Plucked from the hallway, Cavarius Liddie becomes state champion

Buchholz’ Cavarius Liddie celebrates after winning the state title back in March at the Silver Spurs Arena. (Brant Parsons/Kabra Wrestling)

BY BRANT PARSONS — Cavarius Liddie was struggling to play football as a freshman at Buchholz.

Liddie admits that he wasn’t very good at it and only played one game.

His athletic life changed when Buchholz wrestling coach Billy Pankey approached him one day at school.

“Coach Pankey found me in the hallway and told me that I should join wrestling,” Liddie said. “I tried it out and stuck with it and got better.”

Liddie also started training with some older guys on the team and increasingly improved at the sport, finishing third in the state as a sophomore.

Last season, the rising senior won a Florida state title with a thrilling 8-7 win over SW Miami’s Danny Martinez in the Class 3A final of the 132-pound weight class.

Trailing 7-6 in the final 30 seconds, Liddie knew he needed an escape to at least force overtime.

“I was pretty confident that I could get that point,” Liddie said of that moment. “I knew it would be tough to get a takedown after I got the point, but I was still pretty confident I could get it - but I scored the reversal, which was even better.”

Liddle did score that reversal with 25 seconds left and held on for the win and the title, prompting a celebration with the coach who plucked him from the hallway at the start of high school.

“I can trust him whenever I’m in a match,” Liddle said of his coach. "If I’m down by a certain number of points, he tells me what to do.”

“I feel like it’s really easy to have him in my corner because I trust him a lot and he trusts my wrestling.”

Cavarius Liddie (Brant Parsons/Kabra Wrestling)

STATE CHAMPION FEATURES

Kabra Wrestling is looking to feature as many state champions as we can over the next few months and tell a little story about what makes them special.

If you won a state championship and would like to be featured, please contact Kabra Wrestling to set up an interview.

2023 State Champions

3A-106: Andrew Punzalan (Cypress Bay)

3A-113: Tyler Washburn (Palmetto Ridge)

3A-120: Luis Acevedo (South Dade)

3A-126: Ethan Vugman (Bartram Trail)

3A-132: Cavarius Liddie (Buchholz)

3A-138: Elvis Solis (South Dade)

3A-145: Anderson Heap (Kissimmee Osceola)

3A-152: Cooper Haase (Kissimmee Osceola)

3A-160: Adrian Ochoa (Southwest Miami)

3A-170: Lawrence Rosario (South Dade)