Update: Allen Held returning to coach at Cypress Bay

Cypress Bay’s Allen Held (far right, green jacket) watches on as senior Andrew Punzalan wrestles in the Class 3A, 106-pound final back in March. Next to Held is Mike Otero, the new head coach at Cypress Bay. (Brant Parsons/Kabra Wrestling)

NOTE: On July 30, 2023, Allen Held announced that his return had been approved and he’ll be coaching at Cypress Bay for three more years. This is the story we wrote back in May 2023 on his retirement.

BY BRANT PARSONS —Florida Wrestling Hall of Fame coach Allen Held is hanging up the whistle after four decades of coaching.

Held, who had a 701-146 lifetime dual coaching record at three schools, is stepping down at Cypress Bay after the state of Florida decided it was time for him to retire.

“My job finished,” Held said of the state retirement system. “I did try to extend but Broward County didn’t extend and so far as coaching in the state retirement system, the choice is more up to them than me.”

The timing of the county’s decision also coincides at a time where Held is needed more at home. Last year, Held’s wife had a stroke and she has struggled since then with confusion and affects from the stroke.

“It’s about spending time with her and trying to get her better and spend the moments that she is good with her and enjoy the moments I can with her,” Held said.

Held started coaching in 1990 and was both the wrestling and football coach at his first two stops at Hallandale and South Broward. He’s coached at Cypress Bay the last 10 years.

Over that time, he’s had over 100 state qualifiers, was named the Coach of the Year eight times by the Sun Sentinel and seven times by the Miami Herald.

Among his 10 different state champions he coached are two-time undefeated state champion and two-time All-Pro with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers David Joseph, state champion and Division I All-American Ivan Lopouschanski, and his son AJ, an undefeated state champion and 3x time senior national placer.

This past season he coached his first state champion at Cypress Bay when senior Andrew Punzalan won the Class 3A title at 106 pounds.

“It’s important because we’ve been selling that since I got here ten years ago,” Held said. “We’ve had a few runners-up and Andrew is a kid who has been in the program and his brother wrestled for us too. We knew we were going to have a great season this year and it was just a special moment for everybody involved.”

Held grew up an athlete and went to the University of Florida on a track scholarship but wrestling was his favorite sport in high school and he couldn’t wait to give back to the sport as a coach.

“I always wanted to be a coach,” Held said. “I just loved working with kids and getting them the opportunity to achieve some things through athletics.”

The transition should be smoother than most for those at Cypress Bay with assistant coach Mike Otero taking over the head coaching job. In fact, other than Held, the entire coaching staff should stay intact.

“We’ve all been on the same page since I’ve been here,” Held said of the coaching staff. “We’re not developing the kids to be only great wrestlers but to be a great person in life.”

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“I believe Mike has those same goals that I had in the program and I know he’ll do a great job and get them better — even better than I did.”

Held plans to stay involved in the sport, running the preseason classic Seahorse Open and the Bobby Stanley Duals in December.

“I’m going to be around I just probably won’t be on the sidelines at all,” Held said. “I’m going to stay involved and run tournaments and do Track Wrestling and you know, just be a fan of the sport.”

Not entirely leaving the sport cushions the blow for Held as he admits that he’ll miss the one-of-a-kind camaraderie that wrestling coaches in this state share.

“I just love coaching and competing against people and I know I’ll miss that,” Held said. “And I’ll miss sitting in that chair yelling and screaming, whether they listen to you or not, it’s always a special moment.”

Brant Parsons is the founder and executive editor of Kabra Wrestling. He has been covering high school wrestling in Florida since 2004. He can be reached at brant@kabrawrestling.com.