The Olympic Heights wrestling team closed out its season with a very strong showing in postseason competition with the highlight being senior Leidaly Rivera winning her second consecutive state championship in the girls 122 pound weight class. 

On the boys’ side, the OH wrestling team’s postseason got underway with the team winning its overall 17th district title by scoring 211 points and crowning seven individual champions: Carlos Garcia (106), Cole Bosch (132), Pedro Azevedo (138), Max Wyatt (145), Tristan Williams (182), Jaafar AbuIqab (220) and Wilkinson Saul (285). 

The team placed fifth at the Region 3A-3 tournament with 130.5 points and sent Bosch, Azevedo, Wyatt, AbuIqab and Saul to the state championship meet where Bosch placed sixth and Saul placed second.

On the girls’ side, the OH squad finished in the top 10 at states for the third consecutive year. In addition to Rivera’s second consecutive state championship, Arianna Albornoz placed sixth in her weight class. The Torch will be posting a separate story on Rivera’s amazing second consecutive state championship shortly.

SPRING SPORTS IN LIMBO
The closing of schools due to the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has put all the spring sports on hold with no clear idea as to if or when those sports can get back into action. 

In a March 31 press release the Florida High School Athletic Association announced that due to the mandate to keep Florida’s schools closed through at least May 3, 2020, the FHSAA will “continue to follow suit with all scheduled FHSAA meetings, conferences, and athletic events postponed.

“Pending schools are back in session and afforded the opportunity to resume activities after May 3,…the FHSAA staff is actively working on creative solutions for the continuance of spring sports, which could extend through June 30,” the press release went on to explain.

The press release also stated that if spring sports are unable to continue, “the FHSAA is working diligently to create a plan regarding additional eligibility for students who have not been able to participate in spring sports.” For a spring sport athlete to be granted that extra year of spring sports eligibility, the athlete’s parents would have to agree to have the student repeat their 2019-2020 school year.

The Olympic Heights softball team has been the hardest hit of the spring sports stoppage as it is proving to be a county powerhouse with a  current record of 11-0. According to maxpreps.com, the records of the other OH spring sports teams are on hold at: baseball 4-7; boys tennis 5-2; girls tennis 4-3; boys volleyball 2-5; flag football 0-3; boys lacrosse 0-4; and girls lacrosse 0-3.

SOCCER TEAMS FINISH STRONG BY WINNING DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS
Despite heading into the postseason with a 6-12-1 regular season record, the Olympic Heights boys soccer team buzzed through the district tournament to win the District 13-6A championship. The Lions opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over rival West Boca, then followed that with a 2-1 win over Royal Palm Beach in the district semifinal. The Lions won the district championship game over Blanche Ely 3-1. However, the team fell 4-1 to Miami Beach Senior High in the first round of the Region 4-6A tournament.

The OH girls soccer also won the District 13-6A championship in two very close games. Entering the tournament with an amazing 17-2-4 record, the Lady Lions beat West Boca 1-0 in the tournament’s opening match, and then blanked Seminole Ridge 1-0 to win the championship match. The OH girls squad won the Region 4-6A tournament opener over Doral Academy with a 4-2 shootout score after regulation and overtime resulted in a 0-0 score. However, the girls team’s spectacular season came to an end with 3-2 loss to Cooper City in the tournament’s semifinal match.

ATHLETIC AND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Both the Olympic Heights wrestling team and the girls soccer team have been getting it done in the classroom as well as on the field. The wrestling team placed second in the wrestling class 6A classification State Academic Team Championship with an unweighted team GPA of 3.409.

The girls soccer team finished in eighth place in the girls soccer 6A classification with an unweighted team GPA of 3.669.

“Our girls are not just good athletes, but well-rounded students,” girls head soccer coach Jim Cappello said. “They work hard both on and off the field, and it’s great for them to get recognition for both.”