Estevez clinches Somerset Academy title at state dual-meet wrestling
Somerset Academy senior Darian Estevez literally had a walk-off win against Palm Bay’s Jack Dinberg and handed the Class 1A Dual State Wrestling Championship to the Panthers at Osceola High School in Kissimmee on Saturday evening.
Estevez’s 12-2 majority win over Dinberg capped a comeback that saw Somerset Academy rally from a 22-17 deficit en route to a 33-28 victory. It was the school’s first state championship in any sport. The win by Estevez was the fourth straight by a Somerset grappler and Panthers coach Joe Blasucci forfeited the 160-pound match since they had already clinched the title.
“I felt this was our time,” said Blasucci, who started the program at the school 10 years ago. Estevez made the varsity as a seventh-grader. “It’s big for a minute and tomorrow [Sunday] and Monday we are back in the room getting ready for March.
“We have been blessed to wrestle every weekend,” Blasucci said. “I have a great administration and a great athletic department. We tried to go to a tournament every weekend, and if that got canceled, we went to another one and made plans at the last minute. We were determined to wrestle and ready to travel.”
Blasucci said they won four of the six tournaments they entered this year. He said the first two weeks of the season his wrestlers were battling injuries, but they wound up finishing fifth in the prestigious Knockout Christmas Classic in Kissimmee during the holiday break. It attracted 58 teams.
Somerset got other key wins against Palm Bay. Skyler Caban (132 pounds) pinned Ronald Theilacker at 5:25, and in the next match, Chase Gillis (138) decisioned Braden Baxter 7-3, followed by Bas Diaz (145) edging Nathan Furman 4-3.
The Panthers, who graduated five who are now wrestling in college, also picked up wins by Christian Fretwell (106), Elvis Solis (120), Joshua Oyeneye (195), and Matthew Jimenez (285) against Palm Bay.
Estevez, who is 28-1 this season with 15 pins, is a two-time state runner-up in the individual state wrestling championships.
“I know this year isn’t perfect, but this is a great feeling,” said Estevez, who is 273-43 for his career with 153 pins.
Somerset Academy reached the final by defeating rival Cardinal Gibbons 40-21 and then Lemon Bay, 67-9.
In the victory over Cardinal Gibbons, Somerset recorded wins by Fretwell (106), Solis (120), Caban (132), Gillis (145), Diaz (152), Estevez (160), Sean Concepcion (182), Oyeneye (195) and Jimenez (285).
Cardinal Gibbons responded with wins by Nicholas Yancey (113), Sajid Mabud (126), Tyler Cabral (138), Daniel Korchensky (170), and Jack O’Keeffe (220).
“Regardless of the team score, I think my team wrestled well,” said Cardinal Gibbons coach Jamel Morris. “Somerset is a team full of experienced wrestlers that capitalized on our fixable mistakes. I’m excited to see how the team responds to this setback. We might be a young team, but these wrestlers have continued to prove how capable they are of closing those gaps.”
In Class 3A, Cypress Bay fell to four-time defending state champion South Dade 62-9 in the state quarterfinals. It was also the fourth straight time the Lightning lost to South Dade.
Cypress Bay recorded wins against the Buccaneers by Javier Varas in the 285-pound division and by Andrew Punzalan in the 106-pound division. South Dade also recorded five pins and three forfeit wins. The Lightning also suffered a blow when senior Jared Courson (170 pounds) was lost for the year in the regionals when his patella tendon flipped in a match. He was ranked top 3 in the state for his weight class.
“I thought my team battled,” said Cypress Bay coach Allen Held. “We have to close the gap. They are state champs for a reason and if we want to get to that level we need to compete with the best.”
Wellington advanced to face Fort Pierce Central at state with a 75-3 win over Stoneman Douglas and a 36-31 win over Olympic Heights. The Wolverines fell to Fort Pierce Central 51-20. Their wins came from Patrick Jones (113), James Marvel (126), Ethan Howard (138), and Juan Granados (145).
“We ran into a heck of a team,” said Wellington coach Travis Gray. “For us, it was a wake-up call before our individual postseason run begins.”
There were no teams at the state competition from Class 2A. St. Thomas Aquinas was eliminated in the second round of the duals by Miami Southridge.
