Over Dec. 1 and 2, the Oviedo wrestling team competed in their first Individual Bracketed Tournament (IBT) of the season. The Ben Richards Memorial Tournament included 21 total teams competing to win. This was a two-day tournament in which the varsity girls team competed on the first day and the varsity boys team on the second.
On the first day, the girls tournament had 20 participating teams. This was an individual tournament that had different size brackets, from 8 to 16 people in each one. The Oviedo girls faced many wrestlers from teams that they had never faced due to the tournament’s location in Tampa, Florida. Despite the adversity, the Oviedo girls team came out on top and had a total team score of 167, placing them first out of 20 teams. The team had one first-place winner, junior Delaney Graves. Six other Lions placed second: sophomore Oakley True, junior Sarah Edmiston, freshman Hayden Rodd, junior Christina Heaton, freshman Haylee Richards, and sophomore Hailey Mitchell. There were also three fifth-place finishers: freshman Mia Pina, junior Amelia Vernadoe, freshman Gabby Osborne, and sixth-place finisher, junior Grace Doyle-Ebhard. This was a competitive tournament, but the girls showed Tampa what Oviedo’s program has to offer.
“I think the girls did really well at this tournament, and it was a great experience because all the girls were cheering everyone on during their matches,” said junior Doyle-Ebhard.
The varsity boys competed the following day against 21 teams. This was an independent tournament as well with a 32-man bracket due to the larger number of competitors. Oviedo had two third-placers, seniors Luke Forsberg and James Chiaradio; two fourth-placers, junior Joshua Sabbia and senior John McCandles; two fifth-placers, senior Clayton Mitchell and junior Joseph Gioia; and one sixth-placer, senior Jesus Ramos. In the end, the boys ended up placing 5th as a team.
They were under 1st place Jesuit High School, 2nd place Palmetto High School, 3rd place Bloomingdale Senior High School, and 4th place Strawberry Crest. A number of Oviedo’s wrestlers made it to the semi-finals, but lost, placing them into the loser bracket to place either 3rd or 4th.
“The Ben Richards Memorial Tournament provided our boys team with the opportunity to see competition we wouldn’t see until the state tournament,” said Coach Zachary Waters.
The team had a learning experience in their first IBT tournament of the season and are looking to improve this next week for the Deltona Duals Tournament. Last year, Oviedo won the tournament and are training to be two-time champions this year.