Explorers Sports Roundup
- Jake Reed
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
by Jake Reed
Thanksgiving Break did the Explorers some good. You could tell it was a much needed feast because they came back strong as ever. This first week back, December 1st-7th, the Explorers had notable feats in soccer, basketball and wrestling.
Columbus Soccer Celebrates Senior Night
The Columbus Soccer family celebrated their Seniors on December 2nd at Columbus. This year was one to remember, with an astounding 14 seniors on the team. They all showed out versus Archbishop Coleman Carroll, getting it in the net a total of nine times to ACC’s 1. Seven Goals were scored by the efforts of Tamargo, Glasper, Cortizas, Montoya, Tello (2), and Bartra.
Senior Team Managers Gabriel Alvarez and Daniel Gonzalez were able to hop in the game--but wait--it gets better. Both of them scored too.
”Being a manager, I had to wake up early for every morning practice and stay late for games just to help out the team. Scoring made all my efforts as a manager feel appreciated and it felt amazing seeing the ball go in,”says Senior Daniel Gonzalez.
Explorers Soccer Makes it 2 for 2
The Explorers now faced Archbishop McCarthy on December 5th. They won by a large margin and a final score of 5-0. This would be McCarthy’s undefeated streak thus far in the season, and the 7th win for the Explorers who now stand at 7-2-1.
Senior Jorge Tello stole the spotlight on this one. He decided the hat trick wasn’t enough and scored a fourth goal. Senior Junior Stockton was able to get one in as well. Junior Goalkeeper Max Pacheco was able to hold his own that night, tallying 2 saves and a shutout against the Mavericks.
The Panther has been Slain
The Explorers Basketball team faced Divine Savior Academy and the Sharks on December 2nd. They scored a total of 72 points and held the visiting Sharks to 57 with hundreds in attendance for this non-league game.
The Explorers got revenge on Palmetto Senior High School in their home court on December 5th. The Explorers set their sights to new heights, turning the game into what looked like a dunk competition. They won by 25 points, with a final score of 93-68. Looking ahead, the Explorers are looking strong at 6-1, heading into the rest of their season where they will be facing Principia on the 18th of December.
Another topic to take note of is that 6 Explorers were featured on MiamiDadeBB and Mcgee’s State Preseason Top Performers:
Senior Caleb Gaskins
Freshman Caydin Gaskins
Senior Cello Jackson
Senior Felipe Quinones
Senior Jeremiah Hammond
Sophomore Jordan Fisher
Wrestling finishes 2nd in season opener
This past weekend, the Varsity Wrestlers travelled to Brooksville, FL to compete at the Windham Rotunda Memorial Tournament at Hernando High School. They got off to a great start, coming in at the runner up spot by just 3.5 points behind the first place team.
They had a total of 11 placers, with 5 finalists and 2 champions! The final matches were under a spotlight, which allowed for a fun end to the tournament.
Below are the wrestlers who placed:
126lbs Dominic Rodriguez 9th, 3rd place
132lbs Victor Zanolini 12th, 3rd place
132lbs Lucca Aragon 9th, 5th place
138lbs Joshua Perez 11th, 2nd place
144lbs Brandon Rizo 12th, 4th place
150lbs Alcides Martinez 12th, 2nd place
15 7lbs Tomas Campian 10th, Champion
165lbs Julian Sierra 11th, Champion
175lbs Jayden Aleman 10th, 5th place
215lbs Tedrick Lee 12th, 2nd place
285lbs Shawn Dozier 10th, 4th place
