KISSIMMEE — Since the FHSAA girls wrestling state tournament began in 2022, Freedom has been the standard that other programs strive to imitate.

The Patriots won the first title in 2022, then finished runner-up, fourth place and third place.

And in 2026, they returned to the top spot on the podium, winning the title easily with 125 points on Saturday in Silver Spurs Arena. South Dade was a distant second with 92 points.

“Freedom is back on top!” head coach David Bush said.

It wasn’t a typical win, with Freedom’s highest finisher a runner-up at 130 pounds, Paolo Ramirez. But it was a true team championship, with girls fighting their way to the podium. Out of the 11 Freedom girls who qualified for state, eight of them stood on the podium as a top-eight finisher.

“Our girls are good at wrestling,” Bush said. “We didn’t have a bunch of champs, but we had girls fight to win matches on the back side of the (consolation) bracket. We had three girls fight their way back to third or fifth place.”

That included Hananeel Gregoire at 105 pounds, after she lost a tough match in the semifinals, Gabriela Kerber at 110 pounds and Mekialla Mauvais at 235. All of them finished third, while Ceajah Brown placed fifth after losing her first match on Thursday.

“It’s how you come back after a loss, and they all bounced back,” Bush added.

Ramirez lost a major decision (14-5) to South Dade’s Willow White in the 130-pound final, but it was all about the team and her personal improvement in her one season at Freedom after transferring from Osceola.

“I improved every year at state, going fifth, third (last year) and second this year,” she said. “It was about the team championship. Every girl feels like a champ no matter if we finished eighth or second. The team welcomed me. The Bush brothers (David and his assistant Mike) were great coaches. The girls are my sisters, and the boys team are my brothers.”

The other local girls’ finalist was Lake Mary’s Zaria Slater, who finished runner-up at 155 pounds to Arianna Antoniou from East Lake.

In Class 3A boys, South Dade won its 13th consecutive state title, while Hagerty was third, only three points behind runner-up Miami Southridge, after winning two individual titles.

After finishing third last year, senior Nikolas Blake pinned Didier Novoa of Southwest Miami to take the 157-pound title.

“He wasn’t going to leave anything to chance this year, and he was determined to take home the gold,” Hagerty coach Scotty Diaz said.

The Huskies’ other weight class title came in the last match of the day, and it may have been the most exciting, with three overtimes needed to decide it.

At heavyweight (285), junior Renzo Cooligan edged Raymundo Romero of Park Vista, 2-1, with the deciding point coming on an escape that Cooligan was confident he would get.

“It was my plan,” he said. “Once it got to overtime, I knew I could ride him and keep him on the bottom to wear him down,” Cooligan said.

It was the culmination of his first season of organized wrestling in which he was always improving.

“He works hard in every match, and he got smarter as a wrestler,” Diaz said.

Harmony finished fifth overall, and had two wrestlers place second in close matches.

Last year’s Orlando Sentinel Boys Wrestler of the Year, Nathan Lyttle, moved up a weight class this year to 120 after going undefeated at 113. The senior went up against the 120 defending state champ, Lazaro Soto of Southwest Miami, and lost 3-2. Soto finished the season 60-0.

Nathan Barrett, who also reached the final last year, lost to South Dade’s Armand Williams, 5-1, at 150 pounds.

Grady Isaacs of Lake Mary was also runner-up at 215 pounds with an injury forfeit after getting hurt in the semifinals.

In Class 2A, Winter Springs senior Jacob Rodriguez lost a heartbreaker, 4-2, to Andrew Bray of Zephyrhills. Rodriguez was up 2-1 before Bray got a takedown with 10 seconds left to clinch the win.