Haase, South Dade score big wins at Knockout
BY BRANT PARSONS — Kissimmee Osceola’s Cooper Haase has won a lot of things in his high school career but the one thing missing was a Knockout Christmas Classic title.
In the week leading up to the tournament, the three-time state champion found inspiration from a unique source.
As part of SEWrestle’s video preview series, host Jason Fulmore and guest Corey Haase talked about the best wrestlers to have never won a Knockout title. Cooper was given an honorable mention on the list since he still had one chance to get it done.
“It was really important to me because they came out with this stupid list of the best people to never win the Knockout and they put me on the honorable mention because they didn’t know if I would win or not,” Cooper said after winning. “I used that as motivation for like a week straight.”
On Thursday, Haase took his name off the honorable mention list with a 13-5 major decision win over Lake Gibson’s Gianni Maldonado in the final.
Haase dominated the match on his feet, scoring six takedowns to win the title.
“I am really comfortable on my feet and I work a lot from there and I just knew that if I could get to my takedowns, it would be done from there,” Cooper said.
Thanks to SEWrestle for permission to embed videos of finals.
In the team race, South Dade found itself on top of the team standings for the first time in a decade.
The Bucs finished with seven placers, led by champion Sawyer Bartelt.
The 220-pound Bartelt, who committed to Iowa State earlier this month, dominated his weight class, winning all five of his matches by fall, including a pin just 41 seconds into his final.
“It shows that we’ve been working hard and putting in the work,” Bartelt said. “As you know, we lost state duals last year so we just use that as motivation to do better this year.”
EJ Solis also reached the final for South Dade, who showed its formidable depth over the two days with seven wrestlers placing.
“I can’t remember the last time we won this tournament,” South Dade head coach Vic Balmeceda said. “That shows you just how hard it is to win this tournament. This is one of the best tournaments in the nation.”
The Bucs were also short-handed for the tournament with two starters out, including defending state champion Ansel Cervantes.
“To have seven placers and two in the finals and to beat the teams that are here is harder than a regular state tournament so to win this the way we did while missing a couple of guys - this team did something special tonight.”
Of the 14 weight classes competed on the boys side, 8 were won by Florida wrestlers.
After Bartelt started off the night with his win at 220, Cypress Bay’s Andrew Punzalan took first place in the 106-pound weight class.
The senior, who is now 25-1 on the season, battled through two well-earned victories on Thursday and capped it off with a 5-2 win over Buford (GA)’s DJ Clarke.
Jensen Beach’s Sebastian Degennaro continued to impress, winning the 120-pound final against Lake Gibson’s Christian Fretwell.
In a tightly-wrestled match, Degennaro scored a takedown with back points in the third period to clinch the win with a 5-0 victory.
Haase’s teammate Anderson Heap was the next Florida champion, taking the title with an 8-5 win over previously-unbeaten Tyler McKnight from Cass (GA).
The defending Florida state champion was tied 5-5 heading into the final period with McKnight, before scoring an early escape and late takedown to earn the champion’s singlet.
History was made at 170 pounds when Winter Springs’ Elijah Penton became the lowest seed in Knockout history to ever win a title.
The ninth-seed topped the No. 8, No. 1, No. 4, and No. 2 seeds on his way to winning the weight class.
In the final he scored the match’s only takedown in the third period to edge Kissimmee Osceola’s Gunner Holland.
Lake Gibson’s Frank “Tito” Solorzano won another meeting of Florida finalists at 182 pounds.
He and Cypress Bay’s Zach Weidler battled close the entire match with the difference being a Solorzano takedown with 36 seconds left.
And finishing off the night was Countryside’s Brian Burburija winning one of the toughest weight classes in the tournament.
The Air Force commit scored two takedowns in the first period and then rode those to a 10-6 win over Jefferson’s Luke Cochran in a match that saw four takedowns and reversals combined in the final period.
Burburija is ranked 15th in the country at 195 pounds by FloWrestling, while Cochran is ranked No. 20.
See all of the finals bouts on SEWrestle’s YouTube page.
Team scores: 1. South Dade 206; 2. Lake Gibson 156.5; 3. Jensen Beach 145; 4. Cass (GA) 140.5; 5. Mill Creek (GA) 138; 6. Buford (GA) 127; 7. Kissimmee Osceola 123.5; 8. Jefferson (GA) 109; 9. Palmetto Ridge 108; 10. Summit (TN) 107; 11. First Baptist-Naples 103.5; 12. Southwest Miami 101; 13. Point Pleasant (WV) 97; 14. Somerset 90.5; 15. Mt. Pisgah Christian (GA) 87; 16. Cypress Bay, Lovett (GA) 86; 18. St Vincent-St Mary (OH) 84.5; 19. Dobyns Bennett (TN), Mater Lakes Academy 83; 21. Hewitt-Trussville (AL) 79.5; 22. Thompson (AL) 78.5; 23. Tampa Jesuit 71.5; 24. Hernando, Winter Springs 68; 26. Vestavia Hills (AL) 67.5; 27. Lemon Bay 65.5; 28. Satellite 60.5; 29. Lakeway Christian Academy (TN) 59; 30. Mariner 56.5; 31. Bartram Trail 55; 32. Riverdale 54; 33. Carrollton (GA) 51; 34. Trinity-Louisville (KY) 50.5; 35. North Paulding (GA) 45; 36. Springstead 42; 37. Columbus (GA), Ft Pierce Central 41; 39. High Point Regional (NJ) 39; 40. Woodland, Cartersville (GA) 38; 41. Miami Beach 37.5; 42. Barron G Collier 36.5; 43. West Laurens (GA) 36; 44. Buchholz, Countryside, Hagerty 35; 47. Doral Academy 33.5; 48. St Francis (GA) 33; 49. Archbishop Rummel (LA) 31.5; 50. Matanzas 29.5; 51. Orlando Freedom 29; 52. Venice 26; 53. Charlotte, Hillcrest (SC) 24; 55. Palm Bay, Spring Valley (WV) 22; 57. Flowery Branch (GA), Treasure Coast 19; 59. Ft Myers 14; 60. Auburndale, Hilton Head (SC) 13; 62. Clearwater Cen Catholic 0.
