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Hernando Today

SHS: Strong Showing

Photo by JOE DiCRISTOFALO

Springstead senior Scott Wern finished runner-up at 189 pounds at the Cougar Invitational.

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By MARTY MILLER

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: December 7, 2008

PLANT CITY - One week ago, the Springstead Eagles wrestling team won its 14th team title in the past five seasons when they took first place in a tournament at Ocala-Forest High School.
This past weekend, the Eagles made a huge step up in grade and had a good showing for it as they finished fourth in the two-day, 31-team, 13th annual Cougar Invitational Tournament at Durant High.
With seven wrestlers finishing in the top six, the Eagles came in fourth Saturday in the team standings, beating out rival Bradenton-Manatee by a scant one-half point.
"We don't have another tournament this season that is as tough as this one," said Eagle Head Coach Eric Swensen. "Except for Brandon, everyone good is here. You've got teams like South Dade, Riverdale, Kissimmee-Osceola, Manatee, Winter Garden and us. I don't even think the Ippolito Tournament is as tough. So as a team, I think we wrestled very well."
Homestead-South Dade the tournament with 248.5 points with defending Class 1A State Champion Riverdale second, Kissimmee-Osceola third and Springstead fourth.

SHS: Two in the finals

Springstead also had two wrestlers in the championship finals as sophomore Nick Soto lost in the 125-pound final 9-2 to Eric Chandler of Miami-Braddock while Eagle senior Scott Wern also lost his final match at 189 pounds, losing 10-4 to Caylor Williams of Palm Bay.
Besides Nick Soto and Wern, the Eagles had Richie Bliss at 103 and Jesse Lorentsen at 171 finish third while freshman Cody Ross at 130, junior Kenny Cox at 215 came in fifth while senior Thad Klenovich was sixth at 171 pounds.
And with the Eagles losing seven seniors to graduation and not having anyone wrestle in two weight classes Saturday, Swensen thought his team did great, especially for as young as it is.
"It's pretty much the whole team. We lost seven starters and with Dustin Soto (torn ACL) and Charles Oquendo (ankle) both out, we've got nine different people from the team that finished in seventh here last year."

Almost gold

In the 125-pound final, Soto fell behind 7-1 after one period before losing 9-2 to Williams, who finished third in the state meet last year.
"I felt like I did good and ran into a tough kid in the finals, but it's a tough tournament," said the Eagle sophomore.
He also said that with a goal to win the state tournament at the end of the year, facing someone like Williams again later in the year is important.
"It's a different level of wrestling. It's tough losing the finals but he was stronger and older. I hope to see him again later in the year and beating him."
In the 189-pound final, the third-seeded Wern simply ran into a better wrestler in the finals. The Eagle senior led 2-1 in the first period but then suffered a near-fall in the second period and two other takedowns later in losing 10-4.
"That's the kind of high-end matches you see at the state tournament," said the Eagle senior. "Early in the tournament, it was sort of easy, but by the quarterfinals, it became more like a state tournament."
For Swensen and his team, next week they'll compete in Brooksville-Kiwanis Tournament at Hernando High. But he believes that the showing this weekend of some of his younger wrestlers is a good sign.
"Richie Bliss is a sophomore and came in third, Nick Soto was second and he's also a sophomore and then freshman Cody Ross was fifth and so on," pointed out Swensen. "With so many young guys, and to beat teams like Manatee and Lake Gibson and Winter Springs, I think we did very well."

Final Cougar Invitational Team Results:

1. Homestead-South Dade, (SD) 248.5; 2. Riverdale, (RV) 200.0; 3. Kissimmee Osceola (KO) 189.5; 4. Springstead (SPG) 175.5; 5. Bradenton Manatee, (MAN) 175.0; 6. Lake Gibson (LG) 168.5; 7. Winter Springs (WS) 143.5; 8. Palm Bay (PB) 137.0; 9. Miami Braddock (BRA) 130.5; 10. Palm Beach Gardens (PBG) 125.5; 11. Gainesville (GA) 96.0; 12. Durant (DUR) 85.5; 13. Suwannee (SUW) 74.5; 14. Riverview (RIV) 72.5; 15. Countryside (COU) 50.0; 16. Lakeland (LAK) 48.5; 17. Tampa Jesuit (TJ) 47.0; 18. Cocoa Beach (CB) 42.0; 19. Chamberlain (CHA) 40.0; 20. Jefferson (JEF) 39.0; 21. Wharton (WHA) 37.5; 22. Olympia (OLM) 33.0; 23. Tampa Prep (TP) 32.0; 24. Winter Haven (WH) 27.5; 25. Bayshore (BAY) and Sickles (SIC) 25.0; 27. Sarasota Riverview (SR) 22.5; 28. Plant (PLA) 16.0; 29. Hillsborough (HIL) 10.0; 30. Lakes Wales (LW) 9.0; 31. Miami Southeast (MS) 0.

Championship round
103 - Travis Laxton (SUW) dec. Earl Hall (SD) 5-4.
112 - Quintavian McPhearson (SD) dec. Alex Hamn (DUR) 9-3.
119 - Gabe Chandler (BRA) maj. dec. Mauricio Villanue (SD) 9-2.
125 - Eric Chandler (BRA) dec. Nick Soto (SPG) 9-2.
130 - Matt Nereim (WS) dec. Joe Locksmith (KO) 14-11.
135 - Pete Baldwin (KO) pinned Wilson Metellus (SD) 6:29.
140 - Brent Jorge (LG) dec. Heman Hernandez (RIV) 5-3.
145 - Kendrick Sanders (SD) dec. Gabriel Bird (KO) 5-3.
152 - Alex Eggers (KO) dec. Nick Rex (LG) 7-1.
160 - David Richardson (LG) dec. John Nichols (LAK) 5-4.
171 - Jacob Harmer (GA) pinned Levi Clemons (KO) 1:24.
189 - Caylor Williams (PB) dec. Scott Wern (SPG) 10-4.
215 - Willie Wiggans (SD) tech. dec. Trevor Dunn (RIV) 18-2;
285 - John Lopez (PBG) dec. Josh Wofford (PB) 5-3.

Springstead Results:
Weight Name W-L-P Place
103 Richie Bliss 4-1-3 3rd
112 Sean Redman 2-2-0 -
125 Nick Soto 3-1-0 2nd
130 Cody Ross 5-2-1 5th
135 Sam Colon 2-2-1 -
140 Collon Zimmerman 2-2-1 -
145 Shawn Landgraff 3-2-3 -
152 Tommy Ellerbee 2-2-1 -
160 Thad Klenovich 4-2-2 6th
171 Jess Lorentsen 5-1-4 3rd
189 Scott Wern 4-1-2 2nd
215 Kenny Cox 2-2-1 -
Totals 38-20-19

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