It was to be the closest BCAA Wrestling Tournament in recent memory. Three teams who had a reason to believe it could win the annual event held at Coral Springs Gymnasium.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Cardinal Gibbons and host Coral Springs all had the athletes, depth and coaching that would put the three teams ahead of a competitive field.
From the open match on Friday afternoon, it was evident that St. Thomas and Cardinal Gibbons were on another level. With a few wrestlers out of the competition, and a few others who did not perform the way veteran head coach Dan Jacob had hoped, Coral Springs found themselves looking up two of the programs that have kept the BCAA in the spotlight through the years.
All day Saturday, the battle was for first and second, and as head coach Frank Pettineo watched his young team make some key mistakes, losing matches the Chiefs figured to win, the Raiders and coach Rob Wimberly made the most of an opportunity, winning the tight team title 239-236.5.
“We wrestled great all weekend,” Wimberly said. “Coming into the finals, there were a couple of key matches we needed to win, and the young men stepped up.”
Leading the way for the county champions was junior Alex Uhre (113), who out his name with some of the greats of the sport by capturing his third BCAA crown. Only his coach, Guy Gibson, has won four! Uhre pinned Osbert Jean of Plantation.
In other matches, standout Jonathan Francois (Plantation) won at 106, St. Thomas junior standout Shiquan Hall (120) and sophomore Sal Guerrerio (126). St. Thomas also received wins from Gio Jiovenetta (160) and Brad Mills (220).
South Broward cashed in with a pair of champions, including Low Weight Outstanding Wrestler Bryan Betancourt (132) and junior heavyweight Kevin Jacques, who pinned Gavin Ricketts (Western).
Cardinal Gibbons had two champions on the night. Andrew Wisdom decisioned Anthony Colon of St. Thomas, 5-3, in a battle of unbeatens. Victor Alfaro (152) knocked off sophomore John Weiss of St. Thomas.
Perhaps the most impressive win of the night came in the 145-pound weight class when sophomore Kenny Boyd of Stranahan scored a major decision (13-4) over previously unbeaten Kevin Kobayashi of Monarch. The win earned the talented Boyd Oustanding Middleweight Wrestler.
Nova picked up a title when senior Warren Whyte defeated Felipe Souza of Taravella, 11-5.
Cypress Bay also cashed in with a pair of titles. Jonathan McNamara (182) defeated Anthony Macias of Coral Springs, and Giovanni Santoro edged out Western’s Drew Parker, 4-3. McNamara was voted as the Upper Weights Outstanding Wrestler. |
TEAM RESULTS
St. Thomas Aquinas 239, Cardinal Gibbons 236.5, Coral Springs 184, South Broward 147, Plantation 124, Nova 117, Cypress Bay 115.5, Ely 113, Miramar 112, Cooper City 106, Douglas 96, Everglades 94, Flanagan 76.5, Stranahan 71, Western 66.5, Monarch 61, Fort Lauderdale 59.5, Deerfield Beach 59, Coral Glades 51.5, McArthur 42, Taravella 41, Hallandale 36.5, Piper 36, Dillard 34.5, Northeast 27, Boyd Anderson 24, Coconut Creek 21, Hollywood Hills 19, South Plantation 12, West Broward 6.
CHAMPIONSHIP
106: Jonathan Francois (Plantation) maj. dec. Mike Gibson (CS) 21-8; 113: Alex Uhre (STA) pin Osbert Jean (Plantation) 3:14; 120: Shiquan Hall (STA) maj. dec. Jamel Morris (CG) 15-7; 126: Sal Guerrerio (STA) dec. Jamal Morris (CG) 2-1; 132: Bryan Betancourt (SB) dec. Nick Perez (STA) 11-5; 138: Andrew Wisdom (CG) dec. Anthony Colon (STA) 5-3; 145: Kenny Boyd (Stranahan) maj. dec. Kevin Kobayashi (Monarch) 13-4; 152: Victor Alfaro (CG) dec. John Weiss (STA) 11-5; 160: Gio Jiovenetta (STA) dec. Bryant Valle (DB) 7-0; 170: Warren Whyte (Nova) dec. Felipe Souza (Taravella) 11-5; 182: Jonathan McNamara (CB) dec. Anthony Macias (CS) 7-5; 195: Giovanni Santoro (CB) dec. Drew Parker (Western) 4-3; 220: Brad Mills (STA) dec. Justin Smith (Flanagan) 2-1; 285: Kevin Jacques (SB) pin Gavin Ricketts (Western) 3:08.
CONSOLATION
106: Dan Oliva (Douglas) dec. Randy Garay (Hallandale) 4-3; 113: Steven Nogradi (Flanagan) dec. Nick Christos (DB) 4-0; 120: Ryan Kuse (Everglades) dec. Kyle Eggnatz (CS) 7-0; 126: Tuqwan Stone (Miramar) dec. Curtis Boyette (CS) 4-2; 132: Anthony Vazquez (CB) dec. Quinten Tenner (Everglades) 7-1; 138: Eddie Pierce (SB) pin Berry Jean (Northeast) 3:33; 145: Kris Iglesias (STA) pin Robert Slapikas (CS) 2:51; 152: Dakota Concepcion (CB) pin Austin Parkes (Stranahan) 2:59; 160: Nelson Compere (CS) pin Jeiko Dasilveiro (CB) 2:31; 170: Matthew Lent (CC) dec. J.T. Mitchell (SB) 9-2; 182: Aris Knight (Ely) dec. Rodney Thomas (CB) 6-3; 195: Jamal Minnis (Piper) dec. Sean Munoz (Nova) 5-4; 220: Jordan Sanchez (CC) pin Devon Wallace (Miramar) 4:48; HWT: Monty Nelson (Plantation) pin Nick Simoneau (Nova) 0:40.
You can reach Larry Blustein via e-mail at Floridakids1@hotmail.com. Blustein is the co-host of the High School Gridiron Show each Wednesday night from 8-9 on WQAM (560 AM) or www.wqam.com.
You can also follow us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/larryblustein |
