Kowboys claim crown

At midseason, Kissimmee Osceola wasn’t regarded as a likely championship contender for the state wrestling tournament it hosts next weekend.

All that has changed with two strong postseason performances by the Kowboys. Osceola followed up a dominant district showing by winning the Class 3A Region 2 team title at home on Saturday night.

The Kowboys totaled 194.5 points to pull away from second place North Port (146.5) and the rest of the field.

Osceola set itself up for a run at state favorite South Dade next week by advancing nine wrestlers for a two-day FHSAA meet that begins on Friday. That equals the nine South Dade will send out of Region 4.

“It’s been an awesome weekend,” a beaming Osceola coach Jim Bird said as Saturday night’s finals wound down. “Our kids overachieve a lot. It’s a sign of our program, our fans and our support.”

Undefeated ninth-grade phenom Malyke Hines (59-0) and seniors John Locksmith (54-1) and Giovanny Bonilla (56-0) were Osceola’s individual weight class winners. All three are ranked No. 1 in 3A.

Buddy Collings

Highlanders dominate

When they lined up the Class1A Region 2 wrestling finalists at Eastern Florida State College in Titusville, it looked almost like introductions for a Lake Highland Prep du- al meet.

The Highlanders had 12 finalists in the 14 weight classes and it was noticed.

"I heard someone say it looked like ‘a death row’ before we took the mat," Elijah Cleary said. And it was a murderers row of wrestlers. Lake Highland won10 of those12 finals as they rolled to a team title, outdistancing second-place Titusville Astronaut by 167.5 points.

Ryan Chauvin (106 pounds), Noah Castillo (113), Mason Wohltman (120), Joey Silva (126), Kai Bele (132), Jake Brindley (145), Erich Byelick (152), Bryce Rogers (160), Cleary (170) and Kevin Ford (182) all captured individual titles for the Highlanders

Winter Springs finished second behind Fleming Island in the 3A Region 1 meet at Flagler Palm Coast.

Brant Parsons

Tight races on track

Dr. Phillips edged Kissimmee Osceola 81 points to 80 for the boys team championship at Saturday’s Lake Brantley Invitational track and field meet. DP also won the girls title. Panthers senior Annika Sison edged junior Elizabeth Jenkins of Winter Park by two-hundredths of a second in the girls 1,600-meter run. Sison won in five minutes, 20.10 seconds.