (3-8) will attempt to get back on the winning track with a Wednesday home game against Gateway.

Led by junior Alex Springs (18.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg), St. Cloud won three times this past week, beating Tohopekaliga (79-57), Celebration (71-33) and Merritt Island (84-69). At 10-4 this season, the Bulldogs have put themselves in position to post their first winning season in more than two decades under first year head coach Tommy Billiteri.

In girls’ basketball, St. Cloud (13-5) and Gateway (9-2) will most likely be the top seeds when the Orange Belt Conference Basketball championship tournament is held Jan. 16-19. St. Cloud will be seeking their fifth straight OBC title; while the Panthers will be going for their first.

Last week, Gateway was victorious in the first game held in their new gym, beating Freedom, 46-20. The Lady Panthers, led by sophomores Alyssa Marino and Evana Rivera, have won six of their last seven games. St. Cloud lost a tough 60-47 decision to a tough Central Florida Christian (11-3) team last week. The Lady Bulldogs are led by seniors Emily Lockey (16.0 ppg) and Haley Collins (10.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg).

At 8-1, Tohopekaliga head coach Jen Farrell needs just one more win to match the school record for most victories in a single season (9-9, 2021-22). The Lady Tigers picked up their seventh and eighth wins of the season with victories last week over Osceola (45-14) and Evans (40-32).

THIS WEEKS SPORTS SCHEDULE

Jan. 8