South Dade rolls to 19th FHSAA IBT wrestling state championship

KISSIMMEE – The South Dade wrestling machine cranked out another title.

Wrestling juggernaut South Dade won its 19th IBT wrestling state championship at the FHSAA state championships on Saturday, mathematically running away with the title before the finals were even wrestled.

South Dade racked up 274.5 points, easily beating second-place Osceola by 155, while crowning six individual state champions – which tied a school record.

“We scored more points than we ever scored in a state championship,” South Dade head coach Victor Balmeceda said. “If you put the team score of the second-place team and the third-place team together, they still don’t beat us.”

Winning individual state championships were: Bryan Morales (106), Elvis Solis Jr. (138), Gavin Balmeceda (165), Kevin Olavarria (175), Christopher Sanchez (190) and Sawyer Bartelt (215).

“The secret is having a great kid’s program,” Balmeceda said. “When you get kids who have been wrestling since they were 5 or 6-years old, they are ready to win state titles.”

The Buccaneers placed a school record 10 wrestlers in the finals and finished with 12 total medalists. South Dade set a school record with 14-place winners last year.

In 2018, South Dade placed seven wrestlers in the finals and set a school record with six state champions.

Bartelt, who is signed with Iowa State, won his fourth state championship at South Dade and finished with a high school career record of 139-0.

During that stretch, Bartelt never let an opponent score a takedown on him, until his final state championship match Saturday, when Dante DeSantis, from Dwyer, scored an early first-period takedown for a 2-0 lead. Bartelt responded by pinning DeSantis at the 2:33 mark.

“It was a minor setback when he got the first takedown,” Bartlet said. “It just happens, I guess he studied and did his research on me. But I just kept my same goal to win the final. I had to push through it. It is what it is. I'm headed to the next level in college and I just have to get better.”

Osceola senior Anderson Heap won the 150-pound 3A title, his third consecutive championship, while picking up his 200th career win in the state championship match. His teammate, Isfandier Sharipov, won the 132-pound title.

“Winning is just taking advantage of every opportunity, and hard work is going to get you where you need to be,” Heap said.

Cavarius Liddie, from Buchholz, won his second straight title, taking home the 144-pound crown.

“The first one was easier. It is really easy to wrestle someone when no one knows you, and it’s a lot harder when someone comes to take you out,” Liddie said.

Also winning individual 3A individual state championships were: Christian Vazquez (113) Doral Academy, Fredrick Mitchum (120) Miami Southridge, Gabriel Tellez (126) Southwest Miami, Shawn McCallister (157) Harmony and Kaden Darwin (285) Palmetto Ridge.

Class 2A goes back to Tampa Jesuit

Jesuit won 2A, rolling up 201 points and beating second-place Lake Gibson by 53.5. It was the third overall title and second IBT championship for the program. Jesuit crowned three individual champions during the run: Malachi Ortiz (113), Draven McCall (150) and Brandon Cody (165).

“Getting the lead early was a big part of it,”Jesuit head coach Sal Basile said.” There were a couple of years where we had less guys and we were always chasing and trying to catch up. This year we brought 12 guys and 12 guys contributed. We had 12 guys score points the first day and get the lead and that was really the difference.”

Gianni Maldonado won the 157-pound title for Lake Gibson, his second straight championship capped with his 204th career.

“It’s been an awesome year from start to finish. I went through some adversity and fought back. It is amazing to win that many times. Most kids get like 30-something in their career.

More 2A state champions were: Solomon Peterson (106) Heritage, Elijah Lowe (120) Lake Gibson, Cameron French (126) and Maximus Brady (132) Mariner, Ryan Phillips (138) and Elijah Penton (175) Winter Springs, Jordan Mills (190) Matanzas, Kaleb Ivie (215) Merritt Island and Ryder Luck (285) Lincoln.

Somerset wins 1A title for fourth championship

Somerset Academy rallied from 10.5 points down to Mater Lakes heading into the finals, and won the 1A state championship by 4.5 points with a 156.5 total.

“It was exciting. I knew going into this it was going to be close with Mater Lakes,” Somerset coach Joe Blasucci said. “There is a lot of parody in 1A. It is tight. We brought a lot of kids here. We had to win seven of eight placement matches to win it. And we got a little help from other people.”

It was the fourth state championship for Somerset, which has won two IBTs and two Duals state titles. In the process, Somerset crowned three state champions: Jake Austin (113), Jovani Solis (132) and Kendrick Hodge (165).

Winning 1A individual titles were: Jovanni Tovar (106) Miami Christian School, Derrick Williams (120) Bozeman, Sebastian Degennaro (126) Jensen Beach, Asher Bacon (138) and Michael Kersey (144) First Baptist, Gavin Nolan (150) Clearwater Central Catholic, Enzo Gamba (157) Fernandina Beach, Xander Hawkes (175) Florida, Pete Mocco (190) Coral Springs Charter, Michael Mocco (215) Cardinal Gibbons and Tim Gray (285) Crystal River.

Hernando wins girls tournament

Hernando won the team championship with Grace Leota (170), a two-time winner, as its lone individual champion.

Lake Gibson senior Gabby Tedesco also won her second state title in the 105-pound division.

“It just felt great because last year I was kind of cracking under pressure, even though I won. It just felt great to wrestle tough and not feel the pressure,” Tedesco said.

Also winning individual titles were Joslyn Johnson (100) Flagler Palm Coast, Mariah Mills (110) Matanzas, Iyonna Church-Ross (115) Charlotte, Melina Borelli (120) Venice, Christina Borgmann (125) Flagler Palm Coast, Gabriela Caro (130) Douglas, Sofia Delgado (140) Coral Park, Katherine Stewart (145) Bartram Trail, Mya Betel (155) North Miami, Grace Leota (170) Hernando, Cheyenne Cruce (190) Middleburg and Cerenity Whiting (285) Countryside.