By:  J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola

Osceola senior Anderson Heap breezed through the field to win the 150-lb. title and his Kowboy teammates scored two silver medals at the 11th annual Knockout Christmas Classic, held at Silver Spurs Arena, Dec. 20-22.

Heap, who is a two-time defending state champion, won his third Knockout title with a decisive 10-3 win over Jefferson’s Dallas Russell.  “Anderson did what Anderson always does– dominate the opposition, Osceola coach Rick Tribit said.  “Overall, I thought this was a really productive meet for us.  Anderson won a title and we got two other wrestlers to the finals.  In addition, we got some valuable experience for our younger guys against some top flight competition.”

 Osceola’s first chance of a championship came in the 113-lb. class.  Unfortunately,  3-time state runner-up Christian Vazquez of Doral Academy proved too much for Osceola freshman Adaias Ortiz to handle as he went down to a 7-2 loss.  Vazquez had three takedowns in the match and limited Ortiz to just one escape with his other point coming on a late stalling call.   Still it was a solid showing for the freshman.

In the 175-lb. final, Osceola’s Gunner Holland came up just short against nationally ranked Dominic Bambinelli, losing 4-2 to dynamic nationally ranked, undefeated wrestler who came in as the top seed.

The three Osceola wrestlers making it to the finals of the prestigious tournament did so in dominating fashion.  Ortiz, just a freshman, won his first five matches including a 19-3 technical fall over Topher Pearson (Suwanee, GA) in Thursday’s quarterfinal and a 4-0 shutout of second seeded DJ Clarke (Buford, Ga.) in the semifinals.

Heap, the top seed at 157, did not have to wrestle in the semifinals, picking up an injury forfeit win over Tristin Busch (Ringgold, GA).  Heap was outstanding in the earlier rounds, recording two pins and a technical fall in his first three matches.

Holland reached the finals by defeating two-time Georgia state champion Tyler Secoy (Columbus High), 7-2 in the semifinals. He also breezed through the preliminary rounds, picking up a bye, a pin and a technical fall in the first three rounds before picking up a 10-2 major decision over Satellite’s Ryan Bierne in the quarterfinals.

Several other Osceola wrestlers recorded points for the Kowboys as they finished in 7th place in the team race with  125 points.  Ehab Shalaby went 3-2 in the 126-lb. weight class; while Jason Ortiz (144), Nathan Cabrera (157) and Deacon Long (165) all won two matches in the tournament.

The tournament featured some history, as South Dade’s Sawyer Bartelt (225) joined Taylor Henson (Woodland, Ga. – All-America at Virginia Tech last season) and former Osceola standout Malyke Hines as the only four time winner of the Knockout Classic.

The featured class was at 126-lbs. and featured 12 different state champions.  That final did not disappoint as undefeated and defending Georgia State champion Antonio Mills took a 6-5 decision from top-seeded and two-time Florida State champion Sebastian Degennaro,

Overall, Tennessee team state champion Cleveland won the team title, edging out defending FHSAA Class 3A state champion South Dade (193.5 – 189).  Buford (Ga,) was third with 170 and Florida Jesuit was fourth (134.5).  Osceola was the only team in the tournament to place three wrestlers in the finals.

More than 70 teams sent competitors to the Girls’ Knockout Tournament that concluded on Thursday,  Cleveland (Tenn.) won the team title with 153 points, Florida powerhouse Freedom was second (106).   Gateway (57), Osceola (53) and Harmony (48) placed 13th, 14th and 16th respectively in the the event.  Top county finishers included Harmony’s Emari Brown, who won the 190-lb. championship — pinning all four of her opponents in the process.

Genesis Fuentes (135) placed fifth and Elody Rodriguez (145) took third place for Gateway.  Osceola put one wrestler on the podium as Paola Ramirez took second place.  She lost 7-4 to Charlotte’s Iyonna Ross in the finals,.

In other wrestling action, Harmony won its third tournament team title of the young season. The Longhorns (242.5 team points) bested Fleming Island (190) and third-place host Oakleaf (186) to win the 15-team, 3rd edition of the The Hammer Invitational.

Harmony had three champions in the event including Nathan Lyttle (18-2 on the season) at 106, Shawn McCallister (20-0) at 150 and Seth Scutero (16-1) at 190.  Lyttle won all three of his matches via pinfall; while McCallister, the number one ranked 3A wrestler in the state by The Florida Wrestling Room, remained undefeated on the season with two falls in the preliminaries and a 18-2 technical fall over Oakleaf’s Kellon Duncan in the championship match.

Still it was Harmony’s depth that made the biggest difference.  The Longhorns would score points in all 14 weight classes, including second place finishes by Tristin Horn (113), Landon Davis (120), Gabriel Nascimento (126) and Case Roberts (215),   Harmony also got third place finishes from Max Butler (120), Carson Estrada (138), Cristian Rodriguez (144), and Michael Shanabook (165).

“Fleming Island (#3 ranked in Class 2A), Oakleaf and Fletcher were all powerful teams so it proved to be a tough and challenging tournament for us,” Harmony coach Vic Lorenzano said.  “Still we were able to perform solidly and win the team title.  We got a couple of wrestlers dinged up in the tournament and with five weight classes with little varsity experience we need to exhibit a little more urgency as we move forward to the second half of the season.”

Knockout Christmas Classic Championship Round Results at Silver Spurs Arena

  • 106:  Gabe Swann (Central Carroll) dec. Keagan Mesina (Mater Lakes), 4-2
  • 113:  Christian Vazquez (Doral) dec, Adaias Ortiz (Osceola), 7-2
  • 120:  Teague Strobel (West Oak) dec.  Roman Lermer (Jesuit), 5-2
  • 126:  Antonio Mills (Mill Creek) dec. Sebastian Degennaro (Jensen Beach), 6-5
  • 132:   EJ Solis (Somerset) dec. Tanner Spalding (West Oak), 5-3 (Overtime-Sudden Victory)  
  • 138:  Drew Gorman (Buford) pinned Nick Blake (Hagerty), 2:35
  • 145:  Jaydon Robinson (Winter Springs) dec. Caverius Liddie (Bucholz), 8-3
  • 150:  Anderson Heap (Osceola)  dec. Dallas Russell (Jefferson), 10-3.
  • 158: Gianni Maldonaldo (Lake Gibson)  dec. Seth Larson (Flowery Branch), 3-0
  • 165:  Logan Flower (Cleveland) dec. Kendrick Hodge (Somerset), 5-1
  • 175:  Dominic Bambinelli (Mill Creek) dec.  Gunner Holland (Osceola), 4-2
  • 190:   Jordan Mills (Mantanzas) dec. Lucas Szymborski (Cleveland), 3-1
  • 225:  Sawyer Bartelt (South Dade) dec. Aaron Riner (Buford), 8-1
  • 285:  Kayden Darwin (Palmetto Ridge) dec. Tim Gray (Crystal River), 7-6