Top wrestling honors for South Dade’s Bartelt and Somerset’s Hodge. Plus more honors and sports
South Dade High School senior Sawyer Bartelt has been selected the 2024 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Wrestling.
Bartelt won his fourth straight state championship, taking the 215-pound Class 3A state title, while posting a 42-0 record. Bartelt finished his high school career with a 139-0 record and was only taken done once, incredible, during that time. He signed to wrestle at Iowa State University.
Bartelt won the top wrestling honor over Class 2A Wrestler of the Year Maximus Brady of Mariner, who won his third straight state title and Class 1A Wrestler of the Year Michael Mocco of Cardinal Gibbons who won his second consecutive title.
Tampa Jesuit’s Sal Basile was named the Boys’ Wrestling Coach of the Year, after leading his squad to the Class 2A state team title and finishing as the runnerup in the state dual meet championships.
Basile won the overall coaching honor over Class 3A Coach of the Year Vince Balmeceda of South Dade and Class 1A Coach of the Year Brandon Neifeld of Mater Lakes Academy.
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This is the 32nd year of these unique awards honoring the state’s top athletes and coaches in FHSAA-sanctioned sports.
Wrestling All-Americans
Several wrestlers from the area earned high school All-American status, after placing in the Top 8 at the NHSCA High School National Championships in Virginia Beach.
Some of the top high school wrestlers in the country battled to see who’s the best in their grade level.
Topping the list locally is Kendrick Hodge of Somerset Academy (Pembroke Pines). At 160 pounds, he went 6-0 en route to winning nationals in the Senior division. In the finals, he defeated Dane Steel of Sheridan HS (Wyoming) 6-4.
Gabriel Tellez of Southwest Miami fared very well, reaching the finals at 120 in the Senior class. By doing that and finishing 5-1, he took runner-up honors.
Powerhouse South Dade added four more All-Americans to its impressive list. Of those, Kevin Olavarria took third in the Senior division in 170, after beating Oliver Howard of Decatur, Alabama, 11-6.
Mater Lakes Academy also had four All-Americans, three in the middle school division, and in the girls’ competition, SLAM celebrated an All-American.
BOYS: Mater Lakes Academy: 160: Kalias Nazario 4th (Sophomore). Middle School: Keagan Mesina 2nd. Mason O’Dell 5th. Bruce Li - 8th (injury def.).
BOYS: Somerset Academy-Pembroke Pines: 160: Kendrick Hodge 1st (Senior)
BOYS: South Dade: 132: Armand Williams 4th (Freshman). 152: Jonathan Moreno 4th (Freshman). 160: Gavin Balmeceda 4th (Senior). 170: Kevin Olavarria 3rd (Senior).
BOYS: Southwest Miami: 120: Gabriel Tellez 2nd (Senior).
GIRLS: SLAM Charter: 120: Willow White 5th.
More wrestling honors
The Florida Wrestling Hall of Fame hosts its second annual induction banquet on May 4 at the Delta Hotels Orlando Celebration Event Center.
Lee Pritts, who wrestled for Western High School, and Robert Wimberley, who coaches the “Band of Brothers” at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, are two of the seven inductees into the Florida Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Pritts, the assistant coach at Arizona State University, is a two-time FHSAA state champion. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University where he was a three-time conference champion. He was voted Outstanding Wrestler for the Metro Athletic Conference and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission. He earned All-American honors while at EMU. He also coaches the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club/USA Wrestling.
Wimberley graduated in 1978 from South Dade High School in Homestead where he played football and wrestled. He won a GMAC wrestling title and placed third at state FHSAA. He was runner-up at the 1977 Junior National Freestyle Championships and third in Greco Roman. He was a Junior Pan Am Duals team member and outstanding wrestler and third at the Junior World Championships. He continued to wrestle for the University of Florida, University of Central Florid and Ohio University. He was a two-time Sunshine State Open champion, Florida state collegiate champ, Ohio state collegiate champ, Southern Conference champ, two-time Mid American Conference champ, three-time NCAA qualifier, an All-American, and Ohio University team captain. In 1980, he was a U.S. Open runner-up in Greco and placed fourth in the final trials for the USA Greco Olympic team. He was a U.S. Open Freestyle champ in 1983.
Wimberley earned a degree in Emergency Medicine from Miami-Dade College and also has a degree from LSU as a Hazmat specialist for weapons of mass destruction. He is a retired fire captain from the City of Miami. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame throught the Florida chapter for hsi lifetime service to wrestling. He continues to coach at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Broward County with his son Jon (an FHSAA state champ and national runner-up) and his son Jeff (a two-time FHSAA state champ and two-time national champ).
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame - Florida Chapter will host Honors Weekend Aug. 23-24 at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista (Disney Springs).
Miami’s Michael Graham will receive the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award. The honor is to recognize someone for his or her years of dedication to the development of leadership and citizenship in the youth through the sport of wrestling.
Graham began his 40-year coaching career in 1984, becoming a fixture in Miami-Dade County wrestling. He was an assistant coach at palmetto, Southridge and Coral Reef high schools. He coached 26 years at Southridge. While doing that, he served as the head coach at Cutler Ridge Middle School from 2001-05. During his tenure with Palmetto, he helped the Panthers win a FHSAA state team title. Furthermore, Southridge won two state team titles with this assistance.
Baseball
Doral Academy baseball reached the 20-win mark by edging American Heritage-Plantation 7-6.
Doral Academy 7, American Heritage-Plantation 6: Sebastian Berrios 3-3, 2 RBI; Gabriel Milano 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Hector Roca 1-2, RBI; WP Antonio Socrras 3 IP, 1 R, 4 K; Michael Torres 1 IP, 3 K, Save. Dor 20-1.
More baseball
Palmetto needed nine innings to edge Killina 5-4 in walk-off fashion.
Leading 2-1, Killian scored three times in the top of the sixth for a 4-2 lead. the Panthers evened things in the bottom of the sixth. Exta innings then determined a winner.
Palmetto 5 Killian 4: WP Jake Cruz (4-3); Alec Fuller 3-4, RBI, R; Sebastian Font 3-6, RBI, R; Ryan Ortega 2-3, RBI; Jack Gorden 1-2, 2B. Plm 11-8.
Softball
Palmer Trinity won two of three games during the Orange Bowl Florida Fastpitch Softball Invitational at Palmetto Bay Park.
The Falcons (9-6) defeated Braddock 9-3 and Satellite 9-4. They lost Pembroke Pines Charter 5-0. Emmy Cerda went 2-1 on the mound. She threw 16.2 innings, striking out 25.
Orange Bowl Florida Fastpitch Softball Invitational at Palmetto Bay Park: Top PT Performers: WP Emmy Cerda; Kinsey Cerda 5-10, 3 R, 2 RBI; Mela Fajardo 5-11, 3 RBI; Dani Mendoza 3-6, 2 RBI; Missy Nieves 3-7, 3 R.
Westminster Christian (11-5-1) also won two of three games.
Orange Bowl Florida Fastpitch Softball Invitational at Palmetto Bay Park: Westminster Christian 11, East Ridge-Clermont 6: WP Kaley Dyer 3 H, 2 RBI; Gigi Khoury 2 H, 3 RBI; Dylan Lesman 2 H, RBI; Alexa Bender H, 2 RBI; Jas Armenteros H, RBI; Mya Rodgers H; Kelsie Kenney H. WC 10-4-1.
Orange Bowl Florida Fastpitch Softball Invitational at Palmetto Bay Park: Westminster Christian 14, Fort Myers 3: WP Kaley Dyer 5 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 K; Gigi Khoury 3 H, 4 RBI; Mya Rodgers 2 H, RBI; Jas Armenteros 2 H; Kelsie Kenney H, 2 RBI; Abi Barboza H, 2 RBI; Kaley Dyer 2 H, 2 RBI; Casey Lesman H, RBI; Dylan Lesman H. WC 11-5-1.
More softball
Carrollton 19, Ransom Everglades 4: WP Madelyn Althage; Grace Diez: 3-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Camila Suarez 2-2, RBI; Emma Althage 1-2, 3 RBI; Allyson Wolfson 1-2, 2 RBI. Carr 9-2.
Flanagan 11, Everglades 9: WP Jurnee Bent 12 K; Amy Chacko 4-5, 1R, 2 RBI; Camila Andrade 2-3, 2 R, RBI; Tresha Vierre 1-3, 3R, 3 SB; Jade Reeves 2-4, R, RBI, SB; Jurnee Bent 2-4, 2 R, SB. Flan 5-6.
Boys’ volleyball
Belen d. Ferguson 25-23, 25-20, 25-15: Federico Marino 11 kills, .526 hitting percentage; Billy Essig 6 kills, 3 blocks, 5 aces. Bel 15-1.
Belen d. Chaminade-Madonna 25-19, 25-15, 25-11: Carlos Segrera 6 kills, 3 blocks; Nicolas Barrales 5 aces, 12 digs. Bel 14-1.
Submit sports info
For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, if you have varsity results and top performers (with stats), email hssports@miamiherald.com.
They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. Send after the game, the next day or weekly. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.
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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
