The 34th annual Ron Peters Tournament of Champions was a two day tournament with a 32-person bracket that consisted of 23 competing teams. This tournament is hosted by Lake Mary High School every year. The first day consists of the first round followed by the quarter finals. The second day starts with the semifinals and any consolation matches up to third and fourth place. Next is the finals.
This tournament was an Individual Bracketed Tournament, which meant that each wrestler competed for a first place medal. This year, the Oviedo wrestling team double registered and had two teams compete in the tournament: team Oviedo and team Oviedo B. Team Oviedo consisted of Jimmy Godwin, Joshua Sabbia, Gunner Essaray, Douglas Dowda, Jesus Ramos, Jonathan Dishman, Gavin Brown, Asher Williamson, Clayton Mitchell, William Bronga, Joseph Mondo, Luke Forsberg, James Chiaradio, Nick Rynearson, Mason DeSoto, Micah Thorpe. The Oviedo B team included Jackson Cooper, Joseph Speer, Vincent Prieto, Caden Martz, James Lyons, Brandon Bonin, Koen Falk, Noah Mulock, Mason Graves, Lukas Crawley, Mathew Buhl, Victor Charcap, Nate Gonzalez, Yosef Mohaisen.
“This tournament gave experience for young kids, and hopefully it prepared them to compete at JV states for the large tournament and it helps them for being the starters in the future”, said Coach Zachary Waters.
This tournament was important for the Lions, who were aiming to gain some hardware. They had several wrestlers seeded this tournament, meaning each competing coach reported which wrestler would most likely place in the tournament at each weight class. Oviedo had junior Joshua Sabbia seeded 1st, seniors Johnathan Dishman and Luke Forsberg seeded 2nd, seniors James Chiaradio and Clayton Mitchell were seeded 3rd, and freshman Jimmy Godwin was seeded 5th.
“We were all very determined to place, especially me since it is my senior year, ” said team senior captain Jonathan Dishman.
Oviedo as a team ended up placing 3rd behind 2nd place Lake Mary and 1st place Hagerty. Freshman Jimmy Godwin placed 5th after beating Case Mangini from Space Coast. Sabbia won 1st place, beating Ethan Reilly from The First Academy 4-0. Ramos placed 6th after losing to Owen O’Neil from Tavares. Dishman placed 2nd after losing to Nikolas Blake from Hagerty. Mitchell placed 3rd against Nicholas Bittner from The First Academy beating him 6-0. Forsberg placed 6th after losing to Aden Eliason from Lake Mary. Chiaradio placed 5th after beating Carlito Betancourt from University 8-7. Rynearson placed 5th after winning against Ryan Joseph from University.
Oviedo failed to reach their goal, but looks to improve for the district tournament which starts on Valentines day, February 14th.
“We are trying to get our best lineup healthy, get in better shape, sharpen the skills we have, and improve little things so that we can make an impact at districts,” said Coach Waters.