TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Eagles Cruise To 19th Straight Region Title

ADVERTISEMENT

By ADAM ADKINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2008

KISSIMMEE - The way Brandon performed during Saturday night's finals of the Class 2A-Region 2 wrestling tournament at Poinciana High, there's little reason to believe the Eagles aren't ready to extend their current record of consecutive state championships this week.

Brandon put nine wrestlers into the finals and seven - Sean Padgett (103 pounds), Eric Grajales (130), Kevin Timothy (135), Joey Cozart (140), Wally Figaro (145), Zaq Berridge (160) and Phil Uno (215) - came away with individual championships, capping a weekend in which the Eagles dominated the competition en route to winning their 19th consecutive regional title.

Brandon finished with 282 points, 131.5 better than runner-up Springstead. Brandon will take 12 wrestlers to The Lakeland Center for this week's state tournament, which undoubtedly puts the Eagles in great position to claim their eighth consecutive team state title.

Last season, the Eagles advanced 13 to state but had only 12 compete in winning the 2A title.

"We didn't win everywhere we could have. We had a few letdowns. But we really showed our true colors," Grajales said. "It was huge for us to put 12 into state."

"We've really proven ourselves here today and last week at district, and this is just another steppingstone for us on our way to state," Cozart added.

Brandon wasn't the only Hillsborough County program to produce an individual champion. Hillsborough's Moses McCray grabbed an individual crown, defeating Brandon's Aaron Fullenwider in the heavyweight title match.

Pasco County also had an individual champ in River Ridge's Tyler Fleming, who defeated Springstead's Skylar Huff in the 119-pound final. Dunedin 171-pounder Danny Miller was Pinellas County's lone champ.

In all, 28 wrestlers between Hillsborough and Pasco counties advanced to this week's state tournament. Armwood, which placed fifth in the team standings, had four qualifiers, including James Gray (103), Leroy Minley (130) and Tim Witte (171), all of whom finished as individual runners-up.

King's Jeff Moody (152), Jefferson's Skylar McMahon (215) and Brandon's Terry Dawson (112) also were individual runners-up.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT