Four different schools have won girls wrestling state championships since the FHSAA made it an officially sanctioned sport in 2022.
Freedom was the initial winner and the Patriots have stamped themselves as the early favorite to become the first to win twice when the individual bracket state tournaments for girls and boys unfold in March in Kissimmee.
The Patriots used their depth to steal the show at two loaded tournaments, winning their own Let Freedom Ring tournament, which drew 450 girls on Dec. 6, and last weekend’s prestigious Knockout Christmas Challenge.
Kabra Wrestling ranks Freedom No. 1 ahead of South Dade, St. John Neumann, Viera, and Flagler Palm Coast.
“This team is about where that (championship) 2022 team was,” Freedom coach David Bush said. “They understand the process it takes to succeed in wrestling.”
Part of that process, Bush said, is learning from losses in a lengthy season. That played out at the Knockout where several Freedom girls lost matches against out-of-state wrestlers but rebounded to score wrestleback wins.
“We want that level of competition. We had a really good showing. But there’s still a lot of room for improvement before February and March,” Bush said.
Freedom had one weight class winner in junior Mekialla Mauvais and six more top four placers in Kissimmee.
Aimar Donastorg, a sophomore, finished second in the 190 weight class. Seniors Gabriela Kerber and Paola Ramirez finished third and Hananeel Gregorre, Eduarda Franklin and Ceajan Brown placed fourth..
Two Georgia teams, Camden County and Jefferson, went 1-2 in the stacked boys Knockout tournament. Hagerty, ranked No. 4 in the Kabra 3A rankings, placed 15th as the top Orlando-area team. Huskies senior Nikolas Blake was runner-up to a Tennessee standout in the 157 weight class final.
Also Saturday, Timber Creek placed second behind Mexico High School of Missouri in the Bill Scott Memorial tournament at Lyman. Individual weight class champions included Central Florida wrestlers Kaiden Olavarria (DeLand), Joey Davis (Lake Brantley), Nolan Joyce (Timber Creek), Ilijah Carasas (Lake Mary), Angel Prieto (Bishop Moore) and Evans defensive tackle Jakari Upshaw, who scored a 41-second pin in the heavyweight final.
Bishop Moore wrestler Angel Prieto defeated Evans High’s Fabiaun Coleman on the way to winning his weight class in the Bill Scott Memorial tournament at Lyman. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Boys basketball
Lake Highland Prep (9-1), ranked No. 1 in the Orlando area and No. 2 in Class 3A by MaxPreps, spanked a previously undefeated Mount Vernon team 73-44 on Monday in the Florida/Georgia Challenge, hosted by The First Academy. The Mustangs came in 10-0 and ranked sixth for all classifications in Georgia. Next for LHP is a trip to Fort Myers for a Holiday Hoopfest event.
Olympia (9-2), ranked No. 2 behind Miami Columbus in the MaxPreps 7A rankings, split two games at the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers. The Titans lost 75-61 to Connecticut state title contender Notre Dame (6-0) but bounced back to win 71-56 in a Sunday game against 1A No. 4 Victory Christian of Lakeland. Junior guard James Nowells, whose stock is soaring, scored 32 points with a 6-for-9 shooting show from 3-point range in the win. Olympia treks to Tennessee to play in The Classic, an 18-team tourney that tips off Friday.
Kadir Rackley had 10 assists, fueling a balanced performance by Evans (11-2) in a 72-67 overtime win against Sickles (11-3) in the title game of the Flagler Palm Coast Bulldog Classic. The Trojans are ranked No. 2 in 6A heading into Monday-Tuesday games at the Vince Carter Hall of Fame Classic at Mainland High in Daytona Beach.
Montverde Academy (4-4) lost its first three games with new head coach Steve Turner under the microscope. But the Eagles, perennial national contenders under former coach Kevin Boyle, are on an upward trajectory after posting two meaningful City of Palms wins. Montverde won 68-61 against upstart Gillion Academy (10-3) of Virginia and then prevailed 78-72 against a Prolific Prep (17-2) team that began the season with a No. 1 national ranking.
