Springstead
Wrestling
TONY CASTRO
Published: November 24, 2012
Saturday's sixth annual Deltona Duals in Volusia County serves several capacities.Published: November 24, 2012
First and foremost, the seven-team, dual-meet event marks the Season 33 curtain raiser for the two-time defending Class 2A state champions from Spring Hill – the Springstead Eagles.
The meet marks the head coaching debut of Springstead's fourth mat skipper Sal Basile.
In the bigger picture, Springstead will also unveil five new varsity grapplers to complement the seven returning starters from last season's event.
The Eagles' goal is to extend its three-year dominance skein in the Wolves' gymnasium – spanning 15 matches.
Just as crucial is to establish a mat foothold on the season before venturing to the rugged Nov. 30-Dec. 1 Cougar invitational at Plant City-Durant. Several out-of-state teams along with perennial Florida powers like Brandon, Homestead-South Dade and Kissimmee-Osceola are expected to attend that Hillsborough County event.
According to tournament organizer and Deltona head coach Keith Wallace, a few teams recently dropped out reducing the expected 10-team event to its current field featuring: Springstead, Orange Park-Ridgeview, Orange Park-University, Middleburg, DeLand, Apopka and host Deltona.
Weigh-ins are slated for 9 a.m. with wrestling to begin across three mats at 10 a.m.
At the conclusion of the meet, trophies for the top three teams will be awarded. There will be no individual awards presented.
Instead of competing in two pools of four and then cross-bracketing for a final match as in the past, each school in attendance will wrestle five times except for the host Wolves.
The Wolves, according to Coach Wallace, want to make sure visiting teams receive their five matches, so they opted to compete just twice.
In last week's Clash of the Titans at Orange City, Coach Wallace believes his young Wolves placed 12th out of 16 teams.
"I was kind of hoping our 106-pounder could wrestle (Springstead's Matt) Landgraff this week," said Wallace. "But we had to make sure all the teams coming got their five allotted matches. I think University has a good team. They've got a lot of good kids down low. I think they have a legit shot of knocking off Ridgeview to face Springstead in the finals."
On the value of having Springstead return for a fourth straight winter, "Whoever wrestles them will get a challenge," said Wallace. "Some teams didn't want to come back here to face either Ridgeview or Springstead. It's kind of a double-edged sword having them here.
"To me, having Springstead and their fans come is a win-win. You don't get better unless you face tough teams like Springstead," added Wallace.
On the difficulties of running a mat tournament during Thanksgiving, "It's a tough weekend to hold a tournament. But years ago we picked this date so we wouldn't conflict with some other events," Wallace said.
"It's tough to run a tournament when family and kids are going out of town. But the guys who are coming have to practice self-control. They can still enjoy Thanksgiving, but they've got to maintain their weight."
Springstead is the defending three-time champion of this event.
Over the past three winters, under former head coach Eric Swensen, the Eagles captured 171-of-185 bouts (92.4 percent), highlighted by 100 pins.
Basile, who served as Swensen's right-hand man, will be joined by Hall of Famer Bill Combs Sr.
On the eve of his head coaching debut, "I really haven't thought about it much," shrugged Basile. "I still run practice, things haven't changed a whole lot; I really haven't given it much thought. I've been so concerned to have the kids ready to go like they should be."
Interestingly, Springstead Hall of Famer Bob Levija's coaching debut featured a 39-35 loss at Zephyrhills in 1980.
Levija's successor, Roy Reyes, debuted in 2002 with a loss to Naples in the Land O' Lakes Invitational, 58-24.
Two years later, Swensen debuted with a win at home against Citrus, 49-30.
The Eagles enter Deltona with a 12-man lineup, forfeiting both 195 and heavyweight. None of its football players, with the exception of Conor Ross and Robert Holdway, will be competing this weekend.
On this weekend's onus, "We've been practicing for three weeks and our guys are anxious to compete," admitted Basile. "I want to see our guy's identity as a whole and see how they respond to wrestling someone outside our room."
As far as a possible four-peat, "Even without pool play, the scenario is nearly the same as it's been. I expect to face Ridgeview in the finals," said Basile. "Our goal coming in is to win it. Anything else is unsatisfactory."
Ridgeview is paced by senior Jamarius Jackson. Jackson is expected to compete at either 132 or 138 pounds.
Jackson won his first state title last winter, solving Springstead freshman Josh Herrera, 10-5. Herrera's family has since relocated away from Hernando County.
