South Dade’s streak lives after rallying to win ninth consecutive state wrestling title

Whatever Victor Balmeceda said at the hotel, it worked.

After a tough outing at the first two days of the FHSAA Wrestling State Championships, the South Dade coach rallied his troops to their ninth consecutive IBT state championship on Saturday at Silver Spurs Arena.

South Dade (171.50) overcame a 13.5-point deficit coming into the final day’s action to beat out second place Southwest Miami (158). In the process, South Dade crowned two individual state champions.

“It started in the morning because last night, we were out of it,” Balmeceda said. “It took so much coaching and a lot of encouragement because we haven’t been down like that since 2001. We have been walking out of there in the past with 20- and 30-point leads, so we are not used to this.”

South Dade has now won 17 IBT wrestling state championships and 21 team titles overall, having also won four straight FHSAA Duals state titles prior to this season.

South Dade qualified 10 wrestlers for the state tournament and all 10 walked off the podium with medals, including state champions: Ansel Cervantes (195 pounds) and Sawyer Bartelt (220).

Cervantes edged Palm Harbor University senior Chris Greil 4-3 to nail down the team championship even though there were two matches remaining in the meet.

“(Cervantes) is a kid who came from Cuba and he was getting some harsh calls, but he still came through. His match wasn’t a for-sure thing,” Balmeceda said.

Rolling boldly through the wrestlebacks for South Dade, Elvis Solis Jr.(132), Gavin Balmeceda (145), Alexander Couto (152) and Cordell White (160) finished third, Luis Acevedo (113) fourth, Misha Arbos (138) and Christopher Sanchez (182) fifth and Joshua Aviles (126) eighth.

“Their dreams were dashed when they lost because they all wanted to be state champions individually,” Balmeceda said. “But then you have to convince them to get the next best thing, which is what they got. Everyone of those kids that came through the wrestlebacks, won us this state championship. We got 10 out of 10. It takes a full team effort and we got it.”

Southwest placed four wrestlers in state title matches, highlighted by sophomore Gabriel Tellez, who rallied in the final seconds to edge Doral Academy sophomore Christian Vazquez, 5-3, for the state championship. The match was knotted 3-3 until the final seconds when Tellez scored a clutch takedown for the win.

“Gabriel works hard in practice and is relentless,” Southwest coach Mick Arteaga said. ”It showed on the mats. He was relentless when the score was tied in a big-time match.

“We had a great day but (South Dade) just had a better one. We wrestled well all weekend and at a high level. We seemed to surprise a lot of people and we came as underdogs, ranked as low as No. 5 in the preseason, and we were in contention all week.”

Also for Southwest, Adrian Ochoa (152), Franklyn Fernandez (182) and Adrian Sans (285) finished as state runners-up, Kevin Placer (113) and Danny Martinez (138) finished third, Lester Martinez (145) and Danny Diaz (160) finished fifth.

In 1A action, Mater Lakes Academy senior Ethan Vergara won the 285-pound title, and Cardinal Gibbons junior Nicholas Yancey toppled Somerset Prep eighth-grader Tristan Sainz, 5-1, in the 126-pound title match.

Mater Lakes Academy senior Azakin Sejour beat Oviedo Master’s Academy sophomore Brandon Cody, 7-2, for the 145-pound state title, and Somerset sophomore Kendrick Hodge won the 160-pond state title after edging Koen Hoffman 2-1.

“This is something that is special to me because (Hodge) worked hard and comes from a background where kids fail,” Somerset coach Joe Blasucci said. “To have his life here, in our hands and our family, and to be molding him and watching him win a state title, brings so much emotion. He is just a good kid and he is part of the family and the culture. He is going to be one of the best the state has had when he is done.”

Additionally, Cardinal Gibbons senior Robert Limperis finished as 152-pound state runner-up after losing to Master’s Academy senior Michael Shannon.

In 3A, 3rd-place medalists were: Elvis Solis Jr. (132) and Gozie Mosi (285) of Cypress Bay.

4th-place finishers were: Andre Punzalan (106) and Zach Weilder (152) of Cypress Bay.

5h-place medalists were: Christian Guzman (120) of Columbus, Aaron Lanster (132) of Miami Beach and Richard Alexander (195) of Palmetto.

7th-place medalists included: Dylan Lopez (106) of Braddock, Jordan Escarra (113) of Cypress Bay, Julian Montero (126) and Enrique Sanchez (138) of Doral Academy, Ronald Butler (160) of Palmetto and Jaien Forbes (170) of Miami Beach.

8th-place medalists were: Julian Rocha (145) of Braddock and Diogo Ramos Padlilha (170) of Western.

In 2A, 3rd-place medalist: Fredrick Mitchum (106) of Miami Southridge.

5th-place medalists were: Alex Exalant (126) of North Miami; Lawrence Rosario (160) of Miami Southridge.

6th-place medalist: Nicholas Dukee (138) of Miami Southridge.

In 1A, 3rd-place medals went to Lincoln Sledzianowski (106) and Matthew Jimenez (285) of Somerset, Peyton Vargas (113) of Cardinal Gibbons and Michael Mocco (182) of Coral Springs Charter.

4th-place: Matthew Velasco (113) of Somerset.

5th-place medalists were: Rashad Hannon (138) and Michael Sainz (145) of Somerset, Danil Korochenskiy (160) of Cardinal Gibbons and Damian Soto (220) of Mater Lakes Academy.

6th-place medalists were: Jonathan Hudson (120) of Cardinal Gibbons and Luis Bellon (152) of Somerset.

7th-place medalists included Grant Cooper (220) of Cardinal Gibbons.

8th-place medalist: Ethan Tran (120) of Mater Lakes Academy.

GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

This year the FHSAA began sanctioning girls wrestling and ran both tournaments side by side.

Mya Bethel of North Miami won the 155-pound state title, edging Chloe Shull from Timber Creek, 2-1.

Mater Lakes sophomore Sofia Ferran finished as the 110-pound state runner-up after getting pinned by Mantanzas freshman Tianna Fries at the 3:26 mark.

Stoneman Douglas sophomore Gabriela Caro finished second in the 125-pound division after getting shut out, 4-0, by Orlando Freedom senior Kailey Rees in the final.

North Miami junior Tydasia Mack finished second, getting edged by Treasure Coast freshman Gabriella Perez, 3-2. Also finishing second was Sofia Delgado (140) from Coral Park.

3rd-place medals went to Rachel Silva (110) of Somerset; Analy Bauelos (120) of Braddock, Gabby Tutera (155) of Palmetto, Ferni Hernandez (170) of South Dade, Shanakay Chamberes (235) of Norland.

4th-place finishers included: Janice Quiroa (140) of Mater Lakes Academy;.

5th-place medalist: Day’Jah Clark (190) of Norland.

6th-place medalist: Gabriela Segre (155) of South Dade.

7th-place medalists included Natalie Duran (105) of South Dade and Alejandra Notni (130) of Doral Academy.

8th-place medalist: Isabel Santos (135) of Western.

This story was originally published March 5, 2022 at 9:48 PM.