South Dade wins GMAC wrestling title for sixth time in a row
It was a very close wrestling tournament – at least if you were watching the battle for second place.
Six South Dade wrestlers earned individual GMAC titles on Saturday at Reagan, and the Bucs easily won the team championship for the sixth straight year.
South Dade accumulated 362.50 points, beating second-place Southwest by a staggering 128½ points. Southridge finished third, just 9.5 points behind Southwest.
"This was possibly the most dominating GMAC victory in history," said South Dade Coach Vic Balmeceda, whose team won in similar fashion last year, prevailing by 123½ points.
Three wrestlers kept alive their unbeaten seasons, including the South Dade senior duo of Justin Ramirez, who improved to 26-0 at 145 pounds, and Patricio Lugo, who is 52-0 at 152 pounds.
The third unbeaten GMAC champ is Columbus junior Kyle Mann, who improved to 25-0 at 230 pounds.
Mann’s championship win came over South Dade senior Michael Rodriguez, who could not continue after injuring his left elbow with 10 seconds left in the first period.
"It’s not what I wanted, but a win is a win – I’ll take it," Mann said of the way the match ended. "I chopped it (Rodriguez’s elbow), and I don’t know what happened – he just started screaming."
Balmeceda said Rodriguez, who trailed 2-0 at the time of the injury, hyperextended his elbow.
"He’s a hard wrestler," Balmeceda said of Mann, a first-time GMAC champ who had beaten Rodriguez earlier this season. "He chopped hard … but it was nothing dirty."
As for the other unbeaten champs, Lugo extended his win streak to 112 consecutive matches – and he has suffered no takedowns during his impressive run.
Ramirez, a three-time GMAC champ, has also shown grit. He missed a month due to a knee injury but came back just in time to add to his GMAC title collection.
South Dade’s other GMAC champs on Saturday were Olson Delisca (113), Curtis Cannon (120), Isaiah Crosby (160) and Chei Hill (195).
Southwest and Southridge each had two champs. For Southwest, it was Franco Valdes at 126 and Maykel Dolorit at 170. For Southridge, it was Randy McCray (106) and Anthony Kinsey (132).
Rounding out the list of champs were Sunset’s Curtis Doctor (138), Braddock’s Milton Hope (182) and Palmetto’s Mel Moss (285).
All the champions were from the southern half of the county. The top team from the rest of Dade was North Miami, which finished in 13th place.
Top Ten Team Totals
1: South Dade 362.50; 2: Southwest 234; 3: Southridge 224.50; 4 Braddock 185.50; 5: Palmetto 144.50; 6: Columbus 116; 7: Coral Gables 91.50; 8: Homestead 86.50; 9. Killian 85; 10: Coral Reef 84.
Championship — 106: Randy McCray, Miami Southridge Fall Christopher Cruz, Miami Beach, 2:58. 113: Olson Delisca, South Dade Dec Christian Delgado, Miami Southridge, 9-7. 120: Curtis Cannon, South Dade M-Dec Jordan Marshall, Miami Southridge, 11-1. 126: Franco Valdes, Southwest Miami Dec Ozzy Lugo, South Dade, 3 - 2. 132: Anthony Kinsey, Miami Southridge Dec Lucas Dominguez, Homestead, 2-1. 138: Curtis Doctor, Miami Sunset Dec Marcelo Sierra, South Dade, 6-4. 145: Justin Ramirez, South Dade Dec Daniel Marcelin, North Miami, 7 - 0. 152: Patricio Lugo, South Dade Fall Sal Lopez, G Holmes Braddock, 4:34. 160: Isaiah Crosby, South Dade T-Fall Julian Hernandez, Southwest Miami, 17 - 2. 170: Maykel Dolorit, Southwest Miami T-Fall Aaron Flores, South Dade, 17-2. 182: Milton Hope, G Holmes Braddock Dec Adolfo Sotolongo, Southwest Miami, 6-1. 195: Chei Hill, South Dade M-Dec Willie Brown, Southwest Miami, 16-6. 220: Kyle Mann, Christopher Columbus Dflt Michael Roriguez, South Dade. 285: Mel Moss, Miami Palmetto Dec Kyron Taylor, South Dade, 2 - 1
Consolation — 106: Alex Victor, G Holmes Braddock Dec Elijah Varona, South Dade, 10-3. 113: Alaen Gonzalez, Southwest Miami Fall Mikael Codinach, Christopher Columbus, 3:08. 120: Anthony Vizcaino, Coral Gables Dec Nick Villamil, G Holmes Braddock, 8-1. 126: Matias Caceres, G Holmes Braddock T-Fall Anthony Codinach, Christopher Columbus, 15-0. 132: Bryan Dominguez, G Holmes Braddock Dec Alex Urquiza, Southwest Miami, 4-3. 138: Angel Delcueto, Southwest Miami Dec Marcieus Brown, G Holmes Braddock, 4-1. 145: Ramoan Chester, Miami Palmetto Dec Preston Borges, G Holmes Braddock, 8-1. 152: Joel Amaya, South Miami Fall William Pollock, Miami Jackson, 4:07. 160: Joseph Mireles, Miami Killian Fall Travon Norman, Homestead, 3:38. 170: Benjamin Perez, John A Ferguson Dec Lazaro Acosta, Miami Coral Park, 6-3. 182: Simeon Moore, South Dade Dec Michael Wedderburn, Miami Southridge, 3-1. 195: Markes Scott, North Miami Dec Giovany Mentor, Felix Varela, 11-9. 220: Darius Hamilton, Miami Southridge Fall Joseph Kennedy, Southwest Miami, 2:32. 285: Melchisedek Juedy, Miami Southridge Dec Jaarafi Stephens, Coral Gables, 5-2 TB2.
This story was originally published January 31, 2015 at 11:36 PM with the headline "South Dade wins GMAC wrestling title for sixth time in a row."