By:  J. Daniel Pearson

For the third consecutive year, the Osceola boys and girls wrestling teams have claimed the Orange Belt Conference Championship, with the Lady Kowboys extending their dominance to a fourth straight title victory.

The boys won their third straight OBC title and their 11th in the last 14 years, with a razor-thin win over Harmony, 205.3 -203.  Tohopekaliga (126) edged St. Cloud (124) for third place.  

The championship came down to very end, where Deacon DeLong put Osceola in position to win with a pin of Harmony Seth Scutero in the 190-lb. weight class and senior Elijah VanSickle gave the Kowboys the decisive margin with a pin over St. Cloud’s Eann Mann at 215.

Still it was a pair of wins by Jonathan Olmo (pin of Tohopekaliga’s Juan Hilgado) at 157 and David Yi Sanchez’s thrilling 10-9 win over Tohopekaliga’s Juan Hildago in the 165-lb. final that really set the stage for Osceola’s come-from-behind win.  

“I’m super proud of our whole team for the way we fought back tonight,” Osceola coach Rick Tribit said.  “We were really shorthanded tonight, missing two starters including state champion Izzy (Isfandier Sharipov) and we did well where I felt we would.  But Jonathan Olmo and David Yi really came up huge for us.” Harmony coach Vic Lorenzano agreed.  “That narrow match they won at 165 was so important for them,” Lorenzano said.  “It really could have made the difference in turning the team title in our favor.”

Harmony, which won three straight OBC Team Championships from 2020-22, looked in pretty good shape to unseat Osceola midway through the finals.  The Longhorns started off extremely strong, winning the finals in the first six weight classes.

Tristan Horn (28-1 at 106) and Nathan Lyttle (27-0 at 113) got things going quickly for the Longhorns with back-to-back first-period pins.    Nevan Irving (120) won by technical fall, Landon Davis (126) took a decision, Max Butler followed with a pin at 132 before Cris Rodriguez (138) defeated Tohopekaliga’s Daniel Fortado in one of the most entertaining matches of the night, 12-10.

Osceola’s comeback started at 144, where Ehab Shalaby pinned Harmony Brody Williams.  They build some momentum with wins by Olmo and Yi Sanchez, before the pins by DeLong and VanSickle put the Kowboys over the top.

Harmony would finish the evening by crowning a seventh champion, as heavyweight Aiden Maldonaldo took a tiebreaker over Osceola’s Jaquille Knox (1-1, TB 2-1) in the final match of the night.

“Although we lost the team title by a couple of points, tonight felt like a win in a lot of ways,” Lorenzano said.  “We started off with a bang, dominating the lighter weight classes –with those kids picking up a lot of bonus points along the way.  We had some younger guys step up and Aiden’s win at 285 was really gratifying, given he has only been wrestling a couple of years.  Like Osceola, we were missing a couple of starters tonight too so I was really pleased with how hard we fought tonight.  We have a lot to look forward to heading into districts.”

Although the Longhorns had more champions than Osceola (7 to 5) it was the Kowboys overall depth that propelled them to victory.  Osceola had more second place (3-2) and third place finishers (3-0) than the Longhorns.

Since its inception in 2021, Osceola has won every girls OBC Championship – taking their fourth straight title Wednesday.  Like the boys championship, Harmony gave the Lady Kowboys all they wanted in this year’s championship.  

The two schools accounted for 12 of the 14 individual OBC Champions with Osceola posting seven winners in Aniyah Whayne (100), Alea Morales (105), Reinalyse Diaz-Derosa (110), Kamila Cruz-Cintron (120), Paola Ramirez (125), Denalie Dauphin (140), and Lily Tucker (170); while the Longhorns sent five wrestlers to the top of the podium, including Kiley Vinson (130), Shelby Fillyaw (135), Sara Carisi (145), Zuhaily Caffery (155) and Kaetylnn Holt (235).

Girls’ wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the United States for both high school and colleges.  A record 50 girls participated in this year’s OBC meet.

OBC Boys Championship Match Results

Team:  Osceola 205.5, Harmony 203, Tohopekaliga 126. St. Cloud 124, Poinciana 54.5, Celebration 50, Gateway 44

  • 106: Tristan Horn (Harmony) over Jovanni Ortiz (Osceola)  (Fall 1:46)
  • 113:  Nathan Lyttle (Harmony) over Carter Rivera (St Cloud)  (Fall 1:29)
  • 120:  Nevan Irving (Harmony)  over Jacob Delarosa (St Cloud) (TF-1.5 2:00 (16-1))
  • 126:  Landon Davis (Harmony) over matthew hoenshell (Tohopekaliga) (Dec 18-12)
  • 132: Max Butler (Harmony). over Jorge Feliz Macias (Celebration) (Fall 0:35)
  • 138:  Cris Rodriguez (Harmony) over Daniel Furtado (Tohopekaliga) (Dec 12-10)
  • 144:  Ehab Shalaby (Osceola)  over Brody Williams (Harmony)  (MD 14-4)
  • 150:  Nathan Barrett (Tohopekaliga) over Nathaniel Cabrera (Osceola)  (MD 15-4)
  • 157:  Jonathan Olmo (Osceola) over Juan Hidalgo (Tohopekaliga). (Fall 2:49)
  • 165:  David Yi Sanchez (Osceola) over Bryan Batles (Tohopekaliga) (Dec 10-9)
  • 175:  Josue Mota-Marte (Tohopekaliga) 22-12, Jr. over Israel Serrano (Osceola) 2-1, Jr. (Fall 0:52)
  • 190:  Deacon Delong (Osceola) over Seth Scutero (Harmony)  (Fall 1:52)
  • 215:  Elijah Vansickle (Osceola) over Eann Mesa (St Cloud)  (Fall 5:04)
  • 285:  Aiden Maldonado (Harmony) over Jaquille Knox (Osceola)  (TB-1 2-1)

OBC Girls Championship Match Results

Team:  Osceola 216, Harmony 180, Gateway 95, Tohopekaliga 52, St. Cloud 50, Poinciana 26, Celebration 21

  • 100:  Aniyah Whayne (Osceola) over Aubrey McNichols (Harmony)  (Fall 1:39)
  • 105: Alea Morales (Osceola) over Sofia Ramos (Harmony)  (Dec 11-4)
  • 110:  Reinalyse Diaz Darosa (Osceola) walkover win
  • 115:  Daniela Rodriguez (Gateway) over Alexandrea Karanereas (St. Cloud)  (Fall 3:42)
  • 120:  Kamila Cruz-Cintron (Osceola) over Jariana Hernandez (Gateway) (Dec 12-7)
  • 125: Paola Ramirez (Osceola) over Hailey De Meglio (Harmony)  (Fall 3:28)
  • 130:  Kiley Vinson (Harmony) over Elisa Medina (Tohopekaliga)  (TF-1.5 2:20 (16-0))
  • 135: Shelby Fillyaw (Harmony) over Genesis Fuentes (Osceola) (Fall 1:22)
  • 140: Denalie Dauphin (Osceola) over Emalee Douglas (Harmony) (Fall 1:13)
  • 145: Sara Carisi (Harmony) over Destiny Schelmety (Poinciana)  (Dec 2-0)
  • 155: Zuhaily Caffery (Harmony) over Abigail Reid (Tohopekaliga)  (MD 14-2)
  • 170: Lily Tucker (Osceola) over Arianna Wilson (Gateway)  (Fall 1:57)
  • 190: Victoria Batista (Gateway) over Isabella Della Valle (Osceola) (Fall 1:06)
  • 230: Katelynn Holt (Harmony) over Znaye Williams (Osceola) (Fall 0:46)