Somerset’s Joe Blasucci, Western’s Shane Camera are Broward Wrestling Coaches of the Year

Joe Blasucci led the Somerset Academy boys’ wrestling team to another podium finish. Western’s Shane Camera led the Wildcats to the top finish among Broward schools in the inaugural girls’ wrestling tournament.

As such, the two are the Miami Herald’s Broward Wrestling Coaches of the Year.

Blasucci’s Somerset team finished third in Class 1A this season, their third consecutive top-three finish after winning a state title in 2021 and finishing as state runner-up in 2020. Somerset had a county-high 10 wrestlers advance to state and most rose to the occasion in their respective weight classes.

Sophomore Kendrick Hodge won the Somerset’s individual title by running through the 160-pound weight class, winning the final over Lemon Bay’s Koen Hoffman via a tiebreaker. Eighth grader Tristan Sainz was the state runner-up in the 126-pound class. Eighth grader Sledzianowski (106) and senior Matthew Jimenez (285) finished third in their weight classes while junior Matthew Velasco (113) finished fourth.

Meanwhile, Camera’s Wildcats finished tied for 16th in the girls’ tournament. Their 32 points were nine more than the next closest team in Broward (Stoneman Douglas, 23).

Western had three wrestlers qualify for the inaugural FHSAA girls’ wrestling tournament, with senior Lourdes Macias finishing as the state runner-up in the 115-pound class and senior Isabel Santos coming in eighth in the 135-pound division. Sophomore Iliana Gracey, the lone wrestler returning from that group after this season, also qualified for state in the 105-pound class.

This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 8:15 AM.