Click here for complete results (PDF)
First place
106: Andrew Punzalan (Cypress Bay) dec. DJ Clarke (Buford) 5-2
113: Antonio Mills (Mill Creek) dec. Tyler Washburn (Palmetto Ridge) 4-1
120: Sebastian Degennaro (Jensen Beach) dec. Christian Fretwell (Lake Gibson) 5-0
126: Jake Crapps (Cass) dec. Jarvis Little (Summit) 9-3
132: Gunner Andrick (Point Pleasant) dec. Amantee Mills (Mill Creek) 7-2
138: Drew Gorman (Buford) maj. EJ Solis (South Dade) 10-1
145: Anderson Heap (Kissimmee Osceola) dec. Tyler McKnight (Cass) 8-5
152: Cooper Haase (Kissimmee Osceola) maj. Gianni Maldonado (Lake Gibson) 13-5
160: Dominic Bambinelli (Mill Creek) dec. Christopher Minto (Mariner) 4-3
170: Elijah Penton (Winter Springs) dec. Gunner Holland (Kissimmee Osceola) 4-2
182: Frank Solorzano (Lake Gibson) dec. Zach Weidler (Cypress Bay) 3-1
195: Brian Burburija (Countryside) dec. Luke Cochran (Jefferson) 10-6
220: Sawyer Bartelt (South Dade) p. Bryson Getz (St Vincent-St Mary) 0:41
285: John Levy (Carrollton) dec. Caleb Rodriguez (First Baptist-Naples) 4-2
Third place
106: Lee Camp (Cass) maj. Conner Doherty (Mt. Pisgah Christian) 10-2
113: Roman Lermer (Jesuit) dec. Gabriel Tellez (Southwest Miami) 1-0
120: Blaine Taranto (Venice) dec. Luis Acevedo (South Dade) 9-6
126: Maximus Brady (Mariner) dec. Ryan Mooney (Jensen Beach) 7-3
132: Ethan Vugman (Bartram Trail) dec. Dallas Russell (Jefferson) UTB 2-1
138: Danny Martinez (Southwest Miami) d. Landon Desselle (Summit) MFF
145: Jewell Williams (Jensen Beach) dec. Misha Arbos (South Dade) 7-2
152: Gavin Balmeceda (South Dade) dec. Devin Stone (Thompson) 3-1
160: Max Norman (Dobyns Bennett) dec. Kendrick Hodge (Somerset) 4-2
170: Roman Garcia (Palmetto Ridge) dec. Lawrence Rosario (South Dade) 7-0
182: Lane Kiser (Trinity-Louisville) p. Franklyn Ordonez (Southwest Miami) 2:40
195: Christian Moder (First Baptist-Naples) d. Hunter Jones (Hewitt-Trussville) MFF
220: Andrew Sykes (Vestavia Hills) p. Garret W Crowder (Dobyns Bennett) 2:51
285: Austin Foye (Palmetto Ridge) dec. Gozie Mosi (Cypress Bay) 5-1
Fifth place
106: Clark Box (Hewitt-Trussville) p. Jake Giovino (Satellite) 0:59
113: Roman Belardo (Jefferson) dec. Elijah Lowe (Lake Gibson) 3-1
120: Enis Ljikovic (Barron G Collier) dec. Tyler Nguyen (Columbus) 9-4
126: Bryce Skinner (St Vincent-St Mary) p. Spencer Reep (Lakeway Christian Academy) 3:23
132: Nikolas Blake (Hagerty) dec. Ryan Phillips (Winter Springs) 6-4
138: Aaron Lanster (Miami Beach) tech. Marley Washington (Mt. Pisgah Christian) 16-0
145: Jace Parent (St Francis) p. Jay Eversole (Lakeway Christian Academy) 0:42
152: Alexander Soto (Riverdale) dec. Tyler Nelson (Mt. Pisgah Christian) 5-4
160: Chris Mance (Lovett) dec. Joey Bertrand (Mt. Pisgah Christian) 3-1
170: George Ferree (Trinity-Louisville) d. Creed Thomas (Jefferson) MFF
182: Michael McCarthy (Satellite) dec. Chris Sanchez (South Dade) 7-1
195: Nate Sopotnick (Jensen Beach) dec. Kason Nichols (Buchholz) 5-0
220: Christian Bell (Lovett) d. Damian Soto (Mater Lakes Academy) FF
285: Devin Williams (Hernando) d. Kolton Weaver (Point Pleasant) ID
