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'Cane mutiny

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By MARTY MILLER, Hernando Today correspondent

Published: December 20, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - In the end, Springstead's wrestling coach may have summed the weekend the best when he was talking with his team right after his team fell in the finals of the fifth annual Gulf Duals Holiday Wrestling Tournament.

The Eagles easily ran through their five pool opponents in the round-robin portion of the 24-team tournament before they crunched Citrus (51-11) in the semifinals and lost to powerhouse Manatee in the finals, 39-28.

Eric Swensen called his team together and told them that the tournament showed that they could wrestle with anyone.

Early on, the Eagles had an easy time winning their six-team pool in the two-day event as they went 5-0 and never were really challenged.

The Eagles, who had won the past two Gulf Holiday Dual tournaments, pounced everyone in their bracket, winning by more than 50 points in every match as they beat Tampa Prep (62-10), Hudson (64-13), Crystal River (68-12), Golden Gate (68-12) and shutting out Ridgewood (75-0).

In the semifinals, Springstead went up against Group D winner Citrus and cruised to victory again, besting the Inverness club (51-11) to set up the final against Class 2A power Manatee.

"For us, it was going outstanding," said Eagle coach Eric Swensen. "We beat a very good Citrus team in the semis. Then we get into the finals, and no disrespect meant toward Manatee because they're a great team, but we gave away too many points against them."

Vets led the way

Like most of the tournament, the Eagles were led most of the two days by their veterans. In their seven matches, Schuyler Swanton, C. J. Cook, Steven Bliss, Thad Klenovich and Cesar Acosta all went unbeaten.

But in the finals against Manatee, which is the third-ranked team in the Class 2A poll, the Eagles met their match.

Springstead won five matches against the Hurricanes as Dustin Soto at 103 and Steven Bliss at 130 won by pins while Swanton at 112, Klenovich at 160 and Acosta at 189 won decisions in the finals.

But Swensen also said that his team may have lost its composure in the finals, "We gave away two points for stalling at 171 and that cost us that match and Huff lost his match to Jacob Gregory 12-6."

The win by Gregory was important for the Hurricanes in that during the past summer, Huff had beaten Gregory.

"He beat Jacob by 10 points in the summer and we heard about that a lot," said Manatee coach Andy Gugliemini. "They kept bringing that up a lot but we knew Jacob was better than that. This win puts us ahead of them. Next time we face them will be at the Brandon Graves tournament and I think we'll be seeded third and they'll be fourth. But you need these types of matches."

For Springstead, its coach thought his team might not have come into the tournament hungry enough.

"Hey, last week we won the Kiwanis tournament," remarked Swensen. "And we shut out Land O' Lakes and maybe we came into this a little cocky."

Even though the Eagles went 6-1 this week and are ranked fourth in the state Class 2A poll, Swensen believes his team could have won the tournament if it had not made so many mistakes against Manatee.

"We wrestle Manatee all summer, our 5-year old kids wrestle them," Swensen indicated. "Overall, we gave up a couple points here and there and we lost a match or two we could have won and it cost us the match."

Springstead also lost Sean Hughes to an elbow injury in the finals in his 140-pound match against Manatee's Matt King.

"They beat us at the Durant tournament a few weeks ago and we knew going in this was going to be tough," added Swensen.

Round Robin:

Springstead 62, Tampa Prep 10; Springstead 64, Hudson 13; Springstead 68, Crystal River 12; Springstead 68, Golden Gate 12; Springstead 75, Ridgewood 0.

Semifinals: Springstead 51, Citrus 11; Manatee 57, River Ridge 15.

Third place: Citrus 37, River Ridge 27.

First place: Manatee 39, Springstead 28.

