South Dade rallies to win ninth straight state title
BY BRANT PARSONS — On Friday night, South Dade coaches Vic Balmeceda and Humberto Reyna were doing the math.
They trailed district rival Southwest Miami by double-digits after two days of the FHSAA State Wrestling Tournament and the Bucs were hurting from some disappointing performances.
“Friday was one of the most rotten nights in South Dade history and every one of our kids walked out with their heads down,” South Dade coach Vic Balmeceda said. “I had to talk to them, and text them, and reach them anyway I could to tell them that we were not out of it because we had 10 kids still alive in the placing round and it wasn’t over.”
“It’s mathematically not out of reach, we just had to perform.”
South Dade then went out and had two fantastic consolation rounds on Saturday morning to take the lead into the finals where Ansel Cervantes and Sawyer Bartelt clinched the ninth straight state Class 3A title for the Bucs.
The Bucs finished with 171.5 points, 13 1/2 more than runners-up Southwest Miami. It’s the closest team race for a South Dade champion since 2001 when they edged Columbus by 6 1/2.
“We’ve never had to win it this way, the ugly way through the back door but everybody bought into that and believed that.”
For the Bucs the state title is the 17th IBT title and 21st team state title in wrestling.
Cervantes won the first state title for South Dade when he won the 195-pound weight class with a 4-3 win over Palm Harbor University’s Chris Greil.
Bartelt than finished the scoring with his second individual state title as the sophomore won the 220-pound weight class with a major decision win over Harmony’s Nelson Toro.
“Sometimes the guys who come in the backdoor and take third have the best character because they face adversity,” Bartelt said.
Elvis Solis Jr. (3rd-132), Gavin Balmeceda (3rd-145), Alexander Couto (3rd-152), Cordell White (3rd-160), Luis Acevedo (4th-113), Misha Arbos (5th-138), Christopher Sanchez (7th-182), and Joshua Aviles (8th-126) all ended up on the podium for South Dade.
Gabriel Tellez won the 106-pound title for SW Miami with a 5-3 win over Doral Academy’s Christian Vazquez.
Adrian Ochoa (152), Franklyn Fernandez (182) and Adrian Sans (285) all made the finals for the Eagles, who finished up with nine state placers.
Palmetto Ridge finished third in the team race with Tyler Washburn (113), Brennan Van Hoecke (145), and Carson Miller (152) winning state titles.
The 2022 FHSAA State Duals champions finished with seven state placers.
Kissimmee Osceola also had three state champions, the second season in a row they had three titles. It is the 16th straight season where Osceola has had a state champion wrestler.
Anderson Heap (126), Cooper Haase (138), and Gunner Holland (160) all won titles for the Kowboys.
Also winning Class 3A state titles were Colin Bradshaw (Steinbrenner, 120), Nicholas Romero (Riverview, 132), Dominic Rodriguez (Riverdale, 170), Dominic Joyce (North Port, 182), and Gabriel Jacas (Fort Pierce Central, 285).
Top 10 team scores
1. South Dade 171; 2. Southwest Miami 158; 3. Palmetto Ridge 139; 4. Kissimmee Osceola 106; 5. Harmony 72; 6. Fort Pierce Central 63; 7. North Port 58; 8. Riverview 55; 9. Riverdale 54; 10. Hagerty 50;
Click here for final brackets (PDF)
Class 3A state placers
106
1. Gabriel Tellez (Southwest Miami)
2. Christian Vazquez (Doral Academy)
3. Joshua Hartley (Palm Harbor University)
4. Andrew Punzalan (Cypress Bay)
5. Nathaniel Overman (Bloomingdale)
6. Eliezer Torres (Riverview)
