KISSIMMEE —In one of the toughest fields top to bottom of high school arguably in the state, if not in the United States, St. Johns Country Day School seventh grader Bryce Fiore, undefeated to the very end, and Oakleaf High's Kailani Barrientos both lived up to their number one ranking billing with decisive state championships at the FHSAA state wrestling championships, a four day competition in Kissimmee.

For Oakleaf High, in Class 3A and with Barrientos' girls Class 1A title, the Knights sent just five wrestlers to battle and came away in the boys Class 3A with 126 runner-up Connor Barnes (sixth at 120 last year), a sixth place at 138 from Sebastian Bonachea for medals. With tough draws for Zoe Goode at 145, a second-round loss against top ranked defending champion Ailee Briggs of Lemon Bay and 13th ranked in 144 Kevin Freeland getting fifth ranked Ericson Coney of team runner-up Miami Southridge in his opening match, Oakleaf showed promise for the future of Knights wrestling, according to coach Rory Roderick.

"Connor Barnes is the first ever state finalist in history of Oakleaf High for boys and Kailani is the first state wrestling champion for girls," said Roderick, who praised girls wrestling coach Paul Bess with the Barrientos season. "I think the program has gone from district titles, a region title this year, a state champion and a state finalist very quickly. I am blessed to be a part of the process and only regret that I left the room a few years ago, then came back."

The surprise weight bracket maybe of the tournament was 126 in Class 3A and Oakleaf's sixth ranked Barnes, who lost in his region final to third ranked Mario Dibella of Bartram Trail. Barnes traveled to Kissimmee and quietly got his first win against Fort Pierce's 14th ranked Leonard Wilder on a third period pin, then won an upset 8-4 decision over second ranked Dominic Rodriguez of Columbus (41-7), then punched his finals' ticket with an 8-3 win over 10th ranked Andrew Taylor of George Jenkins. Taylor upset fifth ranked Jose Callava of South Dade in his opener.

"Connor competes with the belief that he is the best athlete out there," Roderick said. "Connor got taken down first in his first two matches, including the quarterfinal against the number two guy, but he kept coming back."

In the final, against top-ranked in Florida and 15th ranked nationally Jovanni Tovar of Miami Southridge, Barnes' momentum kept the match tight as Tovar built a quick 6-1 lead up to a 17-4 gap before pinning Barnes with 34 seconds.

"Connor gave it everything he had against one of the best wrestlers in the country," Roderick said. "You can't ask for more than that. He left it all out there."

Bonachea, third ranked at 138, lost an excruciating 7-6 semifinal to top ranked and eventual state champion and an Italy World Team member Stefano Garcia (32-4) of Miami Southridge with Bonachea mounting a five-point second period swing to a 6-4 lead into the third period. Garcia was awarded a three-point takedown with just three seconds on the clock for the win.

"Sebastian lost to him early in the season 10-1," Roderick said. "Last six seconds of the match, Garcia gets the takedown in a scramble. That was the state final match."

Barrientos, who was anticipated to a possible third championship face off with Middleburg's Sarah Walsh, ranked second to Barrientos to ranking, had to take care of business with third-ranked Eysis Estes-Brinson of Miami Palmetto in the 135 final with Barrientos scoring six third period falls off a takedown and a near fall to win 8-2 and get Oakleaf High its first state wrestling championship for Roderick.

"I always go into my matches with the idea of finishing with a pin," said Barrientos, near the mid-season mark of her one defeat season, 18-1. "I've trained hard over the summer to finish matches."

Barrientos, third last year at 135, nearly scored a four-pin championship run with the near fall on Estes-Brinson coming after three third period pins to the final; one at 3:46, one at 5:25 and her semifinal against Braden River's Alexis Hutter, ranked eighth, coming at 4:14.

Walsh finished third with a 3-0 win over Hutter before a 7-1 third place match over South Dade's Shamari Smith, fourth ranked in Girls Class 1A. Smith lost a 9-4 quarterfinal match with Estes-Brinson with Estes-Brinson, fifth at 130 last year, hanging on to a third period 6-4 lead and Walsh having to go for a big points move for the win, with Estes-Brinson countering in the final minute for the win.

"Kailani was extremely happy with the win despite not getting the pin at the end, but, honestly, that was the only match for the entire season that went the full six minutes," Roderick said. "She either teched or pinned everyone all season. She was up 8-4 and we wanted to play it safe and not lose it in a scramble."

