South Dade’s Balmeceda, North Miami’s Severe are Dade Wrestling Coaches of the Year

Vic Balmeceda’s boys’ wrestling dynasty at South Dade continued with yet another team title. John Severe, meanwhile, led the North Miami girls’ wrestling team to a breakthrough season in the second year that a girls’ tournament has been sanctioned by the Florida High School Athletic Association.

As such, Balmeceda and Severe are the Miami Herald’s Wrestling Coaches of the Year for Miami-Dade County.

Balmeceda this year led South Dade to its 18th Individually Bracketed Tournament state title and 23rd overall team title when factoring in the team’s five FHSAA Duals state titles (including the one they won this year).

But beyond the Bucs’ 270.5 points — nearly double that of second-place Southwest Miami in Class 3A — Balmeceda’s squad made history with all 14 of its wrestlers finishing on the podium as top-eight finishers in their weight classes.

This includes four state champions (Luis Acevedo, 120 pounds; Elvis Solis, 138 pounds; Lawrence Rosario, 170 pounds; and Miami-Dade Wrestler of the Year Sawyer Bartelt, 220 pounds), two state runners-up (Misha Arbos, 145 pounds; and Cordell White, 160 pounds) and three third-place finishers (Gavin Balmeceda, 152 pounds; Ansel Cervantes, 195 pounds; and Marcelo Rosario, 285 pounds).

Nathaniel Williams (fourth place, 126 pounds), Guillermo Jaramillo (fifth place, 113 pounds), Tyree Graham (fifth place, 132 pounds), Chris Sanchez (fifth place, 182 pounds) and Bryan Morales (eighth place, 106 pounds) round out the group.

As for Severe, he led the North Miami girls’ team to a fifth-place finish, with their 57 team points putting them just ahead of Mater Lakes, which finished in eighth place as a team. North Miami finished in 11th place as a team last season

Two of the Pioneers’ three state qualifiers won state titles — I-Cart Galumette in the 110-pound class and Mya Bethel defending her 155-pound title. Isis Severe also qualified for state in the 120-pound class.