Bears battle back for fourth at Berkeley Prep

There's something to be said for turnarounds.
Central's wrestlers proved that Saturday at the Tampa Berkeley Invitational. The Bears started abysmally, winning just two of their first 14 matches.
"We didn't start strong," said CHS Head Coach Roy Reyes. "At one point, we were ninth or 10th."
But in the wrestlebacks, Central battled back. The Bears won seven straight matches and finished 8-2 in one round, eventually putting five wrestlers into the final four. That catapulted them to fourth place overall with 101.5 points, a mere half-point better than fifth-place Mulberry.
This tournament may prove to be a look at what the season holds.
First-place Dunedin (203 points) won by virtue of its depth, taking home just two firsts, while second-place St. Petersburg-Northside Christian had the most champs (five) but scored only 165.
And that's when it got interesting. The number of points separating third place and eighth was just 18.5

HHS: in the middle

Caught in the middle of that mix was Hernando, which ended up sixth with 97. The Leopards did claim the county's only championship with senior Daniel Pritz edging Berkeley's Ryan Pickren, 4-2, in the 145-pound finals.
Pretty good for a guy that didn't wrestle in this tournament last year - for a reason he's somewhat reluctant to discuss. He didn't make weight.
"Yeah," Pritz answered when asked if last year fueled this year's performance. "My dad's still mad at me about that.
"I thought I wrestled pretty good until the finals, and I thought I could have done better. I should have been able to take that kid out. But he kept backing up and playing defense. He wanted to keep it close."
His coach, first-year mentor Ben Mendoza, concurred. "I think he could have been a little more aggressive in the finals. But the important thing is, he got the win. That's his first step on his ultimate goal toward a state championship."
Zach Pritz, Daniel's younger brother, matched his own performance of a year ago by placing second at 152, losing a close finals match to Hector Fontanet of Tampa Prep, 5-4.
That was indicative of the tournament.
"As for Zach, it wasn't a match he couldn't have won," Mendoza said. "He's an up-and-coming wrestler.
"This speaks to the level of competition. It's going to be a tough year."
For the Leopards, they had four reach the championship round, but none in the consolation finals. Beside the Pritz brothers, sophomore Jared Young won three straight (two on pins) to get to the championship at 130, where he lost 6-0 to Northside's Anthony Melillo.
And Dakota Raney at 215 went up against DeeJazz Woods of Robinson in the finals, getting pinned in 3:20. Raney won his first two matches on decisions, including a 17-6 triumph over Eric Coquias of Mulberry to reach the finals.

CHS: depth proves pivotal

Depth played a major role in Central's turnaround.
Only Zack Martin at 189 reached the finals for the Bears; he was pinned by Josh Leon of McKeel in the final.
Perhaps the most impressive - and definitive - performance by their wrestlers belonged to Robbie Monsegur, who lost 12-6 to Dunedin's Dakota Rodgers in his first match. Monsegur would then win two straight on pins before meeting Rodgers in the consolation finals, where he avenged his earlier loss, winning 3-1 in overtime.
"I was very, very pleased with our performance," said Reyes. "Coming home with five medals, and having five others in contention for medals.
"Zack Martin did a phenomenal job getting to the finals, Josh Cleveland did great (fourth at 135), Patrick Scott (third at 215) did great, and Zach Gehrke (fourth at 152).
"No matter where you go, you always want to do well as a team. But this was a phenomenal team effort."

Final Berkeley Prep Invitational Team Results
Team results
1. Dunedin (DUN), 203.
2. Northside Christian (NCS), 165.
3. Tampa-Jesuit (JES), 108.5.
4. Brooksville-Central (CEN), 101.5.
5. Mulberry (MUL), 101.
6. Booksville-Hernando (HER), 97.
7. Lakeland-Kathleen (KAT), 91.
8. Tampa-Robinson (ROB), 90.
9. McKeel (MCK), 70.
10. Tampa Prep (TP), 63.
11. Tampa Bay Christian (TBC), 49.5.
12. Tampa-Plant (PLA), 47.
13. St. Petersburg-Admiral Farragut (AF), 45.
14. Tampa-Berkeley Prep (TB), 34.
15. Hudson (HUD), 0.