For St. Johns coach Hunter Hill, who also got a third place finish from his freshman son Howard Hill at 150, Fiore, touted as one of the top middle school wrestlers in the nation on top of being ranked number one at 113 pounds in Class 1A, rifled through his field with decisive dominance: a 46 second pin, an 11-0 major decision and a tough 8-1 semifinal win over state team runner-up St. John Neumann wrestler James Sanders (fifth ranked in 1A). He also had a final 4-2 win in the championship final against another astounding seventh grader, third ranked Adrian Rojas of Miami Christian School.

"We never faced Rojas during the season, and he was a lot taller and longer than Bryce," Hunter said. "After two periods of close moves, Bryce went to his bread and butter, the underhooks, and got the score. We wanted to build on Colt's third place finish with Bryce's finals match."

Fiore got the lone takedown in the tough, defensive match in the second period with Rojas getting his two points on escapes. Second ranked Asher Cabral, a third seventh grader in the ranks out of Cocoa Beach, lost 11-4 to Rojas in the opposite semifinal.

Howard missed his state championship opportunity last year with an injury prior to his region meet.

"Howard broke his shoulder at regions and had to forfeit his final," Hunter said. "It was cool to watch him set the goal again and then go after it."

For the St. Johns wrestling program, still one of the youngest programs, and now with two impressive state medalists: one Fiore's state title and seven guys at the region meet.

"Those guys that didn't get to state are now at Jensen Beach wrestling," said Hunter, who has been part of the Clay High wrestling program of state championships, state titles and a slew of district and region titles for decades. "We don't have many boys in wrestling because it is such a small school, but the interest is there. The school was thrilled to have that first home match against Orange Park and I think we can build from that."

For Middleburg, freshman sensation Fallon Dames, ranked fourth at 115, finished third with a tough 8-7 win in the quarterfinals to Freedom's Maya Alvarado, ranked third, that put her into the semifinals where she lost by pin to top ranked and eventual state champion Melissa Gallo of Florida Christian School. Dames won by pin in her two consolation matches with a third-place win over sixth ranked MacKenzie Allcroft of Fort Pierce Central.

At 110, Middleburg senior Memphis Moses, ranked 10th, lost her first-round match to third seed Zoey McDonald of St. John Neumann to two wins to the consolation semifinals where she lost to fourth seed Gabriela Kerber of Freedom.

At 235, Middleburg junior Kailey Baker finished 0-2.

At 125, Fleming Island's lone state qualifier, Leilah Carter, ranked 12th, had a controversial quarterfinal loss, 19-16, with a question of points in the final critical seconds against Naples' second-ranked eventual runner-up Sophie Simons.

In the Class 2A wrestling bonanza, with Middleburg and Clay both going in as region champions and with a handful of wrestlers advancing to state, the gold medal proved elusive, but the podium was filled with Broncos and Blue Devils.
For Middleburg, top drawer was a second-place finish at 215 for senior Porter Loveland, who was ranked fourth in Class 2A, but faced off against a 16th, an eighth and a fifth before facing off with top seed Jeremiah Chavis of team champion Lake Gibson.

Both wrestlers were tentative in their attacks through the final with three stalls between the two with Chavis getting a second period escape for his first point. Loveland's semifinal, against fifth ranked Freedom McDaniel of Braden River, was won off a second period escape in the 1-0 decision.

In the 157 group, an expected rematch of the region final for Clay's Calvyn St. Clair and Middleburg's Daniel Raines did not materialize as Raines lost his semifinal to eventual champion Tristan Sainz of Somerset and St. Clair lost his quarterfinal to Lake Gibson's Jaxon Arfaras, the eventual runner-up to Sainz.

Raines eventually finished fifth off a medical forfeit while St. Clair was seventh off a 17-2 tech fall. Sainz, the defending 150 champion, defeated Fleming Island's Laird Duhaylungsod, 2-1, in overtime last year.

In Class 2A's team points, Lake Gibson was state champion with 179 points with Somerset second at 173 and Tampa Jesuit third with 171 in a super tight race at the top. Middleburg finished ninth with 53.5 with Clay 13th with 48.

For Class 3A, South Dade again won the team title with 174 points with Miami Southridge second 134 and Hagerty third at 131. Oakleaf finished 19th with region teams Flagler Palm Coast eighth, Tocoi Creek 10th, Lake Mary 18th, Bartram Trail 21st and Bucholz 25th. In Class 1A, won by Mater Lakes Academy with 210.5 points, St. Johns was fifth with 43 points.

In girls team points, Freedom won with 125 with South Dade second at 92 and Middleburg seventh at 52. Oakleaf was 19th.
Medalist in Class 2A were, at 150, Micah Thomas (MHS) sixth; at 165, Drew Holmquist (CHS) seventh; at 190, Landon Martin (CHS) sixth and, at 285, Jayshawn McCloud (CHS) fourth.