Wrestling in higher weight classes than normal, Osceola’s Gunner Holland scored 22 team points at 190 and Bryan Gari added 20 team points at 215 to secure the Kowboys’ narrow 222-217 win over Harmony at the 2024 Orange Belt Conference Wrestling Championships held at Celebration High School on Saturday afternoon.
It was Osceola’s second straight team title and 10th in the last 13 years. Harmony finishes as runner-up for a second straight year, after winning three straight team titles from 2020-22. “This was a tough week for us as we had three varsity wrestlers out and had several others not at 100 percent because of sickness or injury,” Osceola head coach Rick Tribit said. “At the end of the day our depth made a big difference and I was especially proud of the fact that we had guys willing to sacrifice by wrestling at heavier weight classes for the good of the team.”
Still Tribit emphasized that he did not want to downplay the performance of Harmony. “Coach Lorenzano can say the same thing I did about his injuries and not having some key guys available or at 100 percent. They had a terrific meet today and have a lot to be proud of.”
Overall, Harmony placed more wrestlers in the finals (10-9) and won more individual titles (6-5) than Osceola. But it was the Kowboys depth that made a difference as they placed wrestlers in the top four in all 14 weight classes; while Harmony had top four finishes in 12 of 14 classes.
Harmony posted six individual champions with Nathan Lyttle (106), Max Butler (120), Gabriel Nasciemento (126), Jeremiah Gomez (150), Shawn McCallister (157), and John Fernandez (170) winning their weight classes. Osceola countered with championships by Adaias Ortiz (113), Isfandier Sharipov (132), Jayson Ortiz (144), Gunner Holland (190) and Bryan Gari (215).
“I was extremely pleased with our effort today. We were able to get 10 to the finals and claim six titles,” Lorenzano said about his team’s performance. “We may have left a few points out there and didn’t grab a couple of bonus points that could have swung the team title to our side, but we knew it was going to be a battle to the end. Osceola is ranked #3 in the state for a reason and at the end of the day you just tip your cap to them for a gritty performance.”
The three other OBC individual titles went to Tohopekaliga’s Nathan Barrett, who pushed his season record to 28-1 by taking the 138-lb. crown; Gateway’s Meison Broche (24-4), who led Gateway to a third place finish with 107 team points; and St. Cloud’s Andrew Colantanio, who won the 285-lb. title. Rounding out the team scoring on the boys side was St. Cloud (4th-90.5), Tohopekaliga (5th-87), Celebration (6th-42), Poinciana (7th-37). The Storm got second place finishes from Austin Werner (144)
and Jorge Feliz (126); while Poinciana’s top performer was Franchavy Dumelse, who placed 3rd at 190.
The come-from-behind win by the Kowboys gave Osceola a clean sweep of the varsity as the Osceola girls team won their third straight OBC crown with 192 points, outdistancing Harmony (153), Gateway (113), Tohopekaliga (52), Liberty (46), Poinciana (40), Celebration (16) and St. Cloud (11).
Osceola posted seven individual champions in 14 weight classes including Aniyah Whayne (100), Stacy Puhle (105), Destiny Bonilla (110), Paola Ramirez (115), Kyla Rodriguez (130), Erica Hernandez (140), and Danica Tifa (235).
Harmony individual champions included Hailey DeMeglio (125), Kiley Vinson (135), and Zuhaily Caffery (170). Gateway winners were Naomi Simmons (155) and Lily Yambor (170); while Poinciana had a champion with Kaylie Collado, who went to 18-2 on the season with a win at 145. Liberty’s Deliah Bentances, the highest ranked county girls’ wrestler at #6 in the state, pushed her season record to 12-1 with a win at the 120-pound class.
Most county varsity teams will be idle next weekend as they prepare for District competition the following week. Osceola will host the Class 3A, District 5 tournament that will include Celebration and Poinciana on Feb. 16. Harmony will hold the Class 3A, District 9 tournament that includes Tohopekaliga on Feb. 17 and St. Cloud and Gateway will be in the Class 2A, District 7 event on Feb. 15 that is being held in the Bulldogs gym. Wrestlers will need to finish in the top four of their weight class to advance to regionals the following weekend.
