Textbook Kissimmee Osceola performance yields region duals title
KISSIMMEE — With #3 Kissimmee Osceola and #12 Palmetto Ridge wrapped up in a neck-and-neck dual and the Kowboys two hammers still to come, Nathaniel Cabrera put his own stamp on the match.
Wrestling at 150 pounds, Cabrera and Xavier Barnhart couldn’t decide their match through three periods, one minute of sudden victory and another minute of tie-breakers, so the match went to the ultimate tie-breaker.
The Osceola scored the win and shifted the momentum the Kowboys way.
“I think after my boy Nate won at 150, that was the turning point," Kissimmee Osceola’s Anderson Heap said. “He's working hard at the room and he's one of the guys I know that will make the next level jump.”
Heap and Gunner Holland would both score big wins at 165 and 175 pounds, giving Kissimmee Osceola a 40-33 win in the Class 3A-2 region dual final.
The win had all the makings of a classic Kowboys duals win.
Their big guns won their matches and the rest of the team wrestled hard while winning a majority of the toss-up matches.
“Our younger guys did pretty well, overall we did well as a team,” Heap added. “We just needed to believe in ourselves a little more and trust our training.”
Palmetto Ridge jumped out to a 12-0 lead with Kaden Darwin (285) and Erik Perez (106) winning by pin.
Osceola countered by winning four of the next five matches with pins by Adaias Ortiz (113) and Talyn Fisk (120) sandwiched around a Nash Holdridge win for Ridge.
Ehab Shalaby (132) and Isfandier Sharipov (138) finished the run off with 11 total dual points for the Kowboys.
Mark Whalen got three points back when he won a 10-3 decision, setting up the fireworks at 150.
Demetri Zertopoulis (157) put six points back on the board for the Bears before the Kowboys went back-to-back with their top-ranked wrestlers.
Bryan Gari (190) then sealed the win before Jordan Peralez (215) completed the scoring for Palmetto Ridge.
Osceola advances to face Timber Creek in the semis.
The semifinals take place on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Kissimmee Osceola High School. Tickets can be purchased here.
Kissimmee Osceola 41, Palmeto Ridge 33
106: Erik Perez (PR) p. Maddox Spencer (KO) 1:00; 113: Adaias Ortiz (KO) p. Julius Avila (PR) 0:45; 120: Talyn Fisk (KO) p. William McGowan (PR) 4:34; 126: Nash Holdridge (PR) p. Diaaeldin Elghonemy (KO) 2:44; 132: Ehab Shalaby (KO) p. Jordan Blomberg (PR) 5:45; 138: Isfandier Sharipov (KO) tech. Froilan Olano (PR) 15-0; 144: Mark Whalen (PR) dec. Jayson Ortiz (KO) 10-3; 150: Nathaniel Cabrera (KO) dec. Xavier Barnhart (PR) UTB 8-7; 157: Demetri Zertopoulis (PR) p. Jonathan Olmo (KO) 2:56; 165: Anderson Heap (KO) p. Angelo Perera (PR) 0:40; 175: Gunner Holland (KO) tech. Owen Pratt (PR) 16-0; 190: Bryan Gari (KO) maj. Matthew Kniola (PR) 9-0; 215: Jordan Peralez (PR) p. Hunter Craine (KO) 1:08; 285: Kaden Darwin (PR) p. Jaquille Knox (KO) 1:41.
Brant Parsons is the founder and executive editor of Kabra Wrestling. After learning and competing in the sport as a kid growing up in Ohio, he started covering Florida high school wrestling in 2004 and formed Kabra Wrestling in the summer of 2021.
