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Hernando Today

Five Tourneys, Five Gold Medals

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By TONY CASTRO SPORTS EDITOR

Published: January 19, 2008

There are no guarantees in life.

Okay, maybe death and taxes.

Like life, prep sports offers no certainties. There are no sure bets. There are no locks.

But at Hernando High, two current grapplers appear destined to reach the Class 1A State Finals Feb. 16 at the Lakeland Center.

No, I'm not talking about sophomore Daniel Pritz at 125 pounds.

Sure, the second-year wrestler has placed in all six tournaments he's competed in this winter.

Pritz, who is currently ranked fifth in the county behind a solid 28-7 won-lost slate, placed third in this past weekend's 18th annual Springstead Invitational.

But Pritz has secured one gold medal -- in the season-opening, watered-downed Berkeley Prep Invitational.

Like most young mat men, Pritz has to learn how to lose.

Take his second bout at Springstead. He appeared comfortably ahead 6-0 against River Ridge's Dennis Saunders. But Saunders never gave up pinning Pritz in the second period in 3:08.

"I was up early," recalled the 16-year-old Pritz. "Then I got sloppy and the kid caught me in a spadle. It's my fault; I should have made it to the finals."
Pritz joined juniors James Davidson at 171 pounds and George Smith at 160 in garnering third-place consolation medals in Spring Hill.

But the Leopards finished 29-15 overall, featuring 17 pins, behind their senior 1-2 punch: Jesse Graham at 140 and Taylor Rotunda at 215.

Graham grabs gold

Graham, in his fourth varsity season, also collected his team-leading sixth medallion this winter in his final tournament in Hernando County.

Graham seems at the top of his game.

He wrenched his first two opponents at Springstead via technical falls, 20-5 and 24-9.

He utilized his superior quickness and uncanny takedown ability to reach the semifinals. There he pinned River Ridge's Sean Hitchcock in 2:25.

In the finals, the tourney's top seed tangled with Lithia-Newsome's Mike Colanna. He mentally destroyed Colanna etching 13 takedowns to win going away, 26-11.

How convincing was Graham's 114th victory in 149 career matches?

Colanna's 11 points were courtesy of Graham. Graham gave him 1-point escapes for every takedown he produced.

"This year, I feel I'm much, much improved overall," described the 17-year-old Graham, who climbed to 29-1 overall this winter. "I've improved a lot on my takedowns. I feel like I've gotten so much better in finishing my shots. We've begun to pick up the pace in practice. Hopefully, I'll be ready to hit my peak at states."

Rotunda: remains unbeaten

Of the 88 Hernando County varsity wrestlers who have competed in more than two matches, there's only one unbeaten grappler left -- Rotunda.

The chiseled 6-foot-3 Rotunda, like Graham, is competing at an exceptional level.

How high?

At Springstead, Rotunda went 5-1 last winter and finished third overall.

Over this past weekend, Rotunda went 4-for-4, winning four matches -- all by impressive pins.

As the weight division's No. 1 seed, Rotunda opened the meet with a 31-second folding of Hillsborough High's Anthony Herbello.

Next, Rotunda crunched Zephyrhills' Cory Christiansen in 15 ticks.

In the semifinals, Rotunda led 7-1 after four minutes before producing a pin in 4:41 over Central senior Nathan Brazeau.

The finals offered a rematch against Pasco High's two-time state qualifier Eric Stroud.

Last winter, Stroud solved Rotunda at the Springstead Inv., 5-2, but the three-year letterman returned the favor winning in regionals, 7-6.

At the Gulf Duals in New Port Richey in December, Rotunda defeated Stroud, 8-2.

This time he needed 4:40 before disposing Stroud for his 19th pin of the season.

With the win, Rotunda stretched his career-long win skein to 24-0.

How solid has he been?

"Right now he's dominating everything," explained Hernando High's long-time assistant coach Bill Combs Sr. "Remember, Stroud was ranked No. 1 for a while. Taylor's beaten him twice. The first time at Gulf, he (Rotunda) didn't want to mess up. This time, he pinned him."

What's the secret to his success?

"He's so strong," shared Combs. "And he picks things up fast. Remember, he's only a two-year wrestler. You can't count his sophomore year; he got hurt after the first week and never made it back.

"Last year, he was really just a first-year wrestler who made it all the way to states," beamed Combs. "That just doesn't happen very often. Right now, he's undefeated and beating state-ranked kids."

Life tossed the high-flying Rotunda a curve late Saturday night. He was injured early in the match against Stroud.

According to Combs, the undisclosed injury will sideline Rotunda for this weekend's Golden Gate Dual Tournament and possibly the year-end dual meet at Springstead on Jan. 23.

So, the state's No. 1 ranked Class 1A 215-pounder will be in Naples - but not in a singlet. Just blue jeans.

In Rotunda's case, like many of the predecessors before him, there are no guarantees.

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