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Wrestlers Are On Target

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 8, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Ray Perez and Travis Tindell have had a bull's eye firmly attached to their backs this wrestling season.

Perez, Pasco's 189-pounder, and Tindell, Hudson's heavyweight, have held the top spot in Class 1A in their respective weight classes the entire season, hence the target.

It is a recognition that neither wants to relinquish as long as the season continues.

"Most of the time when I'm out there on the mat ... everybody knows how I'm ranked, where I'm ranked, so they're coming to get me," Perez said. "No match is going to be easy for me from this point on."

After winning district titles last weekend, they headline a list of 60 Pasco County wrestlers in this weekend's regional tournaments. The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state tournament, scheduled for Feb. 14-16 at the Lakeland Center.

How does a wrestler not get full of himself and lose sight of what is ahead when he is on top of the pile for the whole season?

"Hard work, getting my butt whipped. That's what it is," said Tindell, who will compete in the Class 1A-Region 2 tournament at South Florida Community College in Avon Park. "I get my butt whipped more than anybody else thinks, and then I take it out out here. That's what you've got to do. You receive it, you've got to give it back."
Tindell has given it back to the tune of a 28-0 record.

As for feeling pressure from the heightened level of competition that this time of year brings, Perez took care of that when he attended the 28-day J. Robinson Wrestling Camp in Minnesota in June. It's a respected camp with a reputation for placing wrestlers in a different place mentally - good or bad.

"I definitely do look forward to that challenge," he said. "The J. Rob camp helped us out with that. We wrestled four or five different people a day for practice, we saw different looks from everybody and then the coaches came in and wrestled with us.

"It's not like we're beating everybody up at the camp. The college wrestlers come down and worked with us. So it's a real good thing."

Gulf's Josh Przybysz collected a district championship after a second-place finish last year. That season, he was one win shy of advancing to the state tournament. He wants to make it this time.

"Your placement in districts pretty much says how you're going to do in states, so I knew I had to beat this kid," Przybysz said.

He attributed last season's misstep to a mental hiccup he hopes has been expunged.

"I was one match away from the state tournament last year," he said. "It was a mental lapse. I stalled out, so I'm hoping to make it to states this year."

So are 59 others from Pasco County.

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