'Sloppy' Springstead Slips To Second

In a way, Steve Sullivan's final lift mirrored Springstead High's performance Wednesday at Sunlake High.

Quite simply, Sullivan and the Eagles left the five-team meet feeling less than satisfied with their performance.

While Pasco captured first place in the team standings (62 points) behind five first-place finishers, Springstead and the host Seahawks finished tied for second at 49. Hernando followed at 33 and Central 27.

"Not very good today," Springstead Head Coach Mike Garofano said. "We had a few guys scratch. That's never good news. You don't get any points for the team. Coming in, (Nate) Schafer got hurt over the weekend, a shoulder injury. That's a first place, that's seven points taken away.

"I'm less concerned with that than basically we were just sloppy. Guys were scratching out on a lot of different lifts. I don't know if it was nerves, a different environment or what, but overall I'm displeased."

Small controversy

The junior Sullivan, a third-place finisher in the state last year, easily won at 154 pounds with a bench of 280 and clean-and-jerk of 225. His 505 total bested teammate Geovany Decene (250-225 - 475).

But Sullivan's final clean attempt led to a small controversy that required coaches to look into the official rule book.

He successfully hoisted 245 pounds, which Garofano said would be a school record for that weight class. However, the judge deemed that he threw the bar down from over his head, disqualifying the lift.

"I made an improvement but I'm still not where I want to be. I have a goal set and I'm not there yet," said Sullivan, who declined to reveal that goal.

"I won. I can't say I'm disappointed about that. But yeah, I am disappointed I didn't get the actual (last) lift. It encourages me to keep working hard."

The Eagles (3-1-1) received first-place points from one other lifter, James Wozniak at 169 (305-245 - 550). Daniel Wilson at 219 (315-225 -540) and Phil Lakin at 238 (255-210 - 465) both came in second.

"The kids need to get back into it," Garofano said. "We've got Nature Coast next week. They're pretty strong. If we go like we did today, they'll beat us by 20 points."

Gaining experience

For both Central (0-5) and Hernando (1-4), this meet was more about gaining experience for two young squads.

Ben Lascurain at 119 (205-155 -360) and Alex Jang at 183 (320-200 - 520) each provided a first-place finish for the Bears.

"Their totals were higher than last week," Nestor said of his lifters. "It's pretty much a young team this year. I think we have only two seniors.

"It's what we were expecting. It's a rebuilding year. We'll go to Hernando next week and try to get totals a little bit higher than this week."

Only heavyweight David Hines came in first for the Leopards, with a 355-225 -580 that paced the entire meet.

At 119, Mike Sanders finished second (175-140 - 315), as did 183 lifter Tallis Roberts (270-225 - 495).

"Overall they're pretty inexperienced, except for David," Hernando Head Coach John Palmer said. "So it's good for them. (Sunlake) Coach (Matt) Smith did a great job with this meet."

Pasco (PAS) 62, Sunlake (SL) 49, Springstead (SPG) 49, Hernando (HER) 33, Central (CEN) 27
119 - 1. Lascurain (CEN) 205-155 - 360, 2. Sanders (HER) 175-140 - 315, 4. Siegfried (SPG) 160-135 - 295.
129 - 1. O'Neal (PAS) 200-165 - 365, 5. Napoli (SPG) 160-155 - 315, 6. Callacci (CEN) 160-130 - 290, Wagner (HER) 155-135 - 290.
139 - 1. Garrett (PAS) 215-210 - 425, 4. Elkins (HER) 215-170 - 385, 5. Santiago (SPG) 235-135 -370, Supple (CEN) 125-105 - 230.
154 - 1. Sullivan (SPG) 280-225 - 505, 2. Decene (SPG) 250-225 - 475, 4. Taylor (HER) 240-200 - 440, 6. Bailey (CEN) 240-165 - 405.
169 - 1. Wozniak (SPG) 305-245 - 550, 4. Rivera (SPG) 280-195 - 475, 5. Giordano (HER) 260-210 - 470, 6. McDaniels (CEN) 270-175 - 445.
183 - 1. Jang (CEN) 320-200 - 520, 2. Roberts (HER) 270-225 - 495, 5. Noury (SPG) 270-185 - 455.
199 - 1. Wells (PAS) 300-235 - 535, 3. Rice (CEN) 245-240 - 485, 4. Greco (SPG) 235-225 - 460, Bland (HER) 205-195 - 400.
219 - 1. Lorenzo (PAS) 315-260 - 575, 2. Wilson (SPG) 315-225 - 540, 3. Kessler (HER) 315-215 - 530, 5. French (CEN) 255-205 - 460.
238 - 1. Lane (PAS) 325-225 - 550, 2. Lakin (SPG) 255-210 - 465, 3. Mentry (SPG) 255-195 - 450, 5. Kunisch (CEN) 215-175 - 390, Bailey (HER) 205-155 - 360.
HWT - 1. Hines (HER) 355-225 -580, 3. Huggins (HER) 325-245 - 570, 5. Grier (CEN) 265-255 - 520, 6. Oquendo (SPG) 315-195 - 510.
Records - Central (0-5), Hernando (1-4), Springstead (3-1-1).