Class 3A high school wrestling: Palmetto Ridge captures first dual state championship

The Palmetto Ridge wrestling team spent 365 days stewing in the team's runner-up finish at last year's Class 2A Dual State Wrestling Championship, according to head coach Blaine Ison.

"There wasn't one day that that felt good, including the day that it happened," Ison said.

Returning 12 wrestlers from that team, the Bears knocked off South Dade, the four-time defending 3A state champions and top-ranked team, in the semifinals 39-26 on Saturday morning in Kissimmee.

A few hours later, after defeating Wellington 42-25 in the final, they were state champions.

"We finally got what was ours," said Roman Garcia, who notched the championship-clinching pin in the 170-pound bout.

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Garcia, a junior, wrestled two opponents ranked in the top five in the state and won both matches. Given the score going into his final match, Garcia was aware of the stakes.

"I was thinking that I had to pull it out I had to get the pin for my team," he said.

The key, according to Ison, was avoiding giving up big points in bouts they lost and getting bonus points with falls in the ones that went their way.

At 113, Tyler Washburn secured two wins on Saturday against highly ranked competition. Carson Miller (152) and Leonard Feliciano (182) were also double winners for the Bears.

Senior Brennan Van Hoecke, a reigning state individual champion, recorded a pair of falls in the 145-pound class — in 4:29 against his South Dade opponent and in less than a minute in the championship match against Wellington.

"Our hammers went out there, going out there and getting pins, it was huge," Ison said.

The team did not shy away from their 39-32 loss in the 2A final to Lake Gibson last season. In fact, it was the reason they "worked (their) butts off" in the offseason, Garcia said.

"When we lost, it was bad," he said. "But we didn’t let that hold us down. We used that as motivation."

It's a signature victory for Ison in his sixth year at Palmetto Ridge as head coach and 12th year with the team overall.

"It means a lot for this program because this program has been building for a long time," he said.

Garcia said that Ison is the kind of coach willing to help his athletes inside and outside of the wrestling room.

"He helps us in our mind," Garcia said. "He helps us believe in ourselves."

Ison described the team celebration as "a ball of emotions," a culmination of their hard work and desire after coming up short a year ago.

"I always tell the boys that great moments come from great opportunities, and we had a great opportunity in front of us," he said. "And now we have a great moment for the rest of our lives."

195 - Juan Quintero (Wellington) over Aiden Vega (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) Dec 8-4

220 - Pedro Ricardo (Wellington) over Aurelius Walton (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) Fall 2:59

285 - Austin Foye (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Roman Davilla (Wellington) Fall 0:22

106 - Cameron Gibson (Wellington) over Xavier Barnhart (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) TF 16-1

113 - Tyler Washburn (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Patrick Jones (Wellington) SV-1 6-4

120 - Bernardo Barnhart (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Evan Pena (Wellington) Dec 7-2

126 - Sam Marvel (Wellington) over Jean Valoria (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) Dec 13-10

132 - James Marvel (Wellington) over Vincent Sasso (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) TF 21-6

138 - Demetri Zertopoulis (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Cameron Howard (Wellington) Fall 2:40

145 - Brennan Van Hoecke (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Mario Trigazis (Wellington) Fall 0:56

152 - Carson Miller (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Seth Rhodes (Wellington) Fall 2:24

160 - Jorge Garcia (Wellington) over Ty Bechtel (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) Dec 3-2

170 - Roman Garcia (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Edol Adonis (Wellington) Fall 0:42

182 - Leonard Feliciano (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Sebastian Perez (Wellington) Fall 2:47

Semifinal Match: Palmetto Ridge defeated South Dade 39-26

182 - Leonard Feliciano (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Chris Sanchez (South Dade) Dec 9-5

195 - Aiden Vega (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Kris Reyes (South Dade) Fall 1:45

220 - Ansel Cervantes (South Dade) over Aurelius Walton (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) Fall 1:52

285 - Sawyer Bartelt (South Dade) over Austin Foye (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) Fall 0:51

106 - Xavier Barnhart (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

113 - Tyler Washburn (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Luis Acevedo (South Dade) Fall 3:31

120 - Nathaniel Williams (South Dade) over Bernardo Barnhart (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) Dec 5-2

126 - Adrian Morales (South Dade) over Jean Valoria (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) Dec 11-7

132 - EJ Solis (South Dade) over Demetri Zertopoulis (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) Dec 5-3

138 - Misha Arbos (South Dade) over Vincent Sasso (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) TF 18-3

145 - Brennan Van Hoecke (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Gavin Balmeceda (South Dade) Fall 4:29

152 - Carson Miller (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Alex Couto (South Dade) Dec 5-0

160 - Ty Bechtel (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Andrew Miller (South Dade) Fall 5:08

170 - Roman Garcia (Palmetto Ridge H.S.) over Cordell White (South Dade) Dec 7-3

Follow News-Press Sports Reporter Dustin Levy on Twitter: @DustinBLevy. For additional coverage of sports across Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: High school wrestling: Palmetto Ridge wins 3A Dual State Championship