Region 3A-4: Preview and Predictions
FRIDAY-SATURDAY FEBRUARY 23-24, 2024 - At South Dade High School
Welcome to one of my favorite traditions - the region previews.
This is the sixth season I've written these but for those that are reading one for the first time, here's a quick summary of what the region preview is.
I start first by printing out each bracket - yes, this is one of the things I'm old school on.
I notate where wrestlers are ranked in the Kabra Wrestling Rankings and then start to break it down even more.
I look for head-to-head matchups, common opponents, and how each wrestler has been trending in the stretch run.
I then question my rankings - and myself - and play out the entire bracket.
What follows is my best guess for how 3A-4 will play out.
You can print the 3A-4 region bracket here. (PDF)
I've carefully predicted the four state qualifiers in the order that I think the will finish. I've also listed wrestlers that could prove me wrong and make it to Kissimmee.
I will be wrong with these picks, and I'm okay with that. In fact, I love when kids prove me wrong (or prove me right).
These previews and predictions are meant to bring excitement to one of the exhilarating and heartbreaking weekends in sports.
I assure you that I have no bias in my picks and truly wish the best for every wrestler competing this weekend.
And as always, these picks are for entertainment purposes only.
Now onto the preview:
Teams to watch
1. South Dade, 2. SW Miami, 9. Doral Academy, 12. Miami Southridge, 13. Miami Palmetto, 14. Douglas
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Byran Morales (South Dade)
2. #6 Rocco Ruiz (Doral Academy)
3. #3 Rocco Duygulu (Douglas)
4. #11 Damel Martinez (Miami Southridge)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #10 Lazaro Soto (SW Miami); #13 Victor Zanolini (Columbus)
Opening round match to watch: Martinez vs. Chase Martin (Coral Springs)
Kabra says: Region 4’s long history of strong 106 pounders is back alive again with eight ranked wrestlers in this bracket. Morales is the pick but Duygulu is a strong challenger. They’ll likely meet in the semifinals here and it should be electrifying. The bottom half should also feature some tough matches with Ruiz needing to get past Soto and Martinez to reach the final.
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Christian Vazquez (Doral Academy)
2. #3 Guillermo Jaramillo (South Dade)
3. #9 Logan Shapiro (Cypress Bay)
4. #10 Antonio Morales (SW Miami)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #20 Lajuan Ingraham (Miami Beach); Arav Shintre (Douglas)
Opening round match to watch: Joshua Viera (Ferguson) vs. Gabe Gonzalez (Western)
Kabra says: Back in Week 1, Vazquez lost to Jaramillo in the final of the H-Town Throwdown. He hasn’t lost since. The senior is looking for his first region title since his freshman year and he seems to be ready for the challenge. The bracket lays out nicely for our four Top 10 wrestlers here and all four being on the podium would not be a shock to us.
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Luis Acevedo (South Dade)
2. #2 Frederick Mitchum (Miami Southridge)
3. #3 David Leiva (Douglas)
4. #6 Angel Delgado (SW Miami)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #8 David de Armas (Doral Academy); #9 Anthony Piaia (Columbus)
Opening round match to watch: Delgado vs. Piaia
Kabra says: I think it can safely be said that this is the hardest region bracket in the state this year. Seven wrestlers in the Top 11 can be found here. Two ranked matches in the opening round. Blood round matches that will be as good or better than some region finals. This one has it all. At the top of our projected podium is defending state champion Acevedo, who also got the easier side of the bracket. The top half is wild with four wrestlers in the Top 9. Watch for Leiva and Mitchum in a semifinal that should have all of the attention in the gym. Acevedo has not faced Leiva this season, but does own a 2-0 record against the Southridge senior.
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Gabriel Tellez (SW Miami)
2. #2 Nathaniel Williams (South Dade)
3. #9 Mateus Sgai (Doral Academy)
4. #10 Lian Castro (Miami Beach)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #13 Diego Imbert (Coral Gables); #15 David Yagerman (Nova)
Opening round match to watch: Skyler Barreto (Cypress Bay) vs. Randy Del Ray Rodriguez (Columbus)
Kabra says: Tellez has settled into a groove in 2024 and looks unbeatable again. He does hold a 5-0 record against second-ranked Williams and they could be meeting for a sixth time here. The bracket is top heavy and loaded, with seven ranked wrestlers scattered throughout it. The quarter finals should have some good matches here.
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Dillon Smith (SW Miami)
2. #6 Armand Williams (South Dade)
3. #11 Alejandro Rodriguez (Miami Beach)
4. #4 Joshua Whitter (South Plantation)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #19 Trevor Regli (Fort Lauderdale); Michael Carsten (Cypress Bay)
Opening round match to watch: Alfredo Cheang (Miami Southridge) vs. Carsten
Kabra says: Smith has been the best wrestler in the region this season and now owns a 5-1 record vs. Williams. They would be meeting for an astonishing seventh time if they reached the finals here. One interesting note is that Whitter has a win over Williams this season, but a lost to Rodriguez - and that’s why we picked the “upset” in the third-place match.
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Elvis Solis (South Dade)
2. #3 Noah Sanabria (Braddock)
3. #11 Alec Gonzalez (Columbus)
4. #12 Didier Novoa (SW Miami)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #17 Aiden Dzhabrailov (Miami Beach); #18 Jeremiah Louis (Dr. Krop)
Opening round match to watch: Louis vs. Novoa
Kabra says: Nobody is threatening Solis this year from winning a second straight state title. Sanabria can tell you all about it because he’s had a great year with a 37-2 record, with both losses coming to Solis. We expect a district final rematch in the final here. Gonzalez owns an 8-4 win over Novoa should they both reach the third place match as we expect.
