In Full Swing

Each of the county's mat programs, including Nature Coast Technical - which is making its seasonal debut, is in action this weekend in three separate tournaments.
Here's a breakdown.

Eagles at rugged Durant Inv.

For a third straight winter, unbeaten Springstead High will venture into Hillsborough County today for the stout, two-day, 31-team 13th annual Cougar Invitational at Plant City-Durant High.
In 2006, SHS finished fourth, but dipped to sixth last season.
The Durant field is top-heavy featuring some of the finest mat programs in the state.
Defending tourney champion Fort Myers-Riverdale will be joined by Homestead-South Dade, Bradenton-Manatee, Kissimmee-Osceola, Gainesville, Spring Hill-Springstead, Melbourne-Palm Bay, Suwannee, Clearwater-Countryside, Winter Springs and Cocoa Beach.
According to Durant's sixth-year Head Coach Dennis Kitko, this tourney is not for the faint of heart.
"We're figuring something like 13 state champs or state runner-ups will be here along with anywhere between 70-80 of the state's ranked wrestlers," pointed out Kitko. "Our tournament gives teams a chance to be among the best in the state. Kids can see where they're at and what they need to improve on to reach the elite status.
"We think that if you win here," added Kitko. "You'll do well at states."
What about the host Cougars?
"We're a young team, kinda like Springstead," indicated Kitko. "The thing is we've underachieved at states (at the 3A level) and we need to address that. We don't have any superstars, but our goal is to be wrestling our best during the state series."
Who'll win this year's Cougar Inv.?
"In no particular order, I see Manatee, South Dade and Osceola as the top three," forecasted Coach Kitko. "South Dade and Osceola are really stacked. I see both of those teams pushing 4-6 guys into the finals."
The Eagles return four grapplers from last year's Cougar Inv. including: Thad Klenovich, Shawn Landgraff, Thomas Ellerbee and Kenny Cox. Remember, SHS's lone champion last winter, Dustin Soto, is out for the season (ACL injury) this year.
Thus, Klenovich is the lone returning placer. He went 5-1 to finish third overall.
Landgraff, Ellerbee and Cox went a combined 3-6 last winter.
Springstead's fifth-year Head Coach Eric Swensen clearly understands where the Eagles are headed.
"We're not ignorant about wrestling," Swensen said. "Durant could be as hard as the state tournament. There's a huge mix of talent there. Now, we're not afraid of going against the best, but the bottom line is we'd like to improve on what we did last year. But I'm a realist; we have to do that with a young team."
Swensen admitted that the Eagles will be minus senior heavyweight Charles Oquendo, who apparently suffered an Achilles injury at Ocala-Forest and is out.
Besides Oquendo, sophomore Devean Huff will not be competing this weekend for undisclosed reasons.
Instead, senior Anthony Urso will be competing at 119 pounds while freshman Cody Ross is expected to bump up to 130 pounds.
Wrestling begins at 3 p.m. today while Saturday's first round is set for 9:30 a.m. Tourney finals are scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
A plaque will be awarded to the grappler with the most pins in the least amount of time along with two outstanding wrestler awards.
The top six individual placers will receive medals while the top five teams will receive trophies.
 
Central, NCT at Bear Duals
 
Instead of journeying to Citrus High this winter, Central High decided to host a six-team Bear Duals Tournament at the Bears' Den Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m.
The field includes the host Bears, Nature Coast Technical, Auburndale, Palm Harbor University, Lecanto and Ocala-Vanguard.
How's the field?
"It's an interesting mix," described CHS' third-year Head Coach Roy Reyes. "Auburndale is a longtime power, I see Lecanto and NCT as up-and-coming programs and Vanguard and Palm Harbor are both getting better."
How will the Bears fare?
"I like our chances," pointed out Reyes, whose team opened the season by capturing the 13-team Solomon Classic. "But we've got to have a strong chain across the board. Our individual goal for each guy is 5-0. We just want every guy to take care of his own business. If 8-9 guys go 5-0, then we should end up 5-0.
"We're gonna weigh-in two guys in every weight class and go from there," acknowledged Reyes. "The key on Saturday is not to give up big points and staying off our backs. We can't afford guys to get majored or teched."
NCT's fifth-year Head Coach Mike Lastra understands the butterflies because his team has yet to step between the lines.
"I think we'll have a solid team," said Lastra. "There's really not a dominant team in this field. And yes, I think Central is the team to beat."
What's the primary objective?
"I'd like our kids to get out there and transfer what we've been preaching to them in practice on to the mats," Lastra said. "We'll have all our starters except for Matt (Lambert). He'll be at an all-star cross country race. I think two guys that will surprise some people will be Scott Cronin at 125 and Chad Dampier at 215."
Saturday's format is simple. Each team will face each other once, allotting the state maximum five matches. The top three finishing teams will receive trophies.
Bumping is allowed permitting the teams to bring as many wrestlers as they want into the tournament.
NCT, which has not officially stepped on the mats, will do so today beginning with Auburndale, PHU, Lecanto, Vanguard and Central.
The Bears' schedule features Vanguard, Auburndale, PHU, Lecanto and NCT.
After the second round, there will be a 20-30 minute break. Wrestling is expected to be completed by 5:30 p.m.
 
Leopards at Sebastian River
 
The Hernando Leopards, who have not competed since finishing third in the 14-team Tampa-Berkeley Prep Invitation on Nov. 22, travel to Indian River County on Saturday.
For a fifth straight year, the Purple and Gold will take part in the eighth annual, 16-team Shark Invitational at Sebastian River High.
Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. with consolations and finals expected to begin at 6 p.m.
The top four individual placers will earn medals as will the top three teams.
Also, two outstanding wrestler awards will be presented for the upper and lower weights.
The field features: host Sebastian-Sebastian River, Brooksville-Hernando, Rockledge, Timber Creek, Okeechobee, Merritt Island, Stuart-South Fork, St. Petersburg-Northside Christian, Fort Pierce-Westwood, Melbourne-Eau Gallie, Orlando-University High, Palm Bay-Bayside, Titusville High, Satellite Beach, Vero Beach and Cocoa High.
Shark Head Coach John Martin returned to the mats this winter for his second mentoring stint.
Martin was asked what the tournament's goal is so early in the season.
"It's totally about evaluation," replied Martin. "Coaches want to know where their guys are compared to other teams. For us, this is a great way to get our new guys some mat time. This (having a tournament so early) isn't about making a statement; it's more about taking a lot of notes."
Who'll win the tourney?
Coach Martin indicated that Saturday's event has a good mix but Okeechobee and Hernando - with three returning state qualifiers - heads the list of contenders. Also, "Vero Beach could send 4-5 guys to the finals" and Bayside "has a couple studs."
The Leopards have fared quite well in the Sharks' backyard finishing third in 2004-05, fifth in 05-06, sixth in 06-07 and improving to second last winter.
Timber Creek won this tourney last year while HHS tied Okeechobee for second.
Hernando had eight placers last year, but only three return this time including Daniel Pritz (third in 2007), Max Morrill (fourth) and James Davidson (third).
Going into this meet, Davidson is tied for the county lead in wins at 5-0, featuring four pins.
According to HHS' veteran assistant coach Bill Combs Sr., the Leopards will go into the meet not on all cylinders, minus wrestlers in three weight classes (125, 130, 285).
So how will the Leopards do?
"Our middle weights are the strength of our team, but everyone is young," said Combs. "Hopefully, our young kids, like freshman Nelson Elicier, can continue to win matches and develop. The Pritzs (Daniel, Zach), Max (Morrill) and James (Davidson) will do well, but it's about everyone contributing.
"The kids have worked hard in practice," described Combs. "If the older guys do what they're supposed to do and the young guys get some wins here and there, we'll be alright."
 
Looking Back
- Compiled by TONY CASTRO
 
12-01-07 Springstead Results @ Cougar Invitational
WGT Name    W L Pins PL 
103 Soto, Dustin   4 0 2 1st
112 Urso, Anthony   0 2 0 -
119 Huff, Skylar   6 1 4 3rd 
125 Cook, CJ   5 2 2 5th
130 Bliss, Steven   3 3 2 6th
135 Landgraff, Shawn  1 2  1 -
140 Hughes, Sean   1  2 0 -
145 Ellerbee, Tom   1  2 0  -
152 Klenovich, Thad  5  1 0 3rd
160 Brice, Craig   0  2 0 -
189 Acosta, Cesar   3  2 2 -
215 Cox, Ken   1  2 0 -
285 Ramirez, Carlos  4  2 3  5th  
TOTALS    34 23 17
 
12-01-07: Hernando @ Sebastian River Inv. Results
WGT Name     W  L Pins  Pl
112  Weston, Spencer  1  2  1   -
125  Pritz, Daniel    3  1  2   3rd
130  Bishop, Chris    2  1  2   2nd
140  Morrill, Max    2  2  1   4th 
145  Graham, Jesse   4  0  2   1st
152  Ball, Tim    4  0  3   1st 
171  Davidson, James   3  1  2   3rd
189  Gomez, Fernando   2  2   0   4th
215  Rotunda, Taylor   4  0   4   1st
275  Hostetter, Casey   1   2   1  -
TOTALS     26  11  18