Sharks tread through uncharted waters

LAND O' LAKES - For the first time in its young, four-year history, the Nature Coast Technical wrestling team beat out county rivals Central and Hernando in a tournament.

Led by David Simonson, who won his 112-pound weight class, the Sharks finished seventh overall in the 21-team tournament to beat out both the Bears and Leopards.

Simonson, a junior, whose best finish in an individual tournament before Saturday was a third-place finish at Kissimmee-Poinciana this year, folded Anthony Biondo of River Ridge, 14-4, to give the Sharks their first gold medal winner this year.

"Anytime you get someone into the finals of a tournament, that's good," said NCT Head Coach Mike Lastra Saturday. "We've been trying to turn things around for awhile this year. Now, we're starting to get the numbers but we still have a long way to go."

Simonson started the tourney with a bye in the second round and then earned a technical fall over James Wery of South Lake in the quarterfinals.

In the semis, Simonson got a break as Anthony Ayers of Mitchell forfeited the match and then Simonson dominated Biondo in the final to win.

Also for the Sharks, Brandon Nuby took third place with a pin at 2:35 over Justin Zeedyk of Dunedin while freshman Tyler Forand came in fourth at 103 pounds.

"Tyler did really well today. He was 0-2 in the Kiwanis tournament and 1-2 at Poinciana. Then he came in here and got a fourth, that surprised me," said the NCT coach.

Nuby took a third place at 215 pounds and like his team, Lastra says the senior grappler will surprise some people.

"He didn't wrestle last year because we had Lee Lehman there," explained Lastra. "But Nuby is going to shock some people at the district and regional.

"We're progressing every match and that's a good thing. It's like I said at the beginning of the year, our goal is to get 10 people into the regional tournament," said Lastra.

"We still have a long way to go, but from now on anytime we face someone from our district, we have to beat them. Now we have the bodies to do that," he said.

"Right now, we're in the middle of the pack," he added. "And we're aiming for the district now, we want to end up in the top three there and also do well in the region."