Athlete transfers could shift balance of power

You almost need a GPS to find the top Palm Beach County high school wrestlers from a year ago.

Several top grapplers have changed schools and could change the landscape of the postseason tournaments. County powers Olympic Heights and Wellington were the hardest hit.

Donovan Ortiz, who won the Palm Beach County and district championships at 106 pounds while at Wellington as a freshman, transferred to regional rival St. Thomas Aquinas.

Olympic Heights lost senior Eric Lentz (152 pounds) to West Boca, while senior Sam Cannova (170) moved to Somerset Canyons. Forest Hill lost senior Eric Jones (195) to Palm Beach Gardens and junior Kyven Higgins (220) went from Dwyer to Jupiter Christian.

Wellington lost three of his nine state qualifiers from a year ago. In addition to Ortiz, coach Travis Gray said seniors Alec Trias (152) and Isaac Adonis (195) opted not to wrestle after the football season. Standouts for the Wolverines this season have been junior Jared Abramson (126) who is 13-0, and seniors Tyler Difiore (132), and Eric Reid (145).

“We have been doing OK, but we are also taking some lumps so far because we have some young kids in the lineup,” Gray said. “I think as a group we will be real strong, probably comparable to what we did last year.”

While Wellington and Olympic Heights have battled it out for county supremacy for the past several years, Park Vista looks solid this year after placing ahead of Olympic Heights in the Santaluces Christmas Tournament. Junior Joseph Williams (113), and seniors Sean Campbell (120), and J.J. Brown ( heavyweight) lead the Cobras.

American Heritage-Delray is off to a solid start despite having just eight wrestlers on the team. They finished second and fourth in two tournaments are 2-1 in dual meets.

“The kids are wrestling with a chip on their shoulder because they know they are at a disadvantage giving up six weight classes and all of those points,” Stallions coach J.P. Reese said.

Led by freshman Frankie Tal-Shahar (who is 10-0 at 138) and eighth-grader Vincenzo Napolitana (9-0 at 106), the Stallions were also buoyed by the recent return of senior Dylan Morris (126) who placed third at states two years ago and took last year off.

Forest Hill coach Willie Weiss said senior 126-pounder Pablo Asenjo, a two-time state place winner, has recovered from a preseason broken collarbone. He’s 7-0 after missing the early part of the year.

Senior Jorge Loy (182) is 20-2 this year, while junior Jordan Earle (heavyweight) is 16-0. Both are two-time state qualifiers for the Falcons.

Jupiter Christian’s Eric Barnes was one match away from placing at the Class 1A state tournament last year and finished 37-11. The Eagles sophomore is off to an 11-2 start in the 120-pound division this year.

He credited new coach Allen Stein, who moved over from Suncoast, for his improvement and said, “One of my goals is to win states . ... I just have to practice and work out when other people aren’t.”

Other wrestlers to watch

American Heritage-Delray: Colby Uderitz, 7th grader, 113; Boca Raton: Manny Paules, Sr., 182; Cardinal Newman: Nate Grant, Sr., 220; Forest Hill: Kevin Hernandez, So., 113; John I. Leonard: Johan Albuquerque, Sr. HWT; Jupiter: Jordi Perez, Jr., 182; Olympic Heights: Fabian Jaramillo, So., 113; Palm Beach Central: Nick Byrd, Sr., 169; Palm Beach Gardens: Luke Pidgeon, Sr., 152; Seminole Ridge: Hilton Luciano, Sr., 106; Wellington: Eric Saber, Jr., 170; Cameryn Townsend, Jr., 138; West Boca: Alex Bordeau, Jr., 182.

Key dates

Feb. 3-4: Palm Beach County championships (Santaluces); Feb. 4: Girls’ Tri-County Invitational (Hollywood McArthur); Feb. 13-18: Districts; Feb. 24-25: Regionals; March 3-4: State championships (Silver Spurs Arena, Kissimmee).

Defending state champs

3A: South Dade; 2A: Brandon; 1A: Lake Highland Prep (Orlando).