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Gators pin down two state titles
By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer LAND O'LAKES -- It's official: Land O'Lakes has a wrestling dynasty on its hands. Juniors Dana Kearney and Jessica Worthington proved that at Saturday's Women's State Wrestling Tourney at Kissimmee Gateway, bringing back two state championships to Pasco County. Kearney won the first state girls wrestling title in Tampa Bay and Pasco County history at last season's tourney in Oviedo, and Worthington earned the first silver medal. Now Kearney is the first two-time girls state champion, and Worthington earned her first state title. Together, the two of them led Land O'Lakes to a fifth-place finish, scoring 56 points to state champion Gateway's 165.5 points