Special to the Lake Okeechobee News/OHS
The seven Brahman wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament. Isaac Herron, Charlie Armstrong, Travis McKenna, Jose Monrroy, Gabriel Bowen, Cody Deloney and Jayme Scurry.

OKEECHOBEE The Okeechobee High School Brahman wrestlers are this week’s Big Lake Athletes of the Week for their performances throughout the district and regional tournaments last month.

The Brahmans wrestling team went on a tear throughout the month of February, winning not only the district tournament and regional tournament but sending seven wrestlers to the state tournament in Kissimmee.

Those seven wrestlers who qualified for state were Isaac Herron, who finished in first place in the regional tournament, followed by runner up Charlie Armstrong; third place went to Travis McKenna and Jose Monrroy; followed by three fourth-place finishes in Gabriel Bowen, Cody Deloney and Jayme Scurry.

Six Brahmans were crowned champions in their weight class at the district tournament — Charlie Armstrong, Cody Deloney, Travis McKenna, Isaac Herron, Todd Addington and Jose Monrroy.

After that district tournament win, coach Bruce Jahner gave the team credit for overcoming adversity to get to where they were.

“The team has worked hard to get to this point,” said coach Jahner. “We have had a few bumps along the road from sickness, injuries and weight control. This was the first time the whole team has been on the mat since the dual state tournament in January.”

The Brahmans had previously also been able to advance to the state tournament in dual wrestling earlier in the season.

Okeechobee earned their ticket for that dual state tournament back in January by coming out on top during the regional dual tournament.

In the first round of that regional dual tournament, Okeechobee took on Melbourne, whom they defeated 52-27.

In the finals, the Brahmans faced host school Heritage High School. The Brahmans trailed Heritage for most of the match until Jayme Scurry was able to pin his opponent near the end of the second period to secure the win for Okeechobee 42-39.

At the state dual tournament, the Brahmans fell to St. Thomas Aquinas 45-36.

“We knew on paper we could be a tough team throughout the season if we could stay healthy and on weight,” concluded Jahner.

“However, there is a big difference between paper and actually stepping on the mat. The bonding that came about was the biggest difference from the other teams.”

If you have someone you’d like to nominate for Big Lake Athlete of the Week, email Lake Okeechobee News sports reporter Richard Marion at rmarion@newszap.com.