South Dade and Mater Lakes coaches are Dade Wrestling Coaches of the Year
South Dade’s boys’ wrestling teams have set a lofty standard of success for over two decades.
It continued this season even after a coaching transition.
And at Mater Lakes, a rising powerhouse, soared to even higher levels.
The architects of those triumphs - South Dade’s Humberto “Duck” Reyna and Mater Lakes’ Brandon Neifeld are this year’s Miami Herald Miami-Dade County Boys’ Wrestling Co-Coaches of the Year.
On the girls’ side, South Dade’s Gamaliel Duran earns Coach of the Year honors after leading the Bucs to a state runner-up finish.
Reyna, a longtime assistant coach at South Dade, took over as head coach this season after longtime coach Vic Balmeceda retired. The Bucs didn’t miss a beat, surging to their eighth state duals championship in January and following that up with their 21st individually-bracketed team championship in March.
The IBT state title was South Dade’s 13th in a row, which is the second-longest state title streak in state history behind Brandon High’s 16 in a row from 2001-2017.
South Dade’s total state titles also trails only Brandon’s 28 state IBT titles all-time.
The Bucs finished with a staggering six state individual champions overall as all six of their finalists - Bryan Morales (113-pounds), Guillermo Jaramillo (132), Jovani Solis (144), Armand Williams (150), Tyree Graham (165) and Jonathan Moreno (175) - won their title matches.
Duran continued to oversee the development of South Dade’s girls’ team, which continued to get closer to a state title. The Bucs’ girls finished second overall, which was the best of any Dade team. South Dade also had a pair of state champions on that side with Willow White (130) and Kenzie Barrett (235).
Neifeld shares the Boys’ Coach honors with Reyna after leading Mater Lakes to its second consecutive IBT state title and second duals title in a row as well. The Bears also beat South Dade in a dual meet during the season.
Kellen Mesina (126) and Kalias Nazario (165) won individual state titles for Mater Lakes while Jack Cabrera (106), Keagan Mesina (132), Christopher Greene (138) and Bruce Li (144) finished as state runners-up.
This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
