TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Plant City, Durant Hit The Mats Saturday

ADVERTISEMENT

By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: February 4, 2009

PLANT CITY - The Plant City and Durant wrestling teams are among the field of nine schools on hand for the District 3A-5 meet, set to unfold Saturday at East Bay High School.

Wrestlers from both teams hope to finish in the top four of their weight class, the result needed in order to continue one's season onto the regional level.

Durant harbors hopes of a team championship.

"I think Bloomingdale's very strong, and Alonso's good, too. I think between us three it will be a good battle for first place," Durant head coach Dennis Kitko said. "If we win it this year, it will be a pretty good accomplishment."

The Cougars have won the last two district championships. This year's squad might be a tad below that level, however Kitko said the past few weeks have seen Durant come together. One factor has been moving several wrestlers up or down in weight class to get the lineup at its most functional.

No tinkering has been required for Nick Hadick, who brings a 36-3 record into the district meet. Alex Hamm (112 pounds) has also been outstanding, with a 34-4 mark heading into last weekend's Western Conference event.

Others with strong records include T.J. Davis (145 pounds) and a pair of emerging performers, senior Reggie Beal and Titus Horner. Beal dropped two classes, from 171 pounds at the beginning of the season to 152.

Durant is 22-8 in dual matches but, as Kitko points out, the schedule has been tough.

"If we stayed local, we'd have a lot better record. I'd say our schedule is as tough as Brandon's," he said. All eight losses were to schools ranked in Florida's top 16 as rated by floridakids.us.

Durant participated in tournaments in Oviedo, Orlando, Tarpon Springs and Lake City.

Plant City did well recently in the Ippolito Tournament at Brandon High, finishing 13th out of 29 schools.

Three Raiders made it to the placement round, meaning a top-six finish inside their weight class: Travis Vollick (fourth, 189 pounds), William Joyce (fifth, 103) and Josh Creamer (fifth, 112). Making the top-six result so impressive was the fact it came against a larger field than most tourneys.

Vollick had to win four matches just to get to the semifinals, which put his record to 23-2. Creamer went 5-1 on the day to improve his mark to 27-8, and Joyce won four matches after losing his opener.

The Ippolito was held Jan. 24 at Brandon High School. The host Eagles were the overall winners.

Saturday's district event starts at 11 a.m. with the finals tentatively set to begin at 5 p.m.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT