South Dade smashes field at Lady Braves | Daily recap
The South Dade girls wrestling team celebrates their win at the Lady Brave Invitational on Friday. (Photo courtesy of South Dade Wrestling)
BY BRANT PARSONS — South Dade continued its breakthrough season with a convincing 49.5 point victory over previous girls state champions Orlando Freedom and Hernando at the Lady Braves Invitational.
The Bucs put six wrestlers in the final at the 47-team event with Beyonce Espinosa (115), Willow White (125), and Kaitelynn Oliver (130) winning individual titles.
“Today’s tournament was a testament to the hard work of our parents, coaches and of course athletes,” South Dade girls coach Chino Duran said. “Our girls really showed that the prior results were no fluke.”
The tournament win comes after an impressive second-place performance at the Girls Knockout Christmas Classic tournament last month.
“I’m proud of the way we got better today, however they understand that wrestling for this program comes with expectations and we will take a couple of days to soak up the win but Monday it’s right back to work to fix our mistakes to get to the top of the heap in the state,” Duran said. “That’s all that matters to these girls and I love that mentality.”
Second-place Orlando Freedom finished with one individual champion, Rotchiva Clermont (235). The Patriots finished with 11 wrestlers on the podiums.
Last year’s state champion Hernando was third with Emerson Webber (100), Mariah Earl (155), Chloe Stinnett (170), and Grace Leota (190) all winning titles.
The other champions were Ponte Vedra’s Erin Rizzuto (105), Miami Southridge’s Abigail Gonzalez (110), St. John Neumann’s Savanna Porter (120), Oakleaf’s Kailani Barrientos (135), Riverdale’s Julianna Caisse (140), and Sunlake’s Kristy More (145).
Click here to see the complete results from the Lady Braves Invitational
Oviedo girls
take
home first
The Lions had four first-place finishers at Winter Springs on Saturday.
Oviedo’s Mia Pina (100), Claudia La Costa Perez (125), Delaney Graves (155), and Haylee Richards (170) all finished in first place at the Winter Springs Girls Tournament on Saturday to propel the Lions to a 16-point win over the hosts.
Hadassa Manjano Herrera (105), Natalia Sanchez (110), and Jocelyn Quiroz (115) all earned top spot for the Bears.
Click here to see all of the results from the Winter Springs Girls Tournament
Tampa Jesuit, Zephyrhills Christian lead big events
Tampa Jesuit leads a loaded field after one day at the Cradle Cancer event at Jensen Beach.
The top-ranked 2A IBT Tigers advanced eight wrestlers to Saturday’s semifinals. They lead New York’s Minisink Valley by 14.5 points.
#2-1A Mater Lakes, #4-1A Merritt Island, and #2-3A SW Miami round out the top five.
After one day at the 54-team Braves Invitational at the AdventHealth Fieldhouse and Conference Center in Winter Haven, #1-1A Zephyrhills Christian leads #1-3A South Dade by two points.
The massive event wrestled to the quarterfinals on Saturday, where action will pick up in the morning.
#3-2A Lake Gibson, #3-3A Miami Southridge, and #5-1A St. John Neumann round out the top five.
Click here to see all Day 1 results these tournaments and from across Florida
Somerset dominates event
Host #2-2A Somerset finished with nine individual champions and 353 points to easily win the 14th Annual Somerset Scuffle on Friday.
The Panthers got wins from Cano Austin (106), Carlos Sainz (126), Dylan Fernandez (132), Matteo Gonzalez (138), Tristan Sainz (150), Eric Hodge (157), Bluny Davilma (165), Michael Sainz (175), and Mateo Martinez (190).
Martin County finished second with 170.5 points with Nathan Halulko getting the win at 113 pounds and Jude Melly at 144 pounds.
Keys Gate Charter’s Matthew Davila (120), Belen Jesuit’s Rafael Scott (215), and West Broward’s Hernando Francis (285) were also champions.
Click here to see the full results from the Somerset Scuffle (PDF)
A quick look across the state
#18-3A Buchholz took the Day 1 lead at the Clay Rotary. The Bobcats advanced five wrestlers to the semifinals. #4-2A Clay sits 6.5 points back with seven in the semis.
At the Ron Peters Tournament of Champions, #4 Hagerty has jumped out to a commanding 46 point lead heading into the semifinals. The Huskies lead Space Coast 135.5-89.5.
Host Yulee has a three-point lead over Middleburg after the first day of competition at the Joe Bees Memorial Battle of the Border. The Hill School from Pottstown, PA leads the Palm Beach Gardens Invitational after Day 1.
Click here to see all Day 1 results from across Florida
Ranked teams go 2-0 on Thursday
Zephyrhills Christian and Florida High kicked off 2025 with duals wins on Thursday night.
The 2nd-ranked Warriors beat Liberty County 68-9. Zephyrhills Christian won four contested matches in the dual. The biggest individual bout came at 132 pounds, where fourth-ranked Jay Brown topped No. 3 Nevin Hayes 6-5 for one of the two Bulldog wins.
The Seminoles won a tighter battle, topping Yulee 40-30. No. 9 Florida High got wins in contested matches from Brayden Reed (126), Jasper Croom (132), Keaton Ellis (144), Terence Hinson (150), and Jordan Haigler (175).
See the complete results of both duals here
On Today’s Schedule
Two more district duals titles will be awarded on Saturday with 2A-4 taking place at Winter Springs and 2A-8 being contested at Lyman.
See the entire Class 2A state duals schedule and results here
Most of Florida’s tournaments this weekend are two-day events but there are a few one day competitions to look at.
The girls will be battling at the Lady Wildcats Scramble at McKeel Academy and the Bulls IBT at Parrish.
The Cradle Cancer, Clay Rotary, and Panhandle Championships will also have their girls tournaments alongside their second day of boys action.
There are two one-day tournaments on the boys side. The Bob Harley duals will be at George Jenkins while Coral Springs Charter will host the Panther Invitational.