Championship match results
103 - Hartman (NCS) dec. Flint (TBC), 5-1.
112 - Travis (NCS) dec. Shakoor (DUN), 12-11.
119 - Joyce (TBC) dec. Dry. Dennis (NCS), 4-2 (OT).
125 - Da. Dennis (NCS) dec. Goodloe (DUN), 3-2.
130 - Melillo (NCS) dec. Young (HER), 6-0.
135 - Barker (NCS) dec. Worthen (MUL), 6-5 (OT).
140 - Prince (DUN) dec. Nichols (JES), 9-5.
145 - D. Pritz (HER) dec. Pickren (TB), 4-2.
152 - Fontanet (TP) dec. Z. Pritz (HER), 5-4.
160 - Radway (KAT) dec. Jarrell (TP), 9-4.
171 - Lombardo (JES) pinned V. Leon (MCK), 1:31.
189 - J. Leon (MCK) pinned Martin (CEN), 1:58.
215 - Woods (ROB) pinned Raney (HER), 3:20.
285 - Agramonte (DUN) pinned Olinger (MUL), 2:57.

Consolation finals
103 - Khemraj (DUN) dec. Fuentes (MUL), 10-9.
112 - Anderson (MUL) pinned Nguyen (ROB), 2:42.
119 - Monsegur (CEN) dec. Rodgers (DUN), 3-1 (OT).
125 - Popp (JES) pinned Swope (KAT), 2:47.
130 - Sanford (JES) pinned Parker (MUL), 2:13.
135 - Plate (DUN) maj. dec. Cleveland (CEN), 11-0.
140 - May (NCS) dec. Murphy (ROB), 10-5.
145 - Cannizzaro (DUN) pinned Lopez (KAT), 2:39.
152 - Smith (DUN) maj. dec. Gehrke (CEN), 15-5.
160 - Gorman (AF) pinned Padilla (ROB), 4:15.
171 - Hogan (DUN) maj. dec. Terry (KAT), 9-1.
189 - Gallagly (JES) pinned Meggers (KAT), 4:49.
215 - Scott (CEN) dec. Coquias (MUL), 9-6.
285 - Sierra (AF) pinned Mendiola (ROB), 1:59.
Tournament's Outstanding Wrestler: Troy Joyce (TBC).

Central's Berkeley Prep Results
Wt. Name  W L P Pl
103 Marquez, Josh 2 2 2 -
112 Marquez, Anthony 1 2 0 -
119 Monsegur, Robbie 3 1 2 3rd
125 Supple, David 3 2 1 -
130 Cimino, Jacob 1 2 0 -
135 Cleveland, Josh 3 2 2 4th
140 Walton, Luke 2 1 1 -
145 Merced, Daniel 2 2 1 -
152 Gehrke, Zack 2 2 0 4th
160 Nieves, Puerto Rico 1 2 1 -
171 Luci, Dominic 0 2 0 -
189 Martin, Zack 2 1 1 2nd
215 Scott, Patrick 3 1 2 3rd
285 Cromwell, Taylor 0 2 0 -
TOTALS 25 24 13 -

Hernando's Berkeley Prep Results
Wt. Name  W L P Pl
112 Brown, Chris 1 2 1 -
119 Weston, Spencer 2 2 1 -
125 Worsley, Sonny 0 2 0 -
130 Young, Jared 3 1 2 2nd
145 Pritz, Daniel 3 0 2 1st
152 Pritz, Zach 2 1 1 2nd
160 Kissam, Marcus 1 2 1 -
171 Sullivan, Zach 1 1 1 -
189 Day, Blaine 0 2 0 -
215 Raney, Dakota 2 1 0 2nd
285 Neff, Austin 0 2 0 -
TOTALS 15 16 9