Palmetto Ridge earns first state duals title, wins Class 3A

BY BRANT PARSONS

KISSIMMEE — Palmetto Ridge had gotten close before at the FHSAA state duals tournament but had fallen short.

They wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again.

The loaded Bears used a powerful finishing kick, scoring five pins in the last six bouts to defeat Wellington 42-25 and win the school’s first state duals wrestling title.

“This means everything, it means all the years we put in, from the top to the bottom, from the parents to the administration, to our club, to our coach, to these kids, it means everything,” Palmetto Ridge coach Blaine Ison said. “We put in a lot of time and we've worked hard to get here.”

Wellington was up for the fight in the final with the Wolverines winning three of the first four matches to take a 14-6 lead early.

Juan Quintero (195), Pedro Ricardo (220) and Cameron Gibson (106) all won bouts for Wellington while Austin Foye (285) scored a pin for the Bears.

The 113 pound match went into sudden victory with two of the top lightweights in the state battling it out.

Palmetto Ridge’s Tyler Washburn rallied against Wellington’s Patrick Jones to force overtime and then scored the 6-4 win with a take down.

Bernardo Barnhart earned a decision win at 120 pounds to pull within 14-12.

Sam and James Marvel then continued their undefeated weekend with each picking up wins with Sam scoring three points at 126 pounds and James earning five more with a technical fall at 132.

Then the Palmetto Ridge wrecking squad took over to seal the state title.

Demetri Zertopoulis (138), Brennan Van Hoecke (145), and Carson Miller (152) tallied three consecutive pins and after Jorge Garcia (160) squeaked out a 3-2 win for Wellington, Roman Garcia (170) and Leonard Feliciano (182) finished the night off for the state champion Bears.

“We've been right there the past couple seasons and to get over the hump is amazing,” Ison said.

The runner-up finish was the top team finish in state wrestling and punctuated a weekend where the Wolverines showed they belonged.

“We got to glimpse the number one team in the state and we hung with them,” Wellington coach Travis Gray said. “As much as we preach that we are there, you don’t know if the kids really believe it until you put it up against some big competition.”

“We belong. We’re in the mix now.”

Palmetto Ridge reached the finals with a thrilling 39-26 win over South Dade.

Neither side disappointed in one of the most highly-anticipated duals of the weekend.

Palmetto Ridge took a quick 9-0 lead with Feliciano (182) and Aiden Vega (195) getting wins before South Dade jumped ahead with two falls by Ansel Cervantes (220) and Sawyer Bartelt (285).

After Xavier Barnhart’s forfeit victory at 106, Tyler Washburn picked up a huge six points for the Bears at 113 pounds.

Washburn and Luis Acevedo were wrapped in a tight battle with Acevedo leading 2-0 when Washburn turned him and got the pin, giving Palmetto Ridge a 21-12 lead.

South Dade wasn’t finished and surged ahead 26-21 behind wins by Nathaniel Williams (120), Adrian Morales (126), EJ Solis (132), and Misha Arbos (138) with four matches to go.

The Bears then put the meet away with Van Hoecke scored a pin at 145 pounds and Miller blanked Alex Couto 5-0 at 152 pounds.

Ty Bechtel then put the dual away for Palmetto Ridge with a pin at 160 pounds, sending the Bears to the state championship and its wrestlers into celebration. Garcia completed the scoring with a 7-3 win over Cordell White.

“South Dade is the program,” Ison said. “When you think about Florida wrestling, you think about South Dade so to be able to even compete with them means a lot and to get a win over them is huge for the program and shows these kids that all of this hard work they've put in - it means something.”

Wellington advanced with a 43-25 victory over Flagler Palm Coast.

Quintero (195), Ricardo (220), Gibson (106), Jones (113), Sam Marvel (126), Matthew Rolf (132), James Marvel (138), Mario Trigazis (145), and Seth Rhodes (152) all scored points for the Wolverines.

The Bulldogs got wins from Marcelo Gonzalez (182), Seth Davis (285), Kole Hannant (120), Bryce Dodge (160), and Kenneth DeFord (170).

Box scores

Palmetto Ridge 42, Wellington 25

195: Juan Quintero (W) dec. Aiden Vega (PR) 8-4; 220: Pedro Ricardo (W) over Aurelius Walton (PR) 2:59; 285: Austin Foye (PR) over Roman Davilla (W) 0:22; 106: Cameron Gibson (W) tech. Xavier Barnhart (PR) 16-1; 113: Tyler Washburn (PR) dec. Patrick Jones (W) SV-1 6-4; 120: Bernardo Barnhart (PR) dec. Evan Pena (W) 7-2; 126: Sam Marvel (W) dec. Jean Valoria (PR) 13-10; 132: James Marvel (W) tech. Vincent Sasso (PR) 21-6; 138: Demetri Zertopoulis (PR) over Cameron Howard (W) 2:40; 145: Brennan Van Hoecke (PR) over Mario Trigazis (W) 0:56; 152: Carson Miller (PR) over Seth Rhodes (W) 2:24; 160: Jorge Garcia (W) dec. Ty Bechtel (PR) 3-2; 170: Roman Garcia (PR) over Edol Adonis (W) 0:42; 182: Leonard Feliciano (PR) over Sebastian Perez (W) 2:47.

Wellington 43, Flagler Palm Coast 25

182: Marcelo Gonzalez (FPC) dec. Edol Adonis (W) 8-3; 195: Juan Quintero (W) dec. Garrick Schwartz (FPC) 11-4; 220: Pedro Ricardo (W) over Dalton Schell (FPC) 3:39; 285: Seth Davis (FPC) over Roman Davilla (W) 1:25; 106: Cameron Gibson (W) over Timothy McLean (FPC) 0:27; 113: Patrick Jones (W) over Carson Baert (FPC) 1:10; 120: Kole Hannant (FPC) maj. Evan Pena (W) 11-3; 126: Sam Marvel (W) dec. John Hald (FPC) 8-5; 132: Matthew Rolf (W) by FF; 138: James Marvel (W) over Danya Cherry (FPC) 2:00; 145: Mario Trigazis (W) maj. Felipe Costa (FPC) 11-3; 152: Seth Rhodes (W) dec. Timothy King (FPC) 14-12; 160: Bryce Dodge (FPC) over Jorge Garcia (W) 3:33; 170: Kenneth DeFord (FPC) over Sebastian Perez (W) 0:40.

Palmetto Ridge 39, South Dade 26

182: Leonard Feliciano (PR) dec. Chris Sanchez (SD) 9-5; 195: Aiden Vega (PR) over Kris Reyes (SD) 1:45; 220: Ansel Cervantes (SD) over Aurelius Walton (PR) 1:52; 285: Sawyer Bartelt (SD) over Austin Foye (PR) 0:51; 106: Xavier Barnhart (PR) by FF; 113: Tyler Washburn (PR) over Luis Acevedo (SD) 3:31; 120: Nathaniel Williams (SD) dec. Bernardo Barnhart (PR) 5-2; 126: Adrian Morales (SD) dec. Jean Valoria (PR) 11-7; 132: EJ Solis (SD) dec. Demetri Zertopoulis (PR) 5-3; 138: Misha Arbos (SD) tech. Vincent Sasso (PR) 18-3; 145: Brennan Van Hoecke (PR) over Gavin Balmeceda (SD) 4:29; 152: Carson Miller (PR) dec. Alex Couto (SD) 5-0; 160: Ty Bechtel (PR) over Andrew Miller (SD) 5:08; 170: Roman Garcia (PR) dec. Cordell White (SD) 7-3.