Kabra's Picks
1. #4 Tyree Graham (South Dade)
2. #5 Tyrell Robby (Miami Beach)
3. #11 Dylan Lopez (Braddock)
4. #13 Arturo Sanchez (Columbus)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #15 Gage Oyster (South Plantation); Jacob Rosen (Taravella)
Opening round match to watch: Rose vs. William Altamirano (Coral Gables)
Kabra says: A few H2H notes for this one, Robby has a pin over Lopez and could see each other in the quarters, while Graham is 2-0 this season against the Miami Beach junior. A potential Sanchez-Oyster blood round bout could be in the works here.
Kabra's Picks
1. #4 Joshua Aviles (South Dade)
2. #16 Zachary Ruiz (Columbus)
3. #3 Omar Faris (Western)
4. Keegan Lake (Douglas)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #20 Cesar Calderin (South Plantation); Santiago Valdes (Miami Beach)
Opening round match to watch: Jacob Diaz (Miami Southridge) vs. Calderin
Kabra says: I have a longstanding observation that there is always at least one South Dade kid that will surprise you in the postseason, and while this is hardly a big surprise, I’m going to go against my rankings and pick Aviles to win the region title here. A tricky quarterfinal between Ruiz and Calderin could make for a tough road to Kissimmee with a loss.
Kabra's Picks
1. #3 Drake Bonney (Miami Palmetto)
2. #8 Jonathan Moreno (South Dade)
3. #10 Jose Gutierrez (Doral Academy)
4. #9 Shannon Davis (SW Miami)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #17 Manuel Narciso (Columbus); #18 Alberto Soto (Hialeah Gardens)
Opening round match to watch: Narciso vs. Davie
Kabra says: Bonney has proved to be the best wrestler at this weight in the region this season and is the favorite here. The fun part about doing these previews is sometimes I realize before the weekend that I’ve made a mistake on my rankings and I believe I had done that with Gutierrez, and that’s why I have him finished third in an “upset.”
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Gavin Balmeceda (South Dade)
2. #2 Willie White (SW Miami)
3. #10 Naushad Bashir (South Plantation)
4. #12 Cedric Daniels (Nova)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Leonard Gilley (Miami Southridge); Zayn Niazi (Columbus)
Opening round match to watch: Alexander Persteins (Cypress Bay) vs. Maikol Perdomo (Coral Park)
Kabra says: This potentially is one of the finals to watch in the state should Balmeceda and White reach the finals here. White owns a 2-1 series lead over Balmeceda with the South Dade senior winning their latest meeting. They did not face each other in the district final. This one could go either way. The rest of the podium looks simple to pick, but this is region 3A-4 and nothing is easy here.
Kabra's Picks
1. #2 Kevin Olavarria (South Dade)
2. #3 Connor Bonney (Miami Palmetto)
3. #10 Mateo Martinez (South Broward)
4. #11 Evangelo Mercado (SW Miami)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #13 Nicholas Santiago (Doral Academy); #15 Michael Mora (Columbus)
Opening round match to watch: Kyle Ford (Fort Lauderdale) vs. Mora
Kabra says: Olavarria has a 4-0 record vs. Bonney this season and we could see them meeting in another final here. The rest of the podium promises to be competitive with 6-7 guys having legit shots of making the blood round and having a shot at Kissimmee.
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Christopher Sanchez (South Dade)
2. #2 Myron Mendez (SW Miami)
3. #13 Kenneth Canales (Columbus)
4. #18 J’Vier Romeus (Coral Springs)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: #16 Mamadou Kone (Cooper City); Eliel Santos (Miami Southridge)
Opening round match to watch: Markas Buckley (Miami Beach) vs. Santos
Kabra says: Kent State commit Sanchez is 5-1 against Mendez during the season and even has a win from the summer. He’s the guy to watch in Class 3A, but Mendez will be pushing him the rest of the way. There will likely be a ranked blood round match here.
Kabra's Picks
1. #1 Sawyer Bartelt (South Dade)
2. #9 Nathan Adras (Dr. Krop)
3. #11 Joel Carillo (Doral Academy)
4. Gregory Gonzalez (Coral Reef)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Caden Rodriguez (Cooper City); Samaj McClain (Monarch)
Opening round match to watch: Tod Mancini (South Plantation) vs. Juan Nazario (Miami Beach)
Kabra says: There isn’t a bigger sure thing in Florida right now. Bartelt hasn’t allowed a single offensive point to be scored against him in his high school career at South Dade. Not one. The rest of this bracket is more wide open with a couple ranked kids and some trying to get their name out there as a state qualifier.
Kabra's Picks
1. #4 Ryan Miret (Miami Southridge)
2. #8 Daguy Massillon (South Dade)
3. #15 Manario Dickenson (South Broward)
4. Apollo Benito (Columbus)
Wrestlers who could prove me wrong: Maxmilino Taboada (West Broward); Jackson Zajkowski (Douglas)
Opening round match to watch: Alex Geffard (Miami Palmetto) vs. Taboada
Kabra says: Miret has started to surge as the season has grown and he now enters this tournament as the favorite. Heavyweight can be a toss-up to guess and things could go haywire here, but we’ll go with Massillon for the runner-up spot. The South Dade junior had never wrestled before his football coach made the lineman go out for the sport back in December.