Christian Guzman, Ethan Vergara, Nicholas Yancey win state titles as did Somerset and South Dade wrestling
South Florida wrestling (Broward and Miami Dade counties) celebrated two state championship teams and 11 individual state champs during the FHSAA state tournament at Osceola Heritage Park - Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.
Of those 11, in 1A, Cardinal Gibbons sophomore Nicholas Yancey completed a perfect season in dramatic fashion. Yancey (24-0) at 113 scored a thrilling 3-2 triple overtime win over previously unbeaten Palm Bay senior Tyler Perrow in the state finals.
Cardinal Gibbons coach Jamel Morris: “Nicholas Yancey’s final match went into triple overtime. The Palm Bay wrestler chose bottom. Nicholas had to ride him out to win. They were both exhausted, but Nicholas used all his will power to ride him out for the win. The match was exciting.
“I could see a few moments in the match where Nick looked like he was going to give up, but then he kept fighting. He won off of pure will power and determination.”
To reach the finals at state, Yancey pinned sophomore Brandon Coleman (TENO, 5-4) at 1:32; beat junior Max Brewset (SOWA, 26-6) 11-5; and pinned junior Dylan Garcia (MALA, 36-9) at 3:19.
Yancey. “I trained hard this season for my dream to become a reality. My coaches helped me tremendously and without them I wouldn’t be holding the Gold.”
The Chiefs, coached by Jamel and Jamal Morris, placed fifth of 60 teams at state in 1A.
Also in 1A, Mater Lakes Academy junior Ethan Vergara (35-3) won the 285 state title, pinning Somerset junior Matthew Jimenez (41-5) at 5:59 in the finals. Vergara went 3-2 against Jimenez this season. Jimenez beat Vergara for the district title, but Vergara beat Jimenez for the region and state titles.
Mater Lakes coach Brandon Neifeld: “Ethan had off-season knee surgery and was out five months from training. The kid he beat in the semifinals, senior Jordan Love, was ranked No.1 and undefeated [34-0] entering state. That was a big win there [too].”
In that semifinal, Vergara defeated senior Jordan Love (Rockledge, 38-1) dec. 9-6. In the quarterfinal, he beat senior Chance Larsen (Avon Park, 8-3) dec. 12-6. To start, he bested Dajuan McCullough (Zephyrhills 36-9) dec. 7-4.
The Bears finished sixth.
In 3A, junior Christian Guzman (43-2) at 106, the state runner-up last season, pinned Osceola freshman Anderson Heap (35-3) in 2:50 to win his first state title.
Guzman said: “Winning my first state title was a blast. I just tried to be myself out there and have fun. I know when I do that no one can hang with me. It took a lot of hard work and sacrifice, but it was all worth it. I have the best coaches in the state, and I couldn’t have done it without them pushing me everyday. I’m only a junior so I still have work to do and more goals to accomplish.”
Guzman began the effort with a 14-0 major decision victory over freshman Joseph Forte (Fleming Island, 33-14) and then pinned sophomore Evan Martinez (Freedom Orlando, 20-8) in 1:41. In the semifinal, he won again by major decision, besting sophomore Ethan Vugman (Bartram Trail, 43-6) 11-1.
Columbus coach Jacob Grant: “Chip [Christian] is one of the hardest workers I have ever coached. He brings max effort everyday to practice and lives the championship lifestyle. As a coach there isn’t much more you could ask for from your athlete.”
The Explorers were ninth of 56 teams at state in 3A.
South Dade & Somerset
One team is accustomed to being on top, and to the other it’s all new.
South Dade in 3A and Somerset in 1A won state team titles.
The powerhouse Buccaneers (coached by Victor Balmeceda) won their 20th state team title (16 state tournament titles and four state duals titles), while Somerset (coached by Joe Blasucci) captured its second state crown, both this season (state tournament, state duals).
1A: Somerset: State Champs: eighth-grader Christian Fretwell (46-4) at 106; senior Chase Gillis (41-6), who was third at region at 138, bested region champ Cardinal Gibbons senior Tyler Carbral (23-1) in the finals; senior Darian Estevez (42-1) at 152; eighth-grader Ben Diaz (17-2) at 145 won his second consecutive state title by beating Mater Lakes junior Benjamin Rogers (8-2) who beat Diaz in the region finals.
