Big wrestling efforts fall just short for locals

When Braden River senior wrestler Chance Sharbono (48-6) woke up last Saturday at 5:55 a.m., the world was still pitch black.

He shook off the cobwebs of sleep and made himself a protein shake and bar. The day before, at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, he had reached the later rounds of the Class 2A wrestling tournament in the 138-pound class. Saturday was his day. He had already found more success than his father, Christian Sharbono, did in high school, and he wanted that title. He was going to take it. 

At least, that was the idea. 

First up in Sharbono’s way was senior Grant Cardwell of Dunedin (48-4) in the semifinals. Sharbono said he was not nervous before or during the match. He and Cardwell had faced each other a handful of times before, and Sharbono had a blueprint in his mind of how to handle him.

“I knew as long as I was on the attack that he would not be able to do anything,” Sharbono said. “He started to back up after I started to attack him. It all went according to plan.”

Sharbono won by major decision, 9-1, locking up at least a second-place finish and setting up a tango with Land O’ Lakes sophomore Jacob Conrad (40-3), the 14-seed entering the tournament, in the first-place match.

Conrad had taken down previously unbeaten Cypress Lake junior Jalen Soto (41-1) to reach that point. In talking with Sharbono and Braden River coach Damon Eikenhorst last week, Soto was who they expected to go up against in the final match. They were ready for him. They were less prepared for Conrad, seeing as he and Sharbono had never wrestled each other before. They had seen each other at weekend tournaments growing up, Sharbono said, but were always in different weight classes.

With almost a whole afternoon to go before the first-place match, Sharbono waited until Braden River’s heavyweight, Brendan Bengtsson (49-4), finished and won his first match of the day, then headed back to his hotel room.

What did Sharbono do in those hours? Eat and sleep, of course. He downed three meatball sliders and took a two-hour nap to get his body prepared. Christian Sharbono gave him a quick pep talk, and then it was back to the arena.

Unfortunately, the first-place match did not go Sharbono’s way. Conrad got the first point, and Sharbono quickly matched him. Regulation ended with the score 1-1.

“In the overtime, both of us were dead tired,” Sharbono said. “It was basically a battle of who could hold on the longest. He rode me out, and then he escaped with two or three seconds left on the clock, and my 30 seconds were up.”

It was a day of mixed emotions for East County wrestlers. Bengtsson lost his first-place match to Riverdale senior Cole Schneider (21-0) by fall, and Lakewood Ranch senior Hunter Reed (42-1) lost in the Class 3A 132-pound first-place match to South Dade senior Alyis Mursuli by fall.

While the present may be disappointing, all of those wrestlers have bright futures in the sport, something that Sharbono is taking solace in himself. Over Braden River’s spring break in two weeks, he will be taking visits to six midwestern schools, including Lindenwood University, the University of Central Missouri and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

With his his high school wrestling career all but behind him (he’ll partake in a final tournament in Orlando in June), Sharbono said he is satisfied with what he’s accomplished, and he credits his success to hard work. By his own admission, Sharbono was not born the greatest athlete. He's built up his strength, both physical and mental, through dedication to his craft. It's a point of pride for him, and it absolutely should be.

Congratulations to Sharbono, Reed and all the other senior wrestlers who left everything they had on the mat in pursuit of a title. Even though it turned out to be just out of reach, I have complete confidence that the experience will help them in the future.