Mater Lakes completes long journey to Class 1A mountaintop
Mater Lakes’ Damian Soto wrestles in the 215-pound match in the state dual final. (Brant Parsons/Kabra Wrestling)
KISSIMMEE — Mater Lakes’ journey to the Class 1A state duals title began over a year ago in the region semifinal.
The Bears came up a point short to eventual state champion Somerset and decided that day to commit to a different outcome this season.
That quest reached fruition on Saturday at Kissimmee Osceola High School when Mater Lakes topped St. John Neumann 56-15 in the final to win the school’s first team wrestling state title.
“We believed that we should have been here last year and could be a two-time champion,” Mater Lakes senior Damian Soto said. “We were locked in this year and winning this is the best I have felt in my high school career.”
Soto’s win in the final was one of 11 for the Bears.
Christopher Benzan (157), Kenny Alvarado (165), and Kalias Nazario (175) kickstarted the final for Mater Lakes, giving them a 15-0 lead.
After Xavier Barnhart (190) won by decision for St. John Neumann, Soto (215) and Emiliano Solache (285) followed with a pair of pins.
St. John Neumann’s Benito Barnhart scored a pinfall at 106 pounds and Mater Lakes won six of the final seven bouts.
Keagan Mesina (113), Kellen Mesina (120), Ethan Tran (126), Anthony O’Dell (138), Bruce Li (144), Mason O’Dell (150) all picked up wins for the Bears. Lincoln Sledzianowski earned six points for the Celtics at 132 pounds.
The win in the final came after a 43-23 win over Merritt Island in the state semifinals and a 61-6 defeat of Key West in the region final.
“It doesn’t even feel real year,” Mater Lakes coach Brendan Neifeld said after the final. “We were so close last year and even the last few years we had good teams but couldn’t win it but this year we dominated and we did it the right way.”
Included in this year’s state title run was a scare in the district final with Cardinal Gibbons, where the Bears needed a pin in the final match to pull of a one-point win.
The team made it a point to regroup and refocus and won the rematch in the region semifinals by 39 points.
“That dual with Gibbons was the best thing to happen to us,” Neifeld said. “It made us realize that nothing was going to be given to us and that we can be beat on any given day. That was the most important match.”
Mater Lakes outscored its opponents by an average of 38.75 in the state dual series after that district final.
Semifinals
Mater Lakes tallied wins in 9 of the 14 matches against Merritt Island to advance to the final.
St. John Neumann’s Jordan Blomberg needed a win in the final match of their dual with Suwannee for the Celtics to advance.
He did more than that.
The sophomore scored a pin and St. John Neumann won 38-32. The Celtics won five of the final six matches to come-from-behind for the win.
Mater Lakes 56, St. John Neumann 15
157: Christopher Benzan (MLA) dec. Braeden Mills (SJN) 9-5; 165: Kenny Alvarado (MLA) p. Richmerlens Cliferme (SJN) 3:16; 175: Kalias Nazario (MLA) p. Terrence Calixte (SJN) 0:58; 190: Xavier Barnhart (SJN) dec. Darian Vargas (MLA) 8-4; 215: Damian Soto (MLA) p. Jordan Peralez (SJN) 1:13; 285: Emiliano Solache (MLA) p. William Lucas (SJN) 2:45; 106: Benito Barnhart (SJN) p. Ronn Stephen Flores (MLA) 3:37; 113: Keagan Mesina (MLA) maj. Erik Perez (SJN) 8-0; 120: Keagan Mesina (MLA) p. William McGowan (SJN) 1:27; 126: Ethan Tran (MLA) tech. Nash Holdridge (SJN) 20-3; 132: Lincoln Sledzianowski (SJN) p. Christopher Greene (MLA) 1:12; 138: Anthony O`Dell (MLA) tech. Jordan Blomberg (SJN) 21-5; 144: Bruce Li (MLA) tech. Froilan Olano (SJN) 23-3; 150: Mason O`Dell (MLA) maj. Landon Lewis (SJN) 19-9.
Mater Lakes 43, Merritt Island 23
106: David Serrano (MI) dec. Ronn Stephen Flores (MLA) 6-0; 113: Kellen Mesina (MLA) p. Justus Giglietti (MI) 0:33; 120: Keagan Mesina (MLA) p. Kaden Barrial (MI) 0:21; 126: Landon Quiroga (MI) p. Ethan Tran (MLA) 2:34; 132: Christopher Greene (MLA) tech. Alex Giglietti (MI) 18-1; 138: Timmy Boda (MI) maj. Anthony O`Dell (MLA) 14-4; 144: Bruce Li (MLA) dec. Nolan West (MI) 12-5; 150: Titus Deyoung (MI) dec. Mason O`Dell (MLA) 9-6; 157: Kenny Alvarado (MLA) p. Judge Deyoung (MI) 4:00; 165: Christopher Benzan (MLA) dec. Nathan Schafer (MI) 7-3; 175: Kalias Nazario (MLA) tech. Tre Driggett (MI) 19-4; 190: Courtland Campbell (MI) p. Darian Vargas (MLA) 5:56; 215: Damian Soto (MLA) p. Dominick Smith (MI) 1:14; 285: Emiliano Solache (MLA) dec. Nathan Greenfield (MI) 3-0.
St. John Neumann 38, Suwannee 32
150: Author Vanderpool (S) tech. Landon Lewis (SJN) 18-0; 157: Marshall White (S) p. Braeden Mills (SJN) 0:13; 165: Richmerlens Cliferme (SJN) maj. Torynn Johns (S) 14-4; 175: Xavier Barnhart (SJN) tech. Brenton Middleton (S) 21-5; 190: Clay Starling (S) p. Carson Floyd (SJN) 1:31; 215: Jordan Peralez (SJN) tech. Landon Slater (S) 19-4; 285: Holden Corbin (S) p. William Lucas (SJN) 0:50; 106: Eli Jolicoeur (S) by FF; 113: Benito Barnhart (SJN) p. Kameron Miller (S) 2:33; 120: Erik Perez (SJN) dec. Justin Contreras (S) 4-1; 126: William McGowan (SJN) dec. Rylan Milian (S) 5-4; 132: jayden james (S) dec. Nash Holdridge (SJN) 3-0; 138: Lincoln Sledzianoweki (SJN) by FF; 144: Jordan Blomberg (SJN) p. Jose Garcia (S) 5:55.
