Refusing to Lose...Swanton Ascends The Podium (Again)

LAKELAND - The quest for the county's 25th individual State Wrestling Finals gold medal boiled down to a pair of veteran, three-time state qualifiers, seniors Schuyler Swanton, of Springstead High, and Jesse Graham, of Hernando High, Saturday night in a jammed-pack Jenkins Arena at The Lakeland Center.
Swanton, in his third straight Class 2A State Final, did not disappoint at 112 pounds, finishing with a collective 4-0 won-lost record across the grueling three-day, double-elimination torture test.
Swanton rules
In a tactical chess match across six minutes, Swanton snapped a scoreless tie with a third-period one-point escape and then held on to blank Brandon High sophomore Terry Dawson, 1-0.
The Spring Hill grappler had earlier this winter downed Dawson twice, 8-3 and 7-4.
Swanton's 27th consecutive win this winter enabled him to close out his fourth season with the Eagles at 36-2 overall.
With the title win, Swanton earned the county's 25th individual gold medal since 1982. Schuyler became Springstead's 11th state champion (Hernando High leads the county with 12) and the school's first repeat winner since his brother, Dustin, pulled off the feat in the 1998-99 state tourneys.
The 17-year-old Swanton refrained from doing cartwheels, he quietly celebrated afterward like he'd been to the top of the podium before.
How hard was it to repeat?
"It was hard. It was a long course and it had some obstacles I had to work through," slowly explained Swanton, who captured 93.3 percent (125-of-134) of his career matches at SHS. "Tonight, I just didn't want to take any bad shots. He (Dawson) had no answer for my conditioning. I felt the third period was mine."
What was the mindset going in?
"I had worked hard to get here and I went in with confidence," replied Swanton, who helped lead the Eagles to a sixth-place team finish behind perennial state champion Brandon. "I've got to dedicate this win to my practice partners, my teammates and coaches. They all kept pulling for me."
Coaches impressed
In a tourney where the Eagles posted a collective 15-11 overall slate featuring three medalists - Swanton (1st), senior Skylar Huff (3rd) and senior C.J. Cook (4th) - assistant coach Sal Basile called Schuyler the school's best-ever wrestler.
"Tonight was a huge win for Schuyler," explained Basile. "We've had two other guys win it twice including Corey (Hill) and Dustin (Swanton), but I'd put Schuyler at the top of the list. Hill was a great athlete, but Schuyler is a great wrestler. He's the complete package, a great wrestler, good student and great person. He's been a pleasure to coach."
What was the difference for Swanton after he lost twice -- both via pins -- at Oviedo?
"First, remember he was coming off a prolonged recovery from the injury (shoulder)," recalled Basile. "When he got back on the mats, he was sick. We don't make excuses. After Oviedo, he got back to square one, the wins starting piling up and his confidence came back."
How tough was it to repeat Saturday night?
"It was a little tougher this time," shared Basile. "It's hard to beat a quality kid (Dawson) over and over. And anytime you go against a Brandon guy you know it'll be tough. The difference to me was the third period. It was all about strategy and position."
Fourth-year SHS Head Coach Eric Swensen believed Swanton's win was a direct result of his bubbling confidence.
"It's all about confidence with Schuyler," shared Swensen, whose team improved from its seventh-place finish in 2007. "He worries about whether he should ride or not. I thought the difference for him came after his final at our place. He had just beaten (Ridgewood's Dean) Stupar in overtime. He wasn't feeling well, but gutted it out. When he came back to practice, he was hungry.
"We started to put him in the room with everybody," added Swensen. "When one guy was done with him, we'd put another fresh guy on him. We felt he had to be pushed and he was."
How tough was Dawson?
"It was a tactical match," expressed Swensen. "Brandon coaches did their homework, so did we. We felt comfortable on our feet, but we also worked on top on tilts and rides. All that work paid off tonight."
Satisfied with the team?
"We set some goals and one of them was to place fifth here," admitted Swensen. "And we did not reach our goals. I thought our seniors stepped up. I was disappointed with our juniors, they could have placed here.
"To me, being a state qualifier means you weren't good enough to place," insisted Swensen. "For some schools, getting to states is a good goal, but it's not our goal. We're gonna change our thinking. If you're not coming here (states) to place, don't come.
"With the schools we're competing against like Manatee, Gainesville, Brandon, our guys have to have that kind of mentality."
Huff: third
Another four-year Eagle varsity letterman, Huff, bounced back from Friday night's semifinal loss to place third overall at 119 pounds -- his first-ever placing in two attempts at states.
On Friday night, Huff's title dreams vanished when he fell to Venice High's talented senior Wade Consul, 8-4.
How significant was the setback?
Consul, who handed Huff his first state loss in 2007 (10-9), eventually won the gold medal Saturday night.
Fortunately, Huff bounced back to edge Fort Walton Beach senior Matt Cabanas, 5-4, before besting River Ridge foe Tyler Fleming for third place, 5-2.
Huff's win over Fleming was his fourth in five matches this season, but came on the heels of Fleming's eye-opening 8-3 nod in the regional final.
In 2006-07, Huff solved Fleming in two meetings, 9-4 and 9-7.
"I'm happy with third, it's better than fourth," smiled the 17-year-old Huff, who completed his best-ever season at 45-11 overall. "Sure, I'm disappointed I didn't reach the finals, but it's my last year and I wanted to medal."
How about solving Fleming (again)?
"I went into the match confident," said Huff, who finished with more wins than Swanton at SHS at 127-38 overall. "Looking back, I'm kinda glad he beat me. Last year, I heard their coach say it was a fluke that I beat Tyler. Well, when Tyler beat me last week that was a fluke."
What happened against Consul?
"I wrestled as well as I could," Huff recalled. "I got outwrestled. I had no answer. After that match I told myself I wanted to put the singlet on and not lose again. I refuse to lose."
What about the team?
"We did alright," replied Huff. "I thought the seniors stepped up, but our juniors choked. Our juniors could have placed here. We've wrestled in bigger tournaments than this."
Any regrets?
"Yeah, about halfway through the season I should have listened to the coaches more," shrugged Huff. "I kinda started slacking off. But I came back and peaked at the end. That's what matters."
Huff: fourth
Like Huff, Cook's state title dreams dissipated when he fell in Friday night's semifinals to Bradenton-Manatee freshman Alexander Doran, 8-2. The loss snapped Cook's late-season nine-match win skein.
Doran then won his next match to earn the 125-pound state championship.
On Saturday, Cook began his comeback in the loser's bracket by solving St. Cloud sophomore Frank Cousins for the third time this winter, 7-3. Cook had earlier defeated Cousins, 7-0 and 8-2.
"I honestly felt I should have won the semifinal," declared the 18-year-old Cook. "The key was he wrestled the way he wanted to and I didn't wrestle my style. I went into the Cousins match looking to place."
But in the consolation finals for fourth place, Cook fell for the second time this season to Palmetto Ridge senior Elias Rey, 4-2.
Rey had previously downed Cook at Oviedo, 9-3. Cook finished his best-ever season at 46-9 overall.
The setback closed the books on Cook's illustrious career at Springstead at 154-38 lifetime, featuring 76 pins.
Springstead's other Saturday competitor was senior Cesar Acosta at 189.
Acosta completed his first-ever trip to states at 2-2 following Saturday morning's 3-1 loss to Gulf Coast junior Charles Fox.
Acosta concluded his best-ever season at 41-14 overall this winter and 107-43 lifetime at SHS.

State Wrestling Tourney Recap

1st Round Results:
103 - Nichols (SATE) pin D. Soto (SPG), 1:53.
112 - Swanton (SPG) pin Graniero (CHAR), 0:58.
119 - Huff (SPG) dec. Alford (CHIL), 14-13.
125 - Cook (SPG) tech. fall Asker (DWY), 15-0.
125 - Desharnais (NOVA) major dec. K. Supple (CEN), 8-0.
152 - Carnes (MIDD) pin Klenovich (SPG), 2:36.
171 - Miller (PAMR) dec. Wern (SPG), 9-2.
189 - Reynolds (LINC) dec. Acosta (SPG), 5-1.
189 - Vanscoy (GAIN) dec. May (CEN), 8-7.

2nd Round Results:
103 - Soto (SPG) major dec. T. Fulk (MANA), 14-2.
125 - Pitts (RIVR) dec. K. Supple (CEN), 7-4.
152 - Klenovich (SPG) pin Hackel (TIV), 4:31.
171 - Taylor (FI) dec. Wern (SPG), 5-2.
189 - Acosta (SPG) dec. Perez (CORG), 7-3.
189 - Wier (NPRT) dec. May (CEN), 3-1.

3rd Round Results:
112 - Swanton (SPG) pin Pellecer (STA), 1:16.
119 - Huff (SPG) dec. Lowery (MART), 4-2 (OT).
125 - Cook (SPG) dec. Roberts (FM), 5-2.

4th Round Results:
103 - Wantanabe (FM) dec. D. Soto (SPG), 11-6.
152 - Riley (MAN) pin Klenovich (SPG), 2:35.

5th Round Results (semifinals):
112 - Swanton (SPG) dec. Torres (MAN), 13-9
119 - Consul (VEN) dec. Huff (SPG), 8-4.
125 - Doran (MAN) dec. Cook (SPG), 8-2.

6th Round Results:
189 - Fox (GNC) dec. Acosta (SPG), 3-1.

7th Round Results:
119 - Huff (SPG) dec. Cabanas (FWB), 5-4.
125 - Cook (SPG) dec. Cousins (STC), 7-3.

8th Round Results:
119 - Huff (SPG) dec. Fleming (RR), 5-2.
125 - Cook (SPG) dec. Rey (PALM), 4-2.

9th Round Results (Finals):
112 - Swanton (SPG) vs. Dawson (BRAN), 1-0.

Springstead at Lakeland 44th 2A State Finals Results
Wgt Name W L Pins PL
103 Soto, Dustin 1 2 0 -
112 Swanton, Schuyler 4 0 2 1st
119 Huff, Skylar 4 1 0 3rd
125 Cook, C.J. 3 2 0 4th
152 Klenovich, Thad 1 2 1 -
171 Wern, Scott 0 2 0 -
189 Acosta, Cesar 2 2 0 -
TOTALS 15 11 3 -

Central at Lakeland 44th 2A State Finals Results
Wgt Name W L Pins PL
125 Supple, Ken 0 2 0 -
189 May, Daniel 0 2 0 -
TOTALS 0 4 0 -

Class 2A State Championship Team Standings
PL Hometown-School Points
1. Brandon (BRA) 232.5
2. Naples-Palmetto Ridge(PALM) 174.0
3. Bradenton-Manatee (MAN) 160.5
4. Gainesville (GAIN) 96.0
5. Punta Gorda-Charlotte (CHAR) 72.0
6. Spring Hill-Springstead (SPG) 60.5
7. St. Cloud (STC) 48.0
8. Dunedin (DUNE) 33.0
9. Lakeland-Lake Gibson (LG) 32.5
10. Fleming Island (FI) 31.5
Others:
70. (tie)Brooksville-Central (CEN) 0.00

Past Hernando County State Wrestling Champions (25):
Name Sch Year Class Wgt
Swanton, Schuyler SPG 2008 2A 112
Swanton, Schuyler SPG 2007 2A 103
Rotunda, Windham HER 2005 1A 275
Chipoletti, Addison HER 2005 1A 189
Chipoletti, Addison HER 2004 1A 171
Chipoletti, Addison HER 2003 1A 171
Booker, Matt SPG 2001 1A 130
DeCristofaro, Gerard SPG 2001 1A 140
Pritz, Robert HER 2000 1A 140
Stevenson, Jim SPG 2000 2A 125
Smith, John HER 1999 4A 152
Swanton, Dustin SPG 1999 5A 125
Swanton, Dustin SPG 1998 5A 119
Stevenson, John SPG 1998 5A 112
Gant, Richard HER 1997 4A 125
Hill, Corey SPG 1997 5A 145
Mallin, Mike CEN 1997 4A 189
Hill, Corey SPG 1996 5A 145
Gordon, Reppard HER 1995 4A 152
Sang, Omah CEN 1994 3A 171
Deason, Chuck HER 1993 3A 125
Kuhl, Brad HER 1992 3A 135
Lane, John SPG 1991 3A 145
Hudson, Gerard HER 1987 3A UNL
Hamilton, Michael HER 1982 3A 185