Full forecast |

Fair, 75°

Weather sponsored by:

Oakleaf first-timers get a win

Randy Lefko

Posted 6/22/16

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Attention subscribers

To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.

If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here.

If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.

Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.

Don't have an ID?

Print subscribers

If you're a print subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one.

Non-subscribers

Click here to see your options for subscribing.

Single day pass

You also have the option of purchasing 24 hours of access, for $1.00. Click here to purchase a single day pass.

Oakleaf first-timers get a win

Oakleaf Spartans 106 pound wrestler Kyle Tairovski-Romeo had a productive week at the AAU Scholastic Duals with a 9-6 won/lost record in his first national caliber wrestling meet.

Orange Park High 170 pound wrestler Nartorian Lee, left, wrestled for the Oakleaf Spartans team and came home with seven wins and six losses in the big school Community I division at the AAU Scholastic Duals High School Wrestling Championships held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.

Staff photos by Randy Lefko The Oakleaf Spartans wrestling squad got a taste of national-caliber wrestling in the rugged big school Community I division at the AAU Scholastic Duals high school wrestling national championships and came home with a team win.

The Oakleaf Spartans bench watches action on the mat in early rounds of the AAU Scholastic Duals High School Wrestling Championships held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. Oakleaf won their second round consolation championship match.

Posted Wednesday, June 22, 2016 8:00 pm

Randy Lefko

ORLANDO – With a fresh team of eager faces about to enter the gauntlet of high school wrestling competition, Oakleaf High School’s Oakleaf Spartans wrestling club, including athletes from Orange Park High School, went to Orlando’s Wide World of Sports for the AAU Scholastic Duals High School Wrestling National Championships with no preconceived notions of any major upsets.

Oakleaf was led by sophomore Kyle Tairovski-Romeo at 106 pounds with seven wins, six losses with four pins. Orange Park High wrestlers Nartorian Lee at 170 and Tyler Dehart at 220 both contributed with Lee winning seven matches and Dehart adding six wins.

“I had a meeting with the parents, the kids and our coaches and kind of let them know we were going to get our butts kicked down here, but it was going to be a good learning experience for the kids and a major step for the program at Oakleaf High School,” said Spartans coach Sean Conroy. “It was, but they wrestled hard and I don’t believe any of them threw in the towel. I hope they now understand that it takes a ton of hard work for a program to get to the national level.”

Oakleaf, wrestling in the big school Community I division with the likes of Fleming Island’s War Eagle club, Flagler Palm Coast, Westside (Winter Springs High) and a ton of Ohio and Indiana veteran programs came away with a single win in the consolation championship bracket and a 37th place finish overall in the 39 team tournament.

Oakleaf’s lone victory, a 36-33 battle with Austintown Fitch B, came in the consolation tournament section of the meet after the Spartans finished 10th of 10 teams in their Pool H competition which featured teams, among others, the national champion Liberty Patriots team out of Ohio, the Pennsylvania Rampage team that beat the War Eagles of Fleming Island in championship bracket play and finished fourth overall, Lake Gibson (FL), Brandon (FL), a Florida wrestling superpower and multiple times defending state champions, Adams City (C)), Avon Wrestling Club (IN), Carroll Chargers (IN), Eagle Empire (FL) and the Goon Squad (FL).

In their lone victory, Oakleaf got wins from Tairovski-Romeo (9-6), Ryan Rosano at 120 (7-0), Ethan Gustillo at 132 (pin), Lee at 170 (5-2), Dehart at 220 (8-5) and Jesse Jennette at 285 (pin).

Oakleaf Spartans Won/Lost records

106: Kyle Tairovski-Romeo (7-6, 4 pins)

113: Geneva Winston (1-10) and Carmen Thomas (0-2)

120: Ryan Rosano (3-10, 1 pin)

126: Vincent Karl (3-10)

132: Ethan Gustillo (4-9, 3 pins)

138: Trenton Carroll (1-12, 1 pin)

145: Donovan Gray (2-11, 1 pin)

152: Lucas Karl (2-4, 1 pin), Elias Martinez (0-7)

160: Anthony Quinones (1-12)

170: Nartorian Lee (7-6)

182: Bryan Heflin (2-7, 1 pin)

195: David Thompson (5-7, 1 pin)

220: Tyler Dehart (6-7, 2 pins)

285: Jesse Jennette (4-9, 1 pin)