Class 3A Season Preview: South Dade looks to continue, regain dynasty

BY BRANT PARSONS — Back in March, No. 1 South Dade won its ninth consecutive Class 3A state IBT title but did it in a way they hadn’t before.

The Buccaneers depth shown through with a strong performance on Saturday morning in Kissimmee which set the stage for Ansel Cervantes and Sawyer Bartelt to punctuate a hard-earned state title with championships on Saturday night.

The good news for South Dade is that every state placer but one is back this season and there’s even more depth with transfers and talented freshman joining the group.

Along with Bartelt and Cervantes, third-place finishers Elvis Solis, Gavin Balmeceda, and Cordell White are back to help lead the Class 3A favorites.

This team could be something special.

This team will also be wrestling with an extra edge and that is to regain the state title in the duals competition after falling to Palmetto Ridge in the semifinals last season.

“Every team wants to be known for something,” South Dade coach Vic Balmeceda said. “We have to stay healthy and we will have stiff competition.”

While working in a tough Class 3A to win back its coveted state duals title, the Bucs will be looking to keep making and chasing history in the IBT competition.

“We want to make it a great one,” Balmeceda said. “It would be our tenth straight title, something only done by one other team. We aren’t just shooting for a state title, we’re going to make history.”

Chasing the Bucs is a talented collection of teams, starting with No. 2 Kissimmee Osceola.

The Kowboys experienced a shock over the summer with legendary head coach and AD Jim Bird announced he was leaving Central Florida and moving to the panhandle to be closer to his growing family.

The searched for his AD replacement was quick, with former assistant wrestling coach Rick Tribit coming over from Celebration to take over the AD duties.

Tribit, a longtime friend of Bird’s, knew one of the most important first moves as athletic director would be to find a wrestling coach to take over the storied program. Following a search for a replacement, Tribit realized that he wanted to take on the job and give the best chances to a team that is returning three state champions from a year ago.

“We’ve been looking for someone but I’m just not turning this over to anyone,” Tribit said. “Jim is one of my best friends and there’s a lot of tradition to keep up here and I don’t want to let him down.”

Cooper Haase, Gunner Holland, and Anderson Heap all return for Osceola and lead a Kowboys program that has had a state champion in 16 consecutive years.

Haase, who is heading to Army-West Point, is looking to join Fox Baldwin as the only wrestlers to win a state title in all four years at Osceola. Holland is looking for this third and Heap his second.

“I've coached Anderson, Cooper, Elijah, and Gunner since they were kids,” Tribit said. “I have an emotional investment in them. They were all upset about Coach Bird leaving and I said I promise you I won't let you down.”

South Dade’s rivals No. 3 Southwest Miami will look to challenge them again this season. The two schools are just 17.23 miles apart and have finished close in the state tournament with the Eagles having come in second place the past three seasons.

Four state placers graduated but the Eagles have some firepower returning.

Defending state champion Gabriel Tellez is back along with finalists Adrian Ochoa and Franklyn Ordonez. 2020 state champion Danny Martinez also returns after a third place finish a year ago.

“We are a team with expectations to come home with a trophy but tired of second place,” Southwest Miami coach Mick Artega said in a Kabra Wrestling preseason questionnaire.

Last year’s state dual champions No. 4 Palmetto Ridge said goodbye to two state champions after last season and while the team might be lacking the experienced depth of last season, it still has some hammers.

State champion Tyler Washburn is back along with state placers Demetri Zertopoulis, Austin Foye, Roman Garcia, and Bernardo Barnhart to power the Bears.

"It's a friendly rivalry,” Palmetto Ridge head coach Blaine Ison said. “It's what makes our state great. They are heavy hitters and we are trying to compete against them, Southwest Miami, and Kissimmee Osceola and others and we think we can compete against anyone."

Steinbrenner’s Colin Bradshaw, Riverview’s Nicholas Romero, and North Port’s Dominic Joyce all return to defend their state titles from last season.

The Florida High School Wrestling District Previews

Click on link to see preview

Class 3A: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

Class 2A: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

Class 1A: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

Class G-1A: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

Notes

Rankings listed next to teams are the preseason Kabra rankings in both IBT and Duals. (IBT/Dual)

SC = State Champion last season

2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th = State placer

SQ = State qualifier

RC = Region champion

R2, R3, R4 = Region placer

RQ-BR = Region qualifiers who reached the blood round

RQ = Region qualifier

DC = District champions

D2, D3, D4, D5, D6 = District placer