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Springstead Swamps Competition

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 11, 2009

SPRING HILL - The equation was a tad different for the Springstead wrestling team Saturday night, but the results remained the same as the Eagles collected their 12th Springstead Invitational victory.

In this, the 19th installment of the tournament, Springstead advanced 10 wrestlers to the finals. Of those, eight were crowned champions.

Making that feat impressive is the fact only two of those 10 wrestlers placed in last season's event - Nick Soto finished first last year, while Jessey Lorentsen, then wrestling for Mitchell, was second. Both collected gold this time around.

This is the third consecutive season Springstead has won this tournament.

"We're training a little bit differently lately," Springstead coach Eric Swensen said. "We still train hard, but we're training smarter now. We're doing a little bit more weightlifting ... we just changed the pattern a bit, so we don't look so tired.

"I think there have been some tournaments where we looked a little tired. It's starting to get toward the end of the year and we need to do the right things, so we're just trying to watch the way they act mentally."

Springstead's 255.5 points were more than enough to keep it on top. Jesuit collected 151 points for second place, followed by Hernando (117.5), Gulf (109), Mitchell (108) and Sunlake (107).

Springstead freshman Cody Ross earned his title by pinning the first two of his four opponents. In the final, he collected a 7-2 decision against Gulf's Anthony Ayers.

According to Ross, his latest success can be attributed to a rising level of confidence as well as his intense practice sessions with Soto.

"I wrestled pretty good," said Ross, who was named the Outstanding Wrestler for the lightweight divisions. "Actually, I started opening up, so kids who are usually tough got a lot easier. At the beginning of the year, I set goals to start wrestling to my potential."

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214.

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