A number of wrestlers from the schools in the western communities are ranked very high in the newly released rankings of high school wrestlers in Palm Beach County.
In fact, 11 of the ranked wrestlers attend Wellington High School and compete for the Wolverines. Of the 14 weight divisions, Wellington currently has the top-ranked wrestler in five weight classifications. They are junior Patrick Jones (106 pounds), sophomore Cameron Gibson (113 pounds), sophomore Evan Pena (120 pounds), senior James Marvel (132 pounds) and senior Seth Rhodes (145 pounds).
Other high-ranking wrestlers from Wellington include sophomore Sam Marvel, ranked third in the 126-pound weight division; junior Cameron Howard, ranked third in the 138-pound weight division; junior Mario Trigazis, ranked sixth in the 138-pound weight division; senior Jorge Garcia, ranked third in the 160-pound weight division; senior Edol Adonis, ranked fourth in the 170-pound weight division; senior Juan Quintero, ranked fifth in the 180-pound weight division; and senior Pedro Ricardo, ranked fifth in the 220-pound weight division.
Wrestlers from other high schools in the western communities who are ranked in the top six in the wrestling rankings include Seminole Ridge High School junior Marco Luciano, who is ranked second in the 106-pound division; Palm Beach Central High School sophomore Benedict Baltodono, who is ranked sixth in the 113-pound division; Palm Beach Central junior Mateo Lopez, who is ranked fourth in the 160-pound division; Palm Beach Central senior Tyler Waters, who is ranked fifth in the 170-pound division; and Palm Beach Central junior Cole Overbay, who is ranked fourth in the 220-pound division.
Of the top 10 wrestling programs in Palm Beach County, Wellington High School is ranked first, while Palm Beach Central is ranked ninth. Coming in second is American Heritage School, which also has many top-ranked wrestlers.
According to Wellington head wrestling coach Travis Gray, the boys district dual team wrestling event will be held Wednesday, Dec. 22 at WHS. The district individual wrestling event will be contested on Saturday, Feb. 19, also at WHS.
This is the first year that girls wrestling has been sanctioned by the Florida High School Athletic Association. At WHS, four girls are currently top-ranked in their weight classifications in Palm Beach County. Those wrestlers are freshman Emily Tacher (120 pounds), sophomore Aurora Guadiana (130 pounds), freshman Arianna Oddo (135 pounds) and junior Sofia Bentz (152 pounds). Right now, of the top eight high school girls wrestling programs in Palm Beach County, the top two are Palm Beach Central and Wellington.
According to Gray, the individual girls wrestling district tournament will be held Tuesday, Feb. 8 at Palm Beach Gardens High School.
