Luis Acevedo’s drive propels his to state title

South Dade’s Luis Acevedo celebrates his state title with head coach Vic Balmeceda after winning the 120-pound weight class at the FHSAA State Wrestling Tournament at Silver Spurs Arena back in March. (Brant Parsons/Kabra Wrestling)

BY BRANT PARSONS — A statement Luis Acevedo’s coach made when he was a freshman was in his mind as he battled in the FHSAA State Final back in March at the Silver Spurs Arena.

In a tight battle with Venice’s Blaine Taranto, Acevedo had one thought in his head - ‘you’re going to have to want to win more than you want to breathe’.

The statement must have worked because Acevedo scored an escape with just 12 seconds left in the match to force overtime and then won his first state title with a takedown just eight seconds into sudden victory.

“You do get tired but the whole time in my mind I’m thinking of that statement,” Acevedo said. “I always think of it to this day and it helped me never give up.”

The win also avenged one of Acevedo’s three losses from last season, a 9-6 defeat to Taranto in the third-place match at the Knockout Christmas Classic.

“I don’t know that I could have performed the way I did if I hadn’t lost to him,” Acevedo said. “It motivated me 100% and made me a different person and a different wrestler and all I wanted to do was prove everybody wrong and show that I’m not some kid that will fold under pressure.”

Part of that resolve also likely came from wrestling top competition each weekend as Acevedo’s South Dade team prides itself on trying to find the toughest tournament each week.

“My coach only sends us to the tournaments that he knows are going to challenge us,” Acevedo said. “He doesn’t believe in sending us to tournaments that he knows we’ll run though because it’s not going to help us get better.”

Acevedo also credits being in the South Dade room as being key to his success.

“There’s nobody bad in the room, everybody is a stud,” Acevedo said. “That’s going to make you a star because you are always practicing with someone tough and everybody’s helping each other and we are all getting better together.”

The road to that wrestling room began at age nine for Acevedo.

A basketball player at the time, he remembers going to the gym one day and seeing mats rolled out and a wrestling practice going on.

He was intrigued and so was his dad and he began his journey in the sport.

“Being a small guy, there’s not a lot of other sports I can do and be good at, so wrestling was kind of a blessing in disguise,” Acevedo said. “Wrestling also clamed me down and it taught me how to control myself and be a more humble person.”

Luis Acevedo will look to repeat as state champion in the 2023-24 high school wrestling season. (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)