Nathan Lyttle Locked In: Harmony Standout Targets Historic Second State Title as Longhorns Send Six to States

By:  J. Daniel Pearson

After demolishing the competition in the 120-lb. weight class at the FHSAA Region 3 Tournament this past weekend at Osceola High, Harmony’s Nathan Lyttle is now targeting a second consecutive state championship.

Lyttle, along 23 other wrestlers from Osceola County, will participate in the state wrestling tournament beginning Wednesday at Silver Spurs Arena.  He went undefeated last season (48-0) in winning the 113-lb. class and is ranked in the top 50 in the nation this year as he attempts to become only the second wrestler in Harmony history to win two state titles.

“Nathan still has some unfinished business and he knows that. But he has been a machine for the last two years,” Harmony coach Vic Lorenzano says.  “His only concern in his career was to get better with each practice, each match and each year and he has done that.  A second state championship would – in my opinion – cement his place as the best-ever from our program.”

Lyttle was dominant in winning his third consecutive regional title. He recorded two pin falls and two technical falls in the tournament.  He met St. Cloud’s Carter Rivera in the final, taking a 20-4 decision.

He will not be the only Longhorn in contention for the gold next weekend, as Harmony had three other regional champions, including Nevan Irving (132), Nathan Barrett (150) and Sebastian Rodriguez (116).

Ike Lyttle, Irving accounted for 27.5 team points posting  two falls and two technical falls.  He pinned Osceola’s Jose Herrera in the finals. Barrett was also impressive.  He picked up two falls, and a tech fall before dispatching Freedom’s Kingsley Mincer in the final,11-6. Lorenzano says Rodriguez, a freshman, could surprise some people at the state tournament next week.  He beat Freedom’s Nadir Shalaby in the 106 final, 4-2.  Also advancing from Harmony were Carlos Lopez (144), who took third and Leo Ortiz (113), who took fourth.

“Maybe a couple of surprises but everything went pretty much like I thought it would,” Lorenzano said of his team that finished third (150.5 points) in the highly-competitive 32-team event.  “Freedom (team champion with 202.5) had too much depth for us, but I thought we had an outside chance of grabbing second if everything went perfect.”  Still, the Longhorns posted more individual regional champions (4) than any other team in the tournament.

Although the Longhorns were unable to overtake Wellington (157.5) for second, Lorenzano said the tournament was not about team scores. “It’s all about advancing as many wrestlers as possible to the state tournament,” the veteran coach said.  “We are sending six through and are looking for a great weekend.”

Seven other wrestlers from other Osceola County schools qualified for the state championships on Saturday from the Region 3 meet via top four finishes.  Those included Osceola’s Jonathan Olmo (157), who lost to Wellington’s Tyler Gray, 6-0, in the 157-lb. final and advances along with Jose Herrera, who lost to Lyttle in the 120-lb. final.  St. Cloud’s Rivera moves on as a regional runner-up.  Tohopekaliga advances three.  Bryan Battles (165) grabbed a second place finish; while Juan Hildalgo (157) and Valentino Benavides (215) go via third place finishes. Celebration’s Israel Serrano won a consolation semifinal, 7-5, over Caden Kimball to reach states as a 4^th place finisher at 175.  Moving on to the Class 2A State Championships was Gateway’s Jose Davalillo, picked up a fourth-place finish at 138.

The 2026 FHSAA Girls State Wrestling Championship will be held concurrently with the boys’ tournament at Silver Spurs.  One of the fastest growing sports in the nation, the girls’ tournament is still a single classification event but participation has sky-rocketed in recent years.

A total of 10 county wrestlers will compete in the girls tournament, led by Osceola’s Aniyah Wayne, the lone regional champion who won the 100-lb. weight class.  Joining Wayne in advancing from OHS was Amanda Cintron (4^th-135) and Bailey Devries (4^th-190).

Harmony will send four grapplers to the states, including third place regional finishers Kiley Vinson (135), Bella Wall (190), and Katelyn Holt (235); while fourth place finisher Audrey McNichols (100) also made it through.

Other state qualifiers from the county included Tohopekaliga’s Elisa Medina (2^nd-135) and Sophia DeLima (4^th-125) and St. Cloud’s Brihanna LaPaz (4^th-170).

Tickets and additional information on the FHSAA State Wrestling Tournament can be found at www.FHSSA.com.