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The New Kids on the Block
Photo by JOE DiCRISTOFALO
On Saturday, Springstead High had 13-of-14 wrestlers place featuring six gold medals as the Eagles earned their 14th tournament championship in five seasons under Head Coach Eric Swensen at Marion County’s third annual, 16-team Ocala-Forest Invitational Tournament.
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Published: November 30, 2008
OCALA - Minutes after Springstead High claimed its 14th team title in five years in an impressive fashion Saturday night in Marion County, Eagle Head Coach wasn't savoring the win as most.
"There's five or six flaws that (assistant coach) Sal (Basile) and I saw today," explained Swensen. "There's plenty of things we need to work on. But for our first-ever Thanksgiving tournament we finished rather well. Thirteen placers is pretty good.
"Sal and I are perfectionists. And we know the road ahead is only going to get tougher. With no disrespect to any of our past heavy guys, since I've been here, we've been a lightweight-dominated team," added Swensen. "It was to nice to have our heavier guys be just as successful tonight."
Springstead claimed the third annual, 16-team Ocala-Forest Invitational Tournament by leading the mixed field from the opening whistle.
As expected, the tourney turned out to be a three-horse field as SHS finished with 243 points followed by Ocala-Forest (178.5) and DeLand High (151.0).
Though no Springstead wrestlers took home either of the Outstanding Wrestler Awards, it was a dazzling performance.
SHS grapplers captured 77 percent of their matches (33-of-43). Most impressive was the kill ratio. Spring Hill grapplers posted 26 pins in 33 wins - or 79 percent.
Baker's dozen place
The Forest Invitational placed the top six finishers as SHS led the field with 13-of-14.
The top four individuals in each weight class earned a medal as the Eagles toted home 11 medallions.
Springstead's six individual champions included: sophomores Richie Bliss at (103 pounds) and Nick Soto (125), seniors Thad Klenovich (160), Jessey Lorentsen (171), Scott Wern (189) and junior Kenny Cox (215).
Two Eagles were denied in Saturday night's championship round, as highly-touted freshman Cody Ross lost Tampa Bay Christian Academy eighth-grader Kevin Norstrem at 119, 4-3, while Deland High's Sina Eslami pinned sophomore Devean Huff at 130, in 4:50.
In the consolation finals, freshman Colton Zimmermann at 140, junior Thomas Ellerbee at 152, and senior Charles Oquendo each placed third.
Rounding out the field, sophomore Shawn Landgraff finished fifth at 145 and Sean "Buddha" Redman finished sixth at 112.
Gold diggers
Perhaps what made Saturday's results so special was that Bliss, Soto and Cox had never previously finished atop the podium in an individual open prep tournament.
Wern was a slight exception winning districts last winter -- his only previous gold medal effort.
Klenovich, for instance, won four events last winter en route to his initial State Championship Meet appearance.
"Getting gold is great," exclaimed the 16-year-old Bliss, the younger brother of three-time state qualifier Steven Bliss. "Sometimes practices are hard, but Coach Swensen is always pushing us to do better. Today, I felt good," added Bliss, who finished 2-0 with two pins including a 71-second pin of West Port's Caleb Kreiser in the finals. "I have to admit, I was nervous before the final. But I kinda tuned out the crowd and that helped me pin the kid."
Soto finished 3-0 featuring 2-0 pins and his decisive 12-0 major decision in the finals over Forest Sophomore and 2008 state qualifier Virgil Toms.
"I know I've worked harder than the other kid to get here," pointed out the two-time Fargo, ND All-American, 16-year-old Soto. "I kinda him broke him (Toms) in the first period."
Why the success?
"It's all about the coaches and my practice partners pushing us," replied Soto. "The room is what separates the guys that get gold. You gotta put in the time. My first gold is nice to have, but I'm certainly not satisfied. I've got to work even harder for Durant."
Klenovich improved t 4-0 on the season behind a 3-0 run at Forest, featuring two pins. Klenovich, the No. 2 seed, waxed the No. 1 seed and 2008 state qualifier Michael Wexler from Forest, 15-7 in the championship finals.
"When you go up against a seeded guy, you want to do well," understated the 17-year-old Klenovich. "A win like this sets you up down the road."
Overall?
"I wrestled good," said Klenovich. "I feel like I still have to work on my hands and my conditioning."
And the team?
"Today, everybody wrestled their butts off," expressed Klenovich. "It was a nice win, but as a team we have much higher goals."