3A: South Dade: State Champs: junior Adrian Morales (53-3) at 113; senior Joshua Swan (53-3) at 170; freshman Sawyer Bartelt (35-0) at 195.
Southwest, under the direction of Head Coach Mick Arteaga, was the state runner-up in 3A.
What a roller coaster ride this season for the state’s top two teams, which reside in Miami-Dade County.
South Dade won district and state and were runner-up at GMAC and region.
Southwest won GMAC and region and were runner-up at district and state.
3A: Southwest: State Champ: senior Sebastian Melguizo (44-3) at 132.
In 2A at state, Southridge was 10th and St. Thomas Aquinas 17th.
Girls’ tennis
Gulliver Prep 4, LaSalle 3: Top Performers: 3. Mia Suarez won 8-2; 4. Lia Fletcher won 8-1; 5. Tori Hagenlocker won 9-8 (6). Doubles: 2. Lia Fletcher/ Sofia Restrepo won 7-5.
Miami Country Day 6, North Broward Prep 0: Top Performers: Allexii Bassette, Brooke Kovacs, Maria Salazar.
Western 4, Cypress Bay 3.
Boys’ tennis
Cypress Bay 5, Western 0.
Miami Country Day 5, North Broward Prep 2: Top Performers: Max Castanon won 8-7; Luca Donayre won 8-1; Lucas Chemla won 8-5.
Girls’ lacrosse
American Heritage 20, Archbishop McCarthy 8.
Boys’ lacrosse
Gulliver Prep 11, Ransom Everglades 8: Trailing 7-3, the Raiders (11-3) came-from-behind for the win. Alec Ramoski faceoff win 19/21; Max Fein 1 goal; Kyle Goldberg 2g, 1a; Rayn Noyes 2g, 2a. RE: Nick Denaro 3 goals; Robbie Barnett 2g; Jack Rivas-Vazquez 2g; Lenny Miller 1g; Gori Spillis 3 assists.
Flag football
Krop 29, Miramar 0: Lindsey Weingard 16 of 22 for 144 yards and 3 TDS, 9 runs for 72 yards; Alexis DeAngelis 5 catches for 22 yards; Lauryn Hornstein 3 catches for 29 yards (TD); Taylor Scarlett 3 catches for 19 yards, 1 safety; Emmy Mills 2 catches for 36 yards (TD), 1 run for 2 yards (TD); Jiharle Salvador 2 catches for 8 yards (TD); Sagine Atis 1 catch for 30 yards. Krop (5-0).
Boys’ volleyball
Belen d. St. Brendan 27-29, 25-27, 25-20, 25-22, 15-7: Down 2-0, the Wolverines (3-1) came-from-heind for the win. Gabriel Suarez 23 kills, 30 digs; Robert Henao 8 kills, 18 digs, 33 assists, 4 aces; Matt Diaz 6 kills, 5 blocks.
Braddock d. Reagan: 25-23, 25-13, 25-20: John-Marcos Gonzalez 13 kills, 20 digs, 3 blocks, 2 aces; Manuel Leon 12 kills, 9 digs, 1 ace; Nicholas Mirabal 20 assists, 5 kills. BRD (3-4).
Tampa Heat d. Cardinal Gibbons 25-8, 25-23, 25-17: CG: Gino Briglio 18 assists, 9 digs, 4 srv pts, 2 kills, 2 blocks.
Baseball
Braddock 1, Hialeah 0: WP Carlos Colunga 7 IP, 4 H, 7 K, HBP; Daniel Verez 1-1, HBP; Adriel Benitez R, HBP.
Coral Springs Charter 10, Somerset Academy 0: WP AJ Prendergast CG, 5 IP, 0 Runs, 0 BB, 12 K; Gavin Gargiulo 2-2, Run, RBI, BB; Anthony Giglio 1-2, 2 RBI, 2B.
All-County Fall Teams
The Miami Herald All County teams for Fall sports are in the Sports section of the Miami Herald website.
Submit varsity
game results
For high schools in Broward and Miami Dade counties, if you have varsity game results for this column, email hssports@miamiherald.com. Varsity only.
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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
