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Holding Pattern For State Tourney

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2008

SPRING HILL - Under normal circumstances, Gulf coach Travis DeWalt would have reined in a wrestler who was aiming for one opponent in a tournament.

Something to do with that whole overlooking your opponent thing.

But pulling back Jordan Holding at the Springstead Invitational this past weekend wasn't in the cards.

In the December Kiwanis tournament in Hernando, Holding was ahead 14-2 entering the third period against Springstead's Steven Bliss. That huge advantage was tossed aside as Holding was pinned with 20 seconds left in that match.

"It's no hidden secret, we wanted to see this kid and he knew the only way we could get a rematch with Bliss is to make it to the finals because of the way the bracketing went," DeWalt said. "So I think he was on a steer-headed mission through the semis all the way through he had one kid on his mind."
Steers can be a bit aggressive, an attitude Holding adopted as he collected a 10-second pin and a 16-6 major decision on his way to a showdown with Bliss.

Holding got what he was hoping for, a 6-2 win against Bliss inside Bliss' home gym.

"I was beating him real bad and then he caught me at the end and pinned me with 20 seconds left, so this was really an important match for me," the senior said after his finals match victory. "That background makes it so much sweeter. I placed here last year and it was really important for me to win it this year."

In his four seasons participating in the Springstead Invitational, Holding's best finish - before this year - was third place last season as a junior.

Holding's beeline to Bliss has been an involved process, which included extra running and healthy eating. Seems it worked.

"Last time he beat me because he had better conditioning on me," Holding admitted. "I wanted to conserve my energy, so I would have some in the end, so he wouldn't be able to catch me again.

"I've been training really hard for this and I finally won the tournament."

With that mission accomplished, DeWalt is ready for Holding to turn his attention to reaching the ultimate height - the state tournament next month in Lakeland.

"Bottom line, this is a steppingstone for the next three weeks until you get to the state tournament," DeWalt said. "Nobody remembers who's the Springstead champion, but they remember state champions. They remember state runner-ups and state placers."

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