Top-ranked North Broward Prep (10-0) won 75-60 against sixth-ranked Windermere Prep (10-2) in a matchup of 3A teams in the final of the BSN Holiday Classic. Brandon Brass Jr. scored 37 points for the host Lakers, who go to Arkansas for the King of Cotton Classic next week.
Edgewater (8-5), 6A No. 5, went 2-1 in the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas.
Lake Howell (10-2), 6A No. 6, joins Evans at the Vince Carter event.
Dr. Phillips (6-5) is in the Kingdom of the Sun tournament in Ocala, starting Friday.
Windermere (6-4), No. 10 in 7A, goes to Georgia for two games.
Palm Bay (11-1), 4A No. 5, won 64-61 vs. St. Cloud (9-2).
DeLand (7-2) went 3-0 to win its own Gus Gibbs Classic.
Wekiva is 9-3 with four wins in a row.
Winter Park (7-5) took 7A No. 5 Oak Ridge to overtime in a 58-57 loss. The Wildcats join DeLand and Lake Brantley (10-3) in a Monday-Wednesday event hosted by New Smyrna Beach (9-1).
Geneva School (8-3) won its own Christmas tournament with a 72-70 overtime win against International Community (9-6). Mateo Medina had 28 points and 8 assists for the Knights and surpassed 1,000 points for his career. Duke Carpenter added 24 points and 12 rebounds. Paxton Boaz had 29 points, 15 assists, 8 rebounds and 5 steals in the losing cause.
Left to gight, Michael Madueme (2), RJ Ingram (5) and Shiva Atwell (10) are key seniors for Lake Highland Prep’s boys basketball team. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Girls basketball
Sophomore Ashlynn Day scored 19 of her game-high 27 points in the second half as Kissimmee Gateway ran its record to 13-0 with a 72-53 home win vs. previously-unbeaten Lake Howell. The Panthers, No. 1 in 5A, play in Orlando’s Florida Prospects Christmas tournament, Monday through Wednesday.
Bishop Moore (10-2) has moved to No. 1 in 4A. The Hornets are scheduled to host Gateway, Jan. 8.
Lake Highland (8-4), which owns a win against Bishop Moore, is No. 2 in 3A behind Tampa Catholic (11-0).
Boone’s Naima Durandisse collected 31 rebounds to go with 13 points in the Braves (6-8) lopsided win against River Ridge.
Nationally-ranked Montverde (9-2) lost 63-62 to North Carolina’s top-rated team, Grace Christian (14-0), in the championship game of the Cherokee National Invitational.
Boys soccer
Innovation (12-0-1), MaxPrep’s top-ranked Orlando area team, has wins against No. 2 West Orange (9-2) and a tie with No. 6 Windermere High (10-1-5).
The 29th Mike Stone Invitational, hosted by Bishop Moore, provides holiday play for a dozen strong Central Florida teams.
The field includes the host Hornets (9-2-4), New Smyrna Beach (7-1-1), Ocoee (9-0-2), Olympia (10-0-1), Spruce Creek (6-5-2), Winter Park (9-2) and Winter Springs (7-2-4). The 12th team is the Orlando based XL Soccer Academy.
Teams are divided into two groups of six for two days of pool play, leading to up to next Wednesday’s championship day.
Here’s the schedule::
Monday
Bishop Moore vs. XL, 8 a.m.
Winter Park vs. Spruce Creek, 10
Olympia vs. Winter Springs, 12
NSB vs. Ocoee, 2
XL vs. Winter Park, 5
SC vs. Bishop Moore, 7
Tuesday
Ocoee vs. WS, 8
NSB vs. Olympia, 10
SC vs XL, 12
WP vs. Bishop Moore, 2
WS vs. NSB, 5
Olympia vs. Ocoee,7
Wednesday
Group A & B 3rd placers, 9 a.m.
Group A & B 2nd placers, 11
Championship game:
Group A & B 1st placers, 1 p.m.
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
