As Simonson Arrives, so does Nature Coast

It was an eventuality, right?
Someone from Nature Coast Technical High School was destined to become the school's first-ever representative at the state's premier meet -- this week's Class 1A State Championship Tournament.
The burning questions were who would it be and for goodness sake when?
Let's face it, history has not been on the Sharks' side.

NCT: 101

In 2004-05, the program was established under Head Coach Mike Lastra, a Central High alumnus, who had once qualified for states with the Bears.
As most first-year programs go, the Sharks struggled, finishing 1-17 overall. Their lone win was against Ocala-Vanguard in the Land O' Lakes Duals, 53-24.
That first year, NCT decided against competing in the state series.
A year later, seven members qualified for the rugged Class 1A, Region II Meet at Avon Park's South Florida Community College facility. That group went a collective 11-14, but no one qualified for states by finishing in the top four of any of 14 weight divisions.
Last winter at Avon Park, five grapplers qualified for regionals, but none survived compiling a modest 6-8 record.
This past weekend again at the Highlands County gymnasium, seven members competed for a crack at states.
But in this treacherous double-elimination event, the first five team members who stepped on the mats all got mowed down.
Clearly a bad omen, right?
Lastra's troops, however, recovered and gallantly fought back.
They actually had four wrestlers enter the final wrestleback round Saturday afternoon one win shy of achieving states. Three, however, fell short of their ultimate goal including sophomore Scott Cronin (26-16 won-lost record) at 119 pounds, senior Brandon Nuby (16-7) at 215 and senior J.J. Baker (25-10) at 285.
Baker's setback may have been the most painful.
Baker, the school's second-ever district champion, pinned his first two heavyweight opponents and led 6-2 going into the second period of his semifinal match against Titusville-Astronaut senior John Nelson. Nelson, however, pinned Baker in 3:03 dropping him into the lethal loser's bracket.
In his final wrestleback match, Baker nearly flattened Trinity Catholic's Josh Armstrong in the first period. Baker, who led 5-0 after the first period, was thrown to his back and pinned in 1:55. His state aspirations were over.

From zero to hero

The first NCT wrestler to compete at Avon Park, junior David Simonson, was ironically the last one standing.
Simonson literally went from zero to hero.
In his initial match of the tourney on Friday, the three-year letterman and three-time regional qualifier rallied from a 4-2 deficit to forge a 10-10 deadlock through regulation versus Space Coast freshman Jarred Cain.
But in the 60-second overtime, Cain earned a two-point takedown to claim a shocking 12-10 upset win.
That loss set the table for the Sharks.
Fortunately, Simonson quickly bounced back Friday night. An inspired Simonson next pinned Bishop Moore junior Thomas Cianciola in 25 seconds and Sunlake sophomore Tyler Crawford in 26 ticks.
On Saturday, Simonson routed Dunnellon sophomore Chance Richardson via a 15-1 major decision.
Simonson was now one win away from states but faced 2007 state qualifier and Harmony sophomore Chris Valdez.
A scoreless deadlock was finally snapped in the last period. A technical violation for locking hands gave Simonson one point. But with 12 seconds remaining Simonson pulled off a two-point reversal to earn a critical 3-0 verdict.
For good measure, Simonson finished the meet on a positive note behind his fifth straight win - all from the loser's bracket - rallying from a 6-5 deficit against Cocoa Beach sophomore Nick Watson for a pin in 4:41.
The tourney's five wins helped establish several new school records.
Simonson enters Lakeland at 28-9 overall surpassing Taequan Griffin's previous mark of 25-13.
Simonson goes into Polk County as the school's career wins leader (61) and has etched the most-ever pins (42).
Lee Lehman held the previous records for career wins (40) and pins (39).
How'd he do it?
Afterward Simonson explained how he rallied back.
"I ate too much before my first match," explained the 16-year-old Simonson. "I ate too many sweets and I wrestled like crap."
What did the coach say?
"He just told me to keep my head up and keep working," replied Simonson. "I didn't even want to look at the brackets. I had to go match by match."
How's it feel to be the school's first state qualifier?
"It's nice to be the first," he smiled. "My next goal is to place at states. I wasn't satisfied with my performance here. I should have been in the finals."
And the remainder of your teammates?
"We all worked hard to get here," remarked Simonson. "We all wrestled much better after that bad first match."
Lastra, who is 16-56 lifetime at NCT, finally exhaled with Simonson's triumph.
"The kids must think I'm bipolar," smiled Lastra. "In a lot of those first-round matches we weren't focused, that's ultimately on me. It's my job to have 'em ready. After that, we showed the character of this team by fighting back.
"Even after how we started, we had four guys within one match (win) of making states," pointed out Lastra. "What helped us was we came from a tough district. We faced the toughest guys to get here."
Any regrets?
"Yeah Baker," lamented Lastra. "Things lined up for him. The brackets were favored toward him. But in this sport, it's anyone's match. I feel so bad for him. I know he wanted it (states) worse than anyone. It's tough to see him not at Lakeland."
And Simonson?
"Next goal is to get David to place at states," Lastra replied. "He's got the tools. Now, he's got to get back to work. From here on out it comes down to who wants it more."

Nature Coast's 1A-II Tourney Results
Wgt Name W L Pins PL
112 Simonson, David 5 1 3 3rd
119 Cronin, Scott 3 2 3 -
130 Jackson, Jeremiah 2 2 0 -
140 Baker, C.J. 1 2 0 -
152 Huang, Jimmy 1 2 1 -
215 Nuby, Brandon 3 2 1 -
285 Baker, JJ 2 2 2 -
TOTALS 17 13 10 -

By the Numbers: David Simonson
- Compiled by TONY CASTRO

YEAR W L PINS
2005-06 20 14 13
2006-07 13 13 10
2007-08 28# 9 19
TOTALS 61# 36 42#
# Denotes school record