Vote: Who should be the SBLive Florida Wrestler of the Week (11/30/2023)

Check out these candidates from the preseason tournaments and make a selection
Vote: Who should be the SBLive Florida Wrestler of the Week (11/30/2023)
Vote: Who should be the SBLive Florida Wrestler of the Week (11/30/2023) /

The 2023-24 Florida high school wrestling season is underway and with it comes the SBLive Florida Wrestler of the Week poll. We were so excited about the start of this season we couldn't wait, so we put together our first poll on some of the preseason tournaments sprinkled across the month of November.

ScorebookLive.com will run the poll each Wednesday. There will be one mixed poll for both boys and girls. Voting will begin on Wednesday and the winners will be announced in each week’s new poll.

Check out these candidates and go ahead vote for your favorite. 

Gavin Balmeceda, South Dade, 157, 165

He wrestled two different weight classes at the 49th annual Seahorse Open, going 8-0 on the day. He pinned six of his eight opponents. He defeated the top-ranked wrestler in Class 1A, pinned the fourth-ranked 157-pounder in 3A and defeated the third-ranked 165-pound wrestler in 3A.

Gabby Tedesco, Lake Gibson, 105

The senior defending state champion won the 105-pound division at the Lake Gibson Thanksgiving Classic, with a tech fall, pin and major decision on her way to a 3-0 finish. She also won a national title this past summer.

Grace Leota, Hernando, 190

The junior defending 170-pound state champion won the 190-pound division at the Lake Gibson Thanksgiving Classic with a 3-2 decision and two pins. She holds a 46-5 record with 41 pins.

Frank Cornelison, North Fort Myers, 215

He won the 215-pound division at the 6th Annual Cowboys Preseason Classic with three consecutive pins. North Fort Myers also won the tournament.

Jason Morency, Lely, 285

He won the 285-pound division with three consecutive pins at the 6th Annual Cowboys Preseason Classic.

Kalel Hernandez, North Fort Myers, 175

He won the 175-pound division at the 6th annual Cowboys Preseason Classic with a major decision, a tech fall and a pin.

Julian Gonzales, North Fort Myers, 165

He won the 165-pound division at the 6th annual Cowboys Preseason Classic with three consecutive pins.

Abby DiCenzo, Bell Creek, 120

She won the 120-pound division at the Lake Gibson Thanksgiving Classic with four consecutive pins.

Send nominations from the past week’s tournaments and duals to BillKempSports@gmail.com by Monday at noon. Please include the player’s first and last name, school, weight class and their accomplishments for the week.

Additionally, if you have any interesting news about your program or tournaments, please send it to BillKempSports@gmail.com for the SBLIive.com weekly soccer notebook.


Published
Bill Kemp
BILL KEMP

Bill Kemp is an award-winning sports journalist at the state and national levels. Over the course of 25 years, he’s covered more than 4,000 sporting events including the NFL regular season, playoffs and Super Bowls, Major League Baseball regular season and spring training, NASCAR racing at Daytona and Talladega International Speedways and major college football regular seasons and bowl games. He was named by the Associated Press Sports Editors as a Top 10 sports columnist and Top 3 by the Alabama Press Association for best sports column and sports page design. He has served as preps editor at the Lakeland Ledger as well as sports editor at five different newspapers in Florida and Alabama. He has been published in dozens of newspapers including USA Today, the Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, the Jacksonville Times Union and the Tampa Bay Times. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida. He has been writing for SBLive Sports since 2022.