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Sunlake Is No Pushover In First Season

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 10, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Call it beginners luck or just a group of determined wrestlers plowing through hard dirt. Either way, the Sunlake wrestling team isn't what you would call an easy victory.

The Seahawks, in the first year of the program's existence, have notched a 10-15 record and took a second-place finish last week in the Second Annual Fraternal Order of the Eagles Wildcat Duals at Wesley Chapel. In that dual-meet tournament, Sunlake went 4-1, losing to eventual tournament champ Mitchell, 69-12.
Sunlake coach Rick Carlson is happy with the progress, but isn't content either.

"It's a validation of the system that we're running. And these kids, I'm so proud of them because they've really come together as a team," Carlson said. "They've learned to rely on each other. They just keep getting better and better and better and they keep making all of the adjustments. It's pretty exciting stuff.

"We're not surprised at some of the results we're getting. Quite frankly, we want to do better."

Devon Johnson (Jr. 152, 21-12) was the lone Seahawks wrestler to go 5-0 at the Wesley Chapel tournament, but isn't the lone star on that squad. Jean Mancebo (Fr. 103, 14-16), Sean Hart (Fr. 119, 17-13), Luke Peterson (So., 125, 20-9) and Nick Stanger (So. 145, 14-18) each went 4-1 at Wesley Chapel.

CENTURY MARK: River Ridge senior Tyler Fleming was at the 99 win mark entering Wednesday night's dual against Zephyrhills.

This summer, the 119-pounder took a trip to Culver, Ind. to participate in a wrestling camp, which featured Brandon wrestling coach Russ Cozart and members of the Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.) wrestling team.

A LITTLE HARD WORK: Mitchell 171 pounder Jessey Lorentsen had issues with going the distance last season, but those kinks have been worked out.

"Last year I was keeping up with about the top three or top four kids when we would go out and run," the junior said. "This year at the beginning I was doing that and I've been pushing myself."

Plus, he hasn't exactly had an offseason.

He had football conditioning, wrestling and weight lifting during the summer. The constant movement and another year of wrestling under his belt has also added to his confidence level.

"I feel a little more comfortable and I feel a little more solid in my moves," he said. "I feel I'm a little bit stronger and in better shape."

It's shown in his 21-2 record.

UNDEFEATED: Mitchell cleaned up at the Second Annual Order of the Eagles Wildcat Duals last weekend. Of the 14 weight-class champions in the dual-meet tournament, 10 were Mustangs. Here's the overall list: 103- Jasper Stearns (Z); 112- Anthony Ayers (M); 119- Eddie Santiago (M); 125- Jacob Naccarto (M); 130- Eric Madden (WG); 135- Allyn Williamson (RW); 140- Vassili Kostakis (M); 145- Shea Taylor (M); 152- Johnson (S); 160- John Sacco (M); 171- Lorentsen (M); 189- Ryan Brosnan (M); 215- Ryan Cassidy (M); 285- Thomas Doman (M).

TOPS IN THE STATE: According the latest Scoutfloridapreps.com Florida Wrestling Rankings, Hudson's Travis Tindell is the state's top heavyweight. He also takes that spot in the Class 1A rankings. Ray Perez of Pasco is ranked as the No. 1 189-pounder in 1A.

In that same poll, Gulf is ranked as the No. 12 team in Class 1A and River Ridge took the final spot at No. 15 in Class 2A.

WHAT'S NEXT?: Many Pasco County teams will head to Springhill for the Springstead Invitational. The 21-team tournament will follow the individual format and begins Friday at 2:30 p.m. Wrestling picks back up Saturday morning at 8:30.

The list of teams involved include: Armwood, Central, Chamberlain, Crystal River, Dunnellon, Gulf, Hernando, Hillsborough, Hudson, Jesuit, Land O' Lakes, Mitchell, Nature Coast, Newsome, Pasco, Ridgewood, River Ridge, Springstead, The Villages, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills.

Coaches wanting to add their team's information to the weekly Wrestling Notebook can submit their entries to Eddie Daniels by calling (813) 948-4214 or e-mailing edaniels@tampatrib.com.

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