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Brandon Wins County Title

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By ADAM ADKINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 1, 2009

TAMPA - Riverview wrestling coach Wili Sargable couldn't have been more pleased with his team's performance this weekend at the Hillsborough County Championships.

The Sharks managed a third-place finish in the team standings, had four individuals reach Saturday night's finals at Wharton and had two - 189-pounder Rafael Rivera and heavyweight Ryan Gascon - win individual titles, one of only two county programs to produce multiple champions.

"Without question, very satisfied," Sargable said.

Of course, the other county program to have multiple champions was Brandon, which dominated the county public school meet yet again. The Eagles put 13 wrestlers into the finals and 10 - Keith LeFevre (103 pounds), Ryan Renkey (112), Rossi Bruno (119), Tyler Liberatore (125), Clark Glass (130), Eric Grajales (135), Kevin Timothy (140), Joe Cozart (145), Wally Figaro (152) and Zaq Berridge (171) - won their weight class, helping the Eagles roll to their 37th consecutive county title with 414.5 points, well clear of runner-up Durant (207.5 points).

"The guys are wrestling good right at the right time," Brandon coach Russ Cozart said. "We've got a lot of fire, and I like that. We put some things together today, and every one of our guys had a lot of intensity. Everything seems to be clicking right now."

Things certainly clicked for the Eagles early Saturday night, as the first nine championship finals were won by Brandon wrestlers. However, Bloomingdale's Chris Figari put an end to that impressive run with a hard-fought 5-2 decision against Brandon's Kyle Koziel in the 160-pound championship.

Figari ended up as one of three wrestlers to knock off a Brandon opponent in the finals. Riverview's Rivera earned a 3-2 decision in overtime against Brandon's Mike Ettore in the 189-pound final, while Durant's Marshon Shoemake scored a last-second takedown to edge Brandon's Lorenzo Martinez 7-6 in the 215-pound final.

Other individual runners-up Saturday included Middleton's Abe Fernandez (103), Armwood's James Gray (112) and Tim Witte (171), Alonso's Tony Milanes (119), Chamberlain's Roger Phillips (125), Riverview's Ryan Hight (130) and Herman Hernandez (135), Bloomingdale's Carlos Montero (140), and Durant's T.J. Davis (145), Reggie Beal (152) and Devin Johnson (285). Bloomingdale finished fourth in the team standings with 188 points, eight back of third-place Riverview and 26 better than fifth-place Alonso.

Gulf Wins SAC Wrestling Title

WESLEY CHAPEL - The Gulf wrestling team collected its sixth Sunshine Athletic Conference wrestling team title in nine years Saturday at Wiregrass Ranch. The Bucs pushed 10 wrestlers into the tournament finals, walking away with four champions and 382 points. River Ridge (252) was second, followed by Wiregrass (222). Mitchell and Sunlake tied for fourth with 203.

Go to TBO.com, keyword: preps, for a full story, team scores and finals results.

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