7. Dylan Lopez (Braddock)
8. Cameron Gibson (Wellington)
113
1. Tyler Washburn (Palmetto Ridge)
2. Patrick Jones (Wellington)
3. Kevin Placer (Southwest Miami)
4. Luis Acevedo (South Dade)
5. Isaac Gibbs (Olympic Heights)
6. Trenton Dominguez (Timber Creek)
7. Jordan Escarra (Cypress Bay)
8. Evan Martinez (Orlando Freedom)
120
1. Colin Bradshaw (George Steinbrenner)
2. Ethan Vugman (Bartram Trail)
3. Blaine Taranto (Venice)
4. David Corret Jer (Palm Beach Gardens)
5. Christian Guzman (Columbus)
6. Kole Hannant (Flagler Palm Coast)
7. Tamarion Kendrick (Apopka)
8. Bernardo Barnhart (Palmetto Ridge)
126
1. Anderson Heap (Kissimmee Osceola)
2. Sean-Michael Gonzalez (North Port)
3. Cavarius Liddie (Buchholz)
4. Ryan Ullayk (Palm Beach Gardens)
5. Rey Ortiz (Harmony)
6. Sam Marvel (Wellington)
7. Julian Montero (Doral Academy)
8. Joshua Aviles (South Dade)
132
1. Nicholas Romero (Riverview)
2. Demetri Zertopoulis (Palmetto Ridge)
3. Elvis Solis Jr. (South Dade)
4. Reid Noble (George Steinbrenner)
5. Aaron Lanster (Miami Beach)
6. Jorge Gonzalez (Winter Park)
7. Venumadhava Mirel (Buchholz)
8. Favian Oliva (Southwest Miami)
138
1. Cooper Haase (Kissimmee Osceola)
2. Nikolas Hernandez (Riverview)
3. Danny Martinez (Southwest Miami)
4. John McNichols (Harmony)
5. Misha Arbos (South Dade)
6. Eric Aja (Orlando Freedom)
7. Enrique Sanchez (Doral Academy)
8. Jeremy Gradford (Newsome)
145
1. Brennan Van Hoecke (Palmetto Ridge)
2. Alexander Soto (Riverdale)
3. Gavin Balmeceda (South Dade)
4. Reese Hibbard (Sarasota)
5. Lester Martinez (Southwest Miami)
6. Melvin Ewen (Kissimmee Osceola)
7. Aiden Moore (Buchholz)
8. Julian Rocha (Braddock)
152
1. Carson Miller (Palmetto Ridge)
2. Adrian Ochoa (Southwest Miami)
3. Alexander Couto (South Dade)
4. Zach Weidler (Cypress Bay)
5. JT Apicella (Fort Pierce Central)
6. Chase McBroom (Celebration)
7. Joseph Cuttitta (Palm Harbor University)
8. Blake Watts (Hagerty)
160
1. Gunner Holland (Kissimmee Osceola)
2. Kamdon Harrison (Hagerty)
3. Cordell White (South Dade)
4. Roman Garcia (Palmetto Ridge)
5. Danny Diaz (Southwest Miami)
6. Vincent Donatelle (North Port)
7. Ronald Butler (Miami Palmetto)
8. Edol Adonis (Wellington)
170
1. Dominic Rodriguez (Riverdale)
2. Jabori Brown (Treasure Coast)
3. Riley Orr (Fort Pierce Central)
4. Kenneth DeFord (Flagler Palm Coast)
5. Ethan Gomez (Hagerty)
6. George Duncan (Kissimmee Osceola)
7. Jaiden Forbes (Miami Beach)
8. Diogo Ramos Padlilha (Western)
182
1. Dominic Joyce (North Port)
2. Franklyn Fernandez (Southwest Miami)
3. Ranson Coons (Lakewood Ranch)
4. Peyton Turner (Newsome)
5. Tony Carter (Mandarin)
6. Marcelo Gonzalez (Flagler Palm Coast)
7. Christopher Sanchez (South Dade)
8. Juan Quintero (Wellington)
195
1. Ansel Cervantes (South Dade)
2. Chris Greil (Palm Harbor University)
3. Cole Tolley (Sickles)
4. Keyshawn Campbell (Vero Beach)
5. Richard Alexander (Miami Palmetto)
6. Jordan Adrien (Treasure Coast)
7. Garrick Schwartz (Flagler Palm Coast)
8. Nathan Peoples (George Jenkins)
220
1. Sawyer Bartelt (South Dade)
2. Nelson Toro (Harmony)
3. Ralph Sanchez (Apopka)
4. Imari Milton (Miramar)
5. Cody Anderson (Strawberry Crest)
6. Skyler Keesee (Alonso)
7. Landon Walters (George Jenkins)
8. Marion Smokes (DeLand)
285
1. Gabriel Jacas (Fort Pierce Central)
2. Adrian Sans (Southwest Miami)
3. Gozie Mosi (Cypress Bay)
4. Jordan Mitchell (Oakleaf)
5. Austin Foye (Palmetto Ridge)
6. Derrick Hart (Columbus)
7. Caden Gayle (Harmony)
8. Roshaun Dudley (Orlando Freedom)
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.