ROUND 1: SPRINGSTEAD 62, TAMPA PREP 10

103 - Richie Bliss (SPG) won by forfeit

112 - Tyler Liberatore (TP) pin Dustin Soto, 2:12

119 - Skylar Huff (SPG) pin Charlie Baumann, 1:07

125 - C. J. Cook (SPG) won by forfeit

130 - Steve Bliss (SPG) won by forfeit

135 - Shawn Landgraff (SPG) pin Evan Echave, 1:33

140 - Charles Tkatch (TP) maj. dec. Sean Hughes, 9-1

145 - Tommy Ellerbee (SPG) pin Chase Harris, 1:03

152 - Thad Klenovich (SPG) dec. William Stein, 8-3

160 - Double forfeit

171 - Scott Wern (SPG) tech. fall Wes Jarrell, 18-2

189 - Cesar Acosta (SPG) pin Gabe Zohar, 2:06

215 - Kenny Cox (SPG) won by forfeit

HWT - Carlos Ramirez (SPG) pin James Gift, 1:48

ROUND 2: SPRINGSTEAD 64, HUDSON 13

103 - R. Bliss (SPG) pin Brian Houle, 0:31

112 - Soto (SPG) pin Kyle Hoppestad, 0:15

119 - Huff (SPG) pin John McArdle, 4:36

125 - Cook (SPG) won by forfeit

130 - S. Bliss (SPG) pin Pat McArdle, 1:08

135 - Landgraff (SPG) maj. dec. Michael Daye, 16-2

140 - Hughes (SPG) pin Quintin Humphrey, 1:57

145 - Ellerbee (SPG) won by forfeit

152 - Klenovich (SPG) won by DQ Brian Tier

160 - Tony Germano (HUD) won by forfeit

171 - Deviniee Brown (HUD) tech. fall Wern, 18-3

189 - Acosta (SPG) pin William Bentley, 2:35

215 - Cox (SPG) pin Derrick Collins, 1:36

HWT - Travis Tindell HUD) dec. Ramirez, 3-2

ROUND 3: SPRINGSTEAD 58, CRYSTAL RIVER 12

103 - Soto (SPG) pin David Vreeland, 2:12

112 - Schuyler Swanton (SPG) pin Matthew Neal, 2:45

119 - Huff (SPG) dec. Brandon Jones, 6-0

125 - Cook (SPG) maj. dec. John Koney, 12-2

130 - S. Bliss (SPG) won by forfeit

135 - Landgraff (SPG) pin Rocky Mueller, 0:59

140 - Hughes (SPG) pin Branden Carpenter, 1:23

145 - Dustin Panaccione (CR) pin Ellerbee, 1:40

152 - Klenovich (SPG) dec. Kevin Drawdy, 4-3

160 - Double forfeit

171 - Wern (SPG) won by forfeit

189 - Acosta (SPG) won by forfeit

215 - Robert Brass (CR) pin Cox, 0:46

HWT - Ramirez (SPG) pin Rene Cruz, 1:28

ROUND 4: SPRINGSTEAD 68, GOLDEN GATE 12

103 - Soto (SPG) pin Steven Clermont, 1:06

112 - Swanton (SPG) pin Kyle Morris, 1:22

119 - Huff (SPG) won by injury default

125 - Cook (SPG) pin Thomas Guevara, 1:40

130 - S. Bliss (SPG) won by forfeit

140 - Landgraff (SPG) dec. Fernando Alverez, 9-7

140 - Hughes (SPG) pin John Norelia, 0:56

145 - Ellerbee (SPG) won by forfeit

152 - Klenovich (SPG) won by forfeit

160 - Stephen Ortiz (GG) won by forfeit

171 - Wern (SPG) pin Daniel Godoy, 0:39

189 - Acosta tech. fall Michael Norelia, 17-2

215 - Cox (SPG) Henry Sanchez, 0:59

HWT - Tommy Kleinmeyer (GG) pin Ramirez, 0:48

ROUND 5: SPRINGSTEAD 75, RIDGEWOOD 0

103 - Soto (SPG) won by forfeit

112 - Swanton (SPG) dec. Dean Stupar, 9-2

119 - Huff (SPG) won by forfeit

125 - S. Bliss (SPG) pin John Glenny, 1:36

130 - Cook (SPG) won by forfeit

135 - Landgraff (SPG) won by forfeit

140 - Hughes (SPG) pin Jonathan Drummond, 1:20

145 - Ellerbee (SPG) pin Justin Bailey, 1:20

152 - Klenovich (SPG) pin Conor Foley, 2:36

160 - Double forfeit

171 - Wern (SPG) pin Preston Dameron, 0:49

189 - Acosta (SPG) won by forfeit

215 - Cox (SPG) won by forfeit

HWT - Ramirez (SPG) won by forfeit

SEMIFINALS: SPRINGSTEAD 51, CITRUS 11

103 - Soto (SPG) pin Robert Norman, 0:23

112 - Swanton (SPG) won by forfeit

119 - Huff (SPG) dec. Craig Barker, 3-0

125 - Cook (SPG) dec. Bryant Fisher, 4-3

130 - S. Bliss (SPG) maj. dec. Chris Toles, 8-0

135 - Landgraff (SPG) pin Cody Sumlin, 4:17

140 - John Rutherford (CIT) dec. Hughes, 9-8

145 - Cody Neptune (CIT) dec. Ellerbee, 12-6

152 - Klenovich (SPG) maj. dec. David Zulkey, 10-1

160 - Tim Murton (CIT) won by forfeit

171 - Wern (SPG) maj. dec. Jacob Johnson, 13-1

189 - Acosta (SPG) pin Aaron Zulkey, 5:34

215 - Cox (SPG) dec. Josh Sumlin, 3-1

HWT - Ramirez (SPG) pin Antonio Whitelaw, 0:51

FINAL: MANATEE 39, SPRINGSTEAD 28

103 - Travis Fulk (MAN) pin Soto, 1:04

112 - Swanton (SPG) maj. dec. Mike Torres, 14-4

119 - Jacob Gregory (MAN) maj. dec. Huff, 15-6

125 - Cook (SPG) won by forfeit

130 - S. Bliss (SPG) pin Alex Doran, 3:21

135 - Jon Espinoza (MAN) won by injury default Landgraff

140 - Matt King (MAN) pin Hughes (SPG), 2:45

145 - Daniel Dykes (MAN) maj. dec. Ellerbee, 11-4

152 - Isaac Riley (MAN) won by forfeit

160 - Klenovich (SPG) dec. Kobe Reynolds, 11-4

171 - Brian Guradarri (MAN) dec. Wern, 3-2

189 - Acosta (SPG) dec. Brice Guy, 4-2

215 - Andrew Fulk (MAN) pin Cox, 1:45

HWT - Richie Cunningham (MAN) pin Ramirez, 3:50

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