Osceola QB Gunner Holland hits wrestling hard

One week after a final four football season ended for Osceola High quarterback Gunner Holland he was back in his wrestling singlet dominating opponents in his school’s Danny Byron Invitational tournament last weekend.

Holland, a two-time defending state champion junior, made the transition look easy in going 8-0 in a tournament stacked with top teams and state-ranked grapplers.

Nothing about that is easy.

“Gunner has to put in some extra work to do both sports, but that’s nothing new to him,” Kowboys wrestling coach (and athletic director) Rick Tribit said Tuesday. “He just competes so hard at everything.”

Holland, who was the FHSAA Class 3A 152-pound wrestling champ as a freshman and 160 winner last year, said he kept his wrestling sharp by squeezing in mat time whenever he could during the fall season — as if football isn’t demanding enough. He did that while maintaining his 4.2 grade point average.

“I was getting into the mat room after some early football practices to work out a little bit,” Holland said. “A lot of it is just mental. I knew I’d be full-tilt into wrestling right after football ended. I handled it more maturely mentally this year. When I was younger, I kind of slacked off a little bit in the weight room.

“I could feel sorry for myself and think about doing all that homework knowing I’ve gotta get up early and lift (weights) in the morning. But I just kind of buckle up. I have no excuse to have bad grades just because I play two sports.”

Holland passed for 457 yards and 4 TDs and ran for one score while sharing the quarterback role for Osceola’s 10-4 football team, which lost 14-7 at Lakeland in a state semifinal.

He was listed at 5-10, 180 for football but wrestled at 170 last weekend. In rematches of last year’s 160 state final Holland handled Hagerty’s outstanding senior, Kamdon Harrison, twice in the tournament. His closest match of the weekend was a 7-2 decision victory.

Holland began playing youth football as a fifth grader and got into wrestling a year later.

“Ultimately, I want to go D-1 (college) in wrestling,” he said. “I’ve had that dream since I was a little boy. I’m doing everything in my power to fulfill that dream. I want to become a four-time Florida state champ, ultimately become nationally ranked and fulfill that dream to be a Division 1 athlete.”

Two more Osceola state champions, junior Anderson Heap and three-time state champ senior Cooper Haase, are 11-0 on the season. Haase was named Outstanding Wrestler at Lake Gibson’s season-opening Rumble on the Reservation, Dec. 2.

Hagerty’s Nikolas Blake (132) and Timber Creek heavyweight Peter Nesheiwat (285) also went 5-0 in Saturday’s competition at Osceola.

Former UF golfer Samantha Wagner, who was on state title teams at Windermere Prep as a freshman and sophomore and as a senior with Circle Christian, earned her LPGA tour card for 2023 with a superb Sunday finish in the Qualifying School series.

Wagner shot a 6-under-par 66 in Dothan, Alabama, on the final day of an eight-round final stage to tie for sixth. She was 23-under for the series. The top 45 golfers out of 100 qualifiers punched their tickets to the top tour in women’s golf.

Wagner turned pro in June, 2017. She played on the Epson Tour the past four seasons.

Defending state champion Lake Highland Prep (7-1), which has lost only to Example Academy Red of Illinois, is ranked No. 1 across all seven FHSAA girls basketball classifications by MaxPreps. The Highlanders, state champs in four of the past six years, play at Timber Creek (5-5) on Friday night.

Dr. Phillips (10-1), which won 57-41 at Oak Ridge (6-3) on Tuesday, is No. 3 on that list, followed by Colonial (6-4), which has been tested by a tough schedule.

Lake Mary (9-1) notched career win No. 100 for coach Shrell Chamberlain last week.

Jasmine Bocca scored 29 points as Winter Park (7-1) won 54-49 vs. East River.

Area teams doing well include Hagerty (8-1), St. Cloud (7-1), Bishop Moore (7-3) and Central Florida Christian Academy (8-3).

[ Photo gallery from 2021-22 Bishop Moore championship game victory  ]

Bishop Moore (9-0-3) plays at perennial power St. John’s Country Day (9-1-1) in a matchup of reigning state champions on Friday night.

Montverde (5-0-2) beat St. John’s 1-0 and tied Bishop Moore 2-2 in November matches.

All three of those teams could claim state titles this season as Bishop Moore is 4A, Montverde 3A and St. John’s 2A.

Other area teams off to strong starts include:

East Ridge (5-0), which won 5-1 vs. Eustis last week with Cayla Jackson scoring 4 goals.

Timber Creek (6-1-1), which edged Boone 4-3 last week and tied Winter Park 3-3 on Tuesday night.

Oviedo (9-1), which has scored 43 goals.

Second-year Horizon, which started 7-1 with a one-goal loss to Apopka.

Lake Highland Prep (4-1-1), which lost 1-0 to Bishop Moore.

Lake Mary (6-3) won 2-0 on Tuesday against Hagerty (4-3-1), which dealt Oviedo its only loss.

Poinciana (8-4) senior Valerie Correa scored all 9 Eagles’ goals in a 9-1 win against Discovery on Monday to push her season total to 50 scores going into a Wednesday match. She had all 8 goals in an 8-3 win over Osceola and all 8 in an 8-0 win against Oak Ridge.

There is some good soccer to be seen before schools start holiday breaks next week.

Sentinel Sports Final

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In games tonight , Horizon (6-1-2) plays at West Orange (4-0-1) and Timber Creek (5-1) plays at Boone (5-1).

Oviedo (6-1) hosts Lake Mary, which started 8-1-1, in a Friday night match.

Bishop Moore (9-1) plays Friday at Ocoee, which was 3-0-4 heading into a Wednesday game.

Trinity Prep (5-0-1) and Lake Mary were both missing players when they played to a wild 5-5 tie last Friday. Saints standout Ryan Avalone suffered a knee strain with 20 seconds to go in a 1-0 win against Lake Highland Prep last week. He is expected to be back on the field in January.

Winter Park is 6-0 going into tonight’s match against Orange City University.

Foundation Academy is 8-1.

This report was first published at Orlandosentinel.com. Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.