2008 Ocala-Forest Invitational Team Standings:
PL Team CLASS PTS
1. Spring Hill-Springstead (SPG) 2A-5 243.0
2. Ocala-Forest (OF) 2A-4 178.5
3. Deland (DEL) 3A-2 151.0
4. Middleburg (MIDD) 2A-2 82.0
5. Citra-North Marion (NM) 1A-5 79.0
6. Palatka (PAL) 2A-4 75.0
6. Dunnellon (DUN) 1A-5 73.0
8. Ocala-West Port (WP) 1A-5 60.5
9. Daytona Beach-Seabreeze (SEA) 2A-6 52.0
10. Tampa Bay Christian (TBC) 1A-9 51.0
11. Tampa Bay-Berkeley Prep (BERK) 1A-9 38.0
12. Ocala-Lake Weir (LWR) 2A-4 36.0
13. Fort White (FW) 1A-2 29.0
14. Ocala-Trinity Catholic (OTC) 1A-5 22.0
15. Panama City-Bay (BAY) 1A-1 17.0
16. Groveland-South Lake (SL) 2A-5 12.0
Past Ocala-Forest High Tournament Champions
Date Champion
2008 Spring Hill-Springstead
2007 Ocala-Forest
2006 DeLand
2008 Ocala-Forest Inv. Finals
103 - Bliss (SPG) pin Kreiser (WP), 1:11
112 - Varnes (PAL) major dec. Richardson (DUN), 12-2
119 - Norstrem (TBC) dec. Ross (SPG), 4-3
125 - N. Soto (SPG) major dec. Toms (FOR), 12-0
130 - Eslami (DEL) pin Huff (SPG), 4:50
135 - Sotomayer (DEL) tech. fall Laws (SEA), 15-0
140 - Grimes (DEL) dec. Gonzalez (NM), 10-3
145 - Detwiler (WP) dec. Bryant (PAL), 6-5
152 - Lessor (OF) tech. fall Eggelton (MID), 17-2
160 - Klenovich (SPG) major dec. Wexler (OF), 15-7
171 - Lorentsen (SPG) tech fall Pettis (OF), 17-2
189 - Wern (SPG) pin Gandy (DUN), 1:51
215 - Cox (SPG) major dec. Turkel (BP), 10-0
285 - Carter (OF) pin McInarnay (MID), 2:00
2008 Ocala-Forest Inv. Consolation Finals
103 - Thompson (NM) dec. Horn (TBC), 10-4
112 - Mascia (SEA) pin Muse (DEL), 1:35
119 - Hoppel (OTC) pin Swartz (MID), 1:12
125 - Guzman (DEL) pin White (LW), 1:20
130 - Lippman (BAY) major dec. Crudup (MID), 14-3
135 - Pickren (BP) pin Hurst (NM), 1:30
140 - Zimmermann (SPG) dec. Gordian (OF), 7-4
145 - Mangum (OF) dec. Stinnett (FW), 5-2
152 - Ellerbee (SPG) major dec. Howard (FW), 8-0
160 - Leone (DUN) vs. pin Martella (DEL), 1:13
171 - Ferrante (NM) pin Delgado (DUN), 1:32
189 - Maddox (DEL) pin Epps (NM), 4:53
215 - Drayton (PAL) dec. Mills (DEL), 14-13
285 - Oquendo (SPG) pin Cobbs (PAL), 0:23
2008 Ocala-Forest Inv. Awards
Outstanding Wrestler Lightweights - Sina Eslami (DEL)
Outstanding Wrestler Heavyweights - Rickey Carter (OF)
Springstead at Ocala-Forest Inv. Individual Results
Wgt Name Won Lost Pins PL
103 Bliss, Richie 2 0 2 1st
112 Redman, Sean 3 2 3 6th
119 Ross, Cody 2 1 2 2nd
125 Soto, Nick 3 0 2 1st
130 Huff, Devean 2 1 2 2nd
135 Colon, Sammy 0 2 0 -
140 Zimmermann, Colton 2 1 1 3rd
145 Landgraff, Shawn 3 1 3 5th
152 Ellerbee, Thomas 2 1 1 3rd
160 Klenovich, Thad 3 0 2 1st
171 Lorentsen, Jessey 4 0 2 1st
189 Wern, Scott 2 0 2 1st
215 Cox, Kenny 3 0 2 1st
285 Oquendo, Charles 2 1 2 3rd
TOTALS 33 10 26 -
Sports Editor Tony Castro can be reached at (352) 544-5278 or online at acastro@hernandotoday.com.
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