Springstead returns seven starters from last year's Deltona Duals including: seniors Stephen Pavao (12-3 lifetime with the Eagles) and Joe Russo (5-0), junior Jordan Rivera (9-1) and Corey Humphrey (5-0), and sophomores Matt Landgraff (4-1), Mike McDonald (5-0) and Conor Ross (5-0, five pins).
Those seven grapplers have a combined 33-2 (94 percent) won-lost slate at Deltona highlighted by 22 pins.
First-time Eagle participants at Deltona include: senior Michael Richards, junior Austin Stock, and sophomores Robert Holdway, Billy Swift and Andrew Smith.
One of the most anticipated matches will be a rematch between Ridgeview's state champion Jackson and Springstead's two-time state placer Rivera. In last season's Flagler Rotary Tourney semifinals, Jackson edged Rivera, 2-0.
All-Time Deltona Duals Team Champions
YEAR TEAM
2007 New Orleans-Jesuit
2008 Orange Park-Ridgeview
2009 Springstead
2010 Springstead
2011 Springstead
2011 Final Deltona Duals Team Standings
PL. TEAM W L
1. Spring Hill-Springstead 5 0
2. Orange Park-Ridgeview 4 1
3. Orange City-University 4 1
5. Cocoa-Space Coast 3 2
7. Largo-Indian Rocks Christian 3 2
4. Sanford-Seminole 2 3
6. Middleburg 2 3
8. Rockledge 1 4
9. Deltona 1 4
10. Orange Park 0 5
TOTALS 25 25
2010 Final Deltona Duals Team Standings
PL. TEAM W L
1. Spring Hill-Springstead 5 0
2. Orange Park-Ridgeview 4 1
3. Orange City-University 3 2
3. St. Cloud 3 2
5. Kissimmee-Liberty 2 3
5. Deltona 2 3
7. Pine Ridge 1 4
8. New Smyrna Beach 0 5
TOTALS 20 20
2009 Final Deltona Duals Team Standings
PL. TEAM W L
1. Spring Hill-Springstead 5 0
2. Orange Park-Ridgeview 4 1
3. St. Cloud 3 2
4. Yulee 3 2
5. Pine Ridge 2 3
6. St. Petersburg-Northeast 2 3
7. Deltona 1 4
8. New Smyrna Beach 0 5
TOTALS 20 20
2011 Springstead Individual Results at Deltona Duals
WGT NAME W L PINS
106 Landgraff, Matt 4 1 2
113 McDonald, Michael 5 0 5
120 Pavao, Stephen 5 0 4
126-132 Rivera, Jordan 5 0 1
126-132 Grudzinski, Adam 3 1 1
138 Russo, Joe 5 0 2
145 Redman, Sean 5 0 5
152 Ross, Cody 5 0 5
160 Smith, Jake 5 0 0
170-182 Ross, Conor 5 0 5
195 Gupton, Thomas 5 0 1
220 Humphrey, Corey 5 0 3
TOTALS 57 2 34
2010 Springstead Individual Results at Deltona Duals
WGT NAME W L PINS
103 Bliss, Richie 5 0 2
112 Rivera, Jordan 4 1 4
119 Pavao, Stephen 3 2 0
125 Long, Tyler 3 2 3
130 Toms, Virgil 4 1 2
135 Soto, Nick 5 0 3
140 Ross, Cody 5 0 4
145 Carnes, Scott 5 0 2
152 Colon, Sam 4 1 3
160 Landgraff, Shawn 5 0 3
171 Gupton, Thomas 5 0 2
285 Dreggors, John 5 0 4
TOTALS 53 7 32
2009 Springstead Individual Results at Deltona Duals
WGT NAME W L PINS
103-112 Bliss, Richie 4 1 3
103-112 Pavao, Stephen 4 1 1
119 Redman, Sean 5 0 3
125 Toms, Virgil 5 0 2
130 Soto, Nick 5 0 4
135 Ross, Cody 5 0 4
140 Colon, Sam 5 0 3
145 Zimmermann, Colton 4 1 0
152 Landgraff, Shawn 5 0 4
160 Ellerbee, Thomas 5 0 5
171 Quinn, Casey 4 1 1
189 Gupton, Thomas 1 0 0
189-215 Herr, Andrew 5 0 3
285 Dreggors, John 4 1 1
TOTALS 61 5 34