Short-handed Eagles filet Sharks, 70-6

Most prep mat programs would be hard-pressed to overcome the loss of one state qualifier against their archrival opponent.
The loss of two state qualifiers would probably be enough to reach for a 12-pack of Tums.
And competing without three state qualifiers would certainly spell absolute disaster.
Everywhere, that is, except F.W. Springstead High.
Imagine, only being less than 48 hours away from defending your own title in the two-day, 20-team Gulf Holiday Duals Tournament In New Port Richey.
Consider learning that your 125-pounder, junior and 2009 state-placer Virgil Toms, is awaiting word on an MRI on his throbbing shoulder. Despite winning the gold medal at the Kiwanis Inv. on Saturday, he's not available to compete against Nature Coast Technical on Wednesday.
In fact, he "may be out indefinitely depending on the results."
Now, add to fact that 2009 state qualifier, junior Colton Zimmermann at 145 pounds, would also not be available either against the Sharks. He was sitting out the match due to missing the Kiwanis Inv.
Finally, another 2009 state qualifier, senior Kenny Cox, who also won a gold medal at Hernando High over the weekend, was being disciplined due to an incident at school on Wednesday.
Now put yourself in SHS Head Coach Eric Swensen's shoes. He chose to replace three state qualifiers with three junior varsity grapplers, who had never once stepped on a varsity mat.
A recipe for disaster, right?
Initially, yes.
After Cox's replacement, Daniel Ramirez, was pinned in by Keith Dodson in 64 seconds, NCT fans howled with glee.
But SHS' depth prevailed as the Eagles "rallied" for 70 unanswered points to skin the Sharks, 70-6.

SHS: nine pins

Springstead sophomore John Dreggors began the comeback with a 45-second pin over Greg Jarque at 285 pounds. Dreggors' pin was the first of nine on the night for the 7-0 Eagles.
Freshmen Steven Pavao (103) and Scott Carnes (135), juniors Richie Bliss (112), Nick Soto (130) and Shawn Landgraff (152), and sophomores Sean Redman (119), Cody Ross (140) and Casey Quinn (171) produced pins.
Redman, who improved to 14-3 behind his ninth pin of the season, believed a clear message was sent.
"This match was important," said the 15-year-old Redman. "We had to let them know we are a much better team. Those guys (NCT) were talking so much smack, we had to put an end to it."
Senior Thomas Ellerbee (160) and junior Sammy Colon (145) etched 17-0 and 16-0 technical falls, respectively.
Sophomore Adam Gruzinski added a 9-7 decision over Steven Richardson at 125 while junior Andrew Herr decisioned Jeff Gilbert for the second time in five nights at 189, 6-2, to close the scoring.
Springstead, which hadn't competed head-to-head against NCT since 2005-06's 81-(minus) 2 and 83-0 dual meet wins over the Sharks, treated the dual as a warm-up for the Gulf Duals.
"I was pleased with some of the guys that haven't had much action for us," said Coach Swensen. "These were good tests for guys like Pavao, Carnes, Gruzinski and even Ramirez. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a little more offense from those guys."

NCT highlight

Though NCT finished on the short end of the scoreboard, sixth-year Shark Head Coach Mike Lastra pointed out Springstead didn't call them for a match, it was the other way around.
"It didn't help our cause when Carter (Bolesta) failed to make weight tonight," explained Coach Lastra. "That kinda changed some strategy. There were some matches we thought we could take advantage of. Our team got real excited after Keith pinned his guy. But we've all got to remember, this year's Springstead team is in another galaxy."
Just how good is Springstead?
"They may be the No. 1 team in 2A, but they might be the No. 2 team in the entire state," summed up Lastra. "You can't get down for trying. This is the level of wrestling we want to ultimately achieve. Remember, we called them. They're five minutes away from us. We'd be crazy not to take advantage of wrestling against them. The final score doesn't bother me. Our guys need this kind of exposure to reach the goals we've set out. As long as Coach Swensen wants, we'll continue to wrestle them in the future."

Springstead def. Nature Coast, 70-6.
103 - Stephen Pavao (SPG) pin Sean Nguyen, 1:38.
112 - Richie Bliss (SPG) pin Tyler Forand, 4:39.
119 - Sean Redman (SPG) pin Cameron Tull, 1:02.
125 - Adam Grudzinski (SPG) dec. Steven Richardson,9-7.
130 - Nick Soto (SPG) pin Scott Cronin, 3:05.
135 - Scott Carnes (SPG) pin Manny Beal, 1:17.
140 - Cody Ross (SPG) pin Mark Lopez, 0:54.
145 - Sammy Colon (SPG) tech. fall Mitch Lambert, 16-0.
152 - Shawn Landgraff (SPG) pin Luke McCarty, 1:49.
160 - Thomas Ellerbee (SPG) tech. fall Brenton Nuby, 17-0.
171 - Casey Quinn (SPG) pin Carlos Carrasquillo, 3:14.
189 - Andrew Herr (SPG) dec. Jeff Gilbert, 6-2.
215 - Keith Dodson (NCT) pin Daniel Ramirez, 1:04
285 - John Dreggors (SPG) pin Greg Jarque, 0:45.
Records - Nature Coast Technical (6-5), Springstead (7-0).