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© St. Petersburg Times, published January 26, 2002
BRANDON -- On the first day of competition and with two sharp championship rounds, Brandon scored 80.5 points to take a commanding lead Friday. The Eagles put eight wrestlers into the semifinals, which begin today at 10 a.m. at Brandon.
Bloomingdale and Kissimmee St. Cloud are tied for second with 60 points each. The Bulls have seven wrestlers in the semifinals and the Bulldogs five.
"The tournament started on time and the competition has been just what everyone expected," Brandon coach Russ Cozart said. "As expected, Bloomingdale, St. Cloud, Cape Coral and Manatee are in the hunt along with us. Tomorrow's (semifinals) will tell a lot."
Searching for some tough competition before starting its own state title run in two weeks, St. Cloud came in and challenged the field with highly skilled wrestlers.
"We came here to meet with some of the better Class 3A competition on this side of the state and we found it," Bulldogs coach Victor Lorenzano said. "Then Brandon (Class 2A) is the best in the state and we wanted to wrestle them, too. Basically, we got into this tournament to slug it out with tough wrestlers and that is what everybody here is doing."
Manatee was in fourth with 58.5 points, followed by Durant (47), Tallahassee Godby (40) and Cape Coral (38.5).
"We are doing about like we expected against some very good competition," Manatee coach Andy Gugliemini said. "Tomorrow is the main day."
The Hurricanes have seven in the semifinals.