Springstead Survives

KISSIMMEE - In any region that includes national powerhouse Brandon High, second place feels like a second championship.
Predictably, Brandon (with ESPN cameras chronicling every move) dominated en route to yet another Class 2A, Region II crown Saturday at Kissimmee-Poinciana High.
But the battle for second took on plenty of intrigue, with Springstead High holding off St. Cloud High. The Eagles earned the runner-up trophy despite an unfortunate outburst that cost them significant points.
The Eagles sent seven grapplers to the state meet this weekend in Lakeland via a top-four finish, six of whom won their respective final match. They tallied 150.5 team points, ahead of St. Cloud (131.5) and well behind Brandon (282).
"It's definitely a goal," Springstead Head Coach Eric Swensen said. "It's one of our goals coming in. I told the guys 'they've been here four years and in that time we've picked up five of these trophies, four for districts and one for regionals. Let's pick up one more.'"
Central High (47) came in 12th, with Ken Supple and Danny May advancing to states.

SHS champs: Swanton and Cook

Two Springstead wrestlers, Schuyler Swanton and C.J. Cook, captured individual regional crowns.
For Swanton, it marked his second straight championship at this meet, though only another step toward his biggest goal. Last season, the senior toted home the 103-pound state championship.
At 112 this time around, he registered two pins in less than a minute, taking down Hector Rivera of Tampa-Middleton High in the first round (0:32) and Lake Region High's Jotham Brown in the semifinals (0:47).
The championship final featured a rematch of last year's 103-pound final, as well as the same result. Swanton downed Brandon's Terry Dawson in an 8-3 decision.
"I think I wrestled good," Swanton said. "I've just got a few things I need to sharpen up before next week. A little bit of bottom wrestling and conditioning.
"I'm pretty confident. I've just got to come ready to wrestle."
Conversely, Cook (125) had never taken home regional gold despite advancing to this level (and to states) three previous times. The senior won 8-2 over Frank Cousins of St. Cloud in a key final in the second-place race.
"It means I'm finally stepping up," Cook said. "But really regionals is not what's on my mind. There's only one thing on my mind and that's states. This is nice and all, but next week is what counts.
"I think taking a one (seed at states) instead of the usual three or four I get, that's a big improvement and it'll make states a little easier."
The finals didn't end so well for Skylar Huff (119), who lost to Tyler Fleming of River Ridge High, 8-3. Huff had beaten Fleming a week earlier in the 2A-5 tournament, 5-3.
Dustin Soto (103), Thad Klenovich (152), Scott Wern (171) and Cesar Acosta (189) all did bounce back from semifinal losses to reach the consolation finals and earn their first state trips.
Soto needed just 32 ticks to pin Dominic Cruz of Tampa-Wharton High to take third place. Klenovich topped Brandon's Mike Ettore, 9-5.
Wern pinned David Austin of Brandon at the 4:09 mark, and Acosta pulled off a two-point takedown at the final buzzer to turn a 5-4 loss into a 6-5 triumph.
Shockingly, three-time state qualifier Steven Bliss was not among those that will participate this weekend. At 130, he fell in the second round to Anthony Borelli of Lake Gibson High in 1:18.
After notching two victories in the consolation bracket, St. Cloud's Omar Harris claimed a 7-2 decision in the consolation semifinals.
Unfortunately, the post-match actions of 285-pounder Carlos Ramirez proved costly. The senior won his initial two matches, and then lost 7-1 to Hillsborough High's Moses McCray.
Ramirez's bid for states ended when he got pinned by Andre Coleman of Middleton in 3:40 of a tight consolation semifinal.
After the match, Ramirez lost his cool, slamming his fists on the mat several times and knocking over the barricade surrounding the mat as he stormed off.
He was disqualified from the tournament for flagrant misconduct, forfeiting all four of his matches and the 18 points he had earned for the team.
"He has a lot of passion," Swensen said. "I don't condone what he did. I tried as best I could to control him, but he didn't want to listen. But he has a lot of passion. He wanted to go to states. He's a wrestler."
Sean Hughes (140), Thomas Ellerbee (145), Andrew Herr (160) and Luis Delgado (215) all went 1-2.
"We've got some individual goals," Swensen said. "Cook has been there (states) four times, he's got to place. Schuyler is the defending champ. We've got Huff, Klenovich. It's a rarity to get a 100 percent placing ratio, but I'd love to see us do it."

May Day

Central, which took nine wrestlers into the tournament, had a solid day despite 135-pound sophomore Vince Ramirez having to forfeit both his matches because of a season-long shoulder injury.
Danny May (189) gave the Bears one championship finalist, benefiting from a first-round forfeit preceding a 3:34 pin of George Jenkins High's Trevor Brown and 4-1 decision over Robenson Pierre of Poinciana.
He lost in the final to Seabreeze High's Chris Ferrito, 7-3.
Supple (125) won his first two bouts before dropping a 12-0 major decision to St. Cloud's Cousins. He rebounded to beat Richard Turner from Poinciana in the consolation semis, 5-3, to earn his state bid.
In the consolation finals, Brandon's Nick Hutchinson folded Supple in 0:53.
The Bears lone district champion, Nathan Brazeau (215), fell one match short of advancing to regionals for the first time. He lost consecutive decisions to Brandon's Phil Uno (11-6) and Joe Hadley of George Jenkins (3-2).
Wayne Snell (119) and Shaun Cadoret (145) both went 2-2. Antohomar Vega (103), Antonio Zayas (130) and Mike Miller (152) each ended up at 0-2.
"It was good. The kids wrestled well. They were eager to make it to the state tournament," Central Head Coach Roy Reyes said. "Our team motto is the road to states begins. That's the direction we've been moving all year, as far as scheduling, practicing, preaching to the kids and that came to fruition today."

Final Class 2A, Region II Team Standings
PL Team PTS
1. Brandon (BDN) 282.0
2. Springstead (SPG) 150.5
3. St. Cloud (SC) 131.5
4. Dunedin (DUN) 87.5
5. Seffner-Armwood (ARM) 75.0
6. NPR-River Ridge (RR) 72.5
7. Kissimmee-Poinciana (POI) 52.0
7. Lake Gibson (LG) 52.0
9. Tampa-Wharton (WHA) 50.5
10. New Smyrna Beach (NSB) 47.5
10. Tampa-Chamberlain (CHA) 47.5
12. Central (CEN) 47.0
13. Lakeland-George Jenkins (GJ) 46.5
14. Tampa-King (KIN) 42.0
15. Winter Haven (WH) 41.0
16. Tampa-Jefferson (JEF) 40.0
17. NPR-Ridgewood (RW) 36.5
18. Lithia-Newsome (NEW) 34.0
19. Daytona Beach-Seabreeze (SEB) 31.0
19. Tampa-Middleton (MID) 31.0
21. Hillsborough (HIL) 25.0
22. Tampa-Plant (PLA) 17.0
23. Land O' Lakes (LOL) 14.0
24. Lake Region (LR) 13.0
25. Auburndale (AUB) 10.5
26. Kissimmee-Liberty (LIB) 10.0
27. Lake Howell (LH) 9.0
28. Celebration (CEL) 8.0
29. Tampa-Freedom (FRE) 7.0
30. South Lake (SL) 6.0
31. Tampa-Leto (LET) 5.0
32. Daytona Beach-Mainland (MNL) 3.0
32. Tampa-Blake (BLA) 3.0
34. Wesley Chapel (WC) 1.0
 
Class 2A, Region II Individual Finals Results
103 - Padget (BDN) pin Gray (ARM), 3:59
112 - Swanton (SPG) dec. Dawson (BDN), 8-3
119 - Fleming (RR) dec. Huff (SPG), 8-3
125 - Cook (SPG) dec. Cousins (SC), 8-2
130 - Grajales (BDN) pin Minley (ARM), 5:30
135 - Timothy (BDN) dec. Fertic (SC), 6-2
140 - Cozart (BDN) pin Calvin (WH), 1:30
145 - Figaro (BDN) dec. Graham (DUN), 6-4
152 - Oswald (SC) dec. Moody (KIN), 8-3
160 - Berridge (BDN) pin Snow (NSB), 1:32
171 - Miller (DUN) pin Witte (ARM), 1:43
189 - Ferrito (SEB) dec. May (CEN), 7-3
215 - Uno (BDN) maj. dec. McMahon (JEF), 19-6
285 - McCray (HIL) dec. Fullenwider (BDN), 5-0
 
Class 2A, Region II Individual Consolation Finals Results
103 - Soto (SPG) pin Cruz (WHA), 0:32
112 - Stupar (RW) dec. Biondo (RR), 8-2
119 - Sermons (WH) dec. Perez (ARM), 5-3 (3 OTs)
125 - Hutchinson (BDN) pin Supple (CEN), 0:53
130 - Borelli (LG) dec. Harris (SC), 3-1
135 - Williamson (RW) dec. Chisholm (CHA), 4-2
140 - Gibson (SC) dec. Rex (LG), 8-5
145 - Wood (NEW) dec. Chapman (GJ), 5-3
152 - Klenovich (SPG) dec. Ettore (BDN), 9-5
160 - Talley (DUN) pin Ackerman (SC), 2:35
171 - Wern (SPG) pin Austin (BDN), 4:09
189 - Acosta (SPG) dec. Pierre (POI), 6-5
215 - Hadley (GJ) dec. Rislin (POI), 9-5
285 - Coleman (MID) dec. Hernandez (KIN), 5:28
 
Springstead's Class 2A, Region II Individual Results
Wgt Name W L Pins PL
103 Soto, Dustin 4 1 3 3rd
112 Swanton, Schuylar 4 0 2 1st
119 Huff, Skylar 3 1 1 2nd
125 Cook, C.J. 4 0 1 1st
130 Bliss, Steve 3 2 2 -
140 Hughes, Sean 1 2 0 -
145 Ellerbee, Thomas 1 2 1 -
152 Klenovich, Thad 4 1 1 3rd
160 Herr, Andrew 1 2 0 -
171 Wern, Scott 4 1 2 3rd
189 Acosta, Cesar 4 1 2 3rd
215 Delgado, Luis 1 2 0 -
285 Ramirez, Carlos* 0 4 0 -
TOTALS 34 19 15
* Disqualified from tournament for flagrant misconduct, forfeits all matches
 
Central's Class 2A, Region II Individual Results
WGT Name W L Pins PL
103 Vega, Anto 0 2 0 -
119 Snell, Wayne 2 2 1 -
125 Supple, Ken 3 2 1 4th
130 Zayas, Antonio 0 2 0 -
135 Ramirez, Vince 0 2 0 -
145 Cadoret, Shaun 2 2 0 -
152 Miller, Mike 0 2 0 -
189 May, Daniel 3 1 1 2nd
215 Brazeau, Nathan 2 2 1 -
TOTALS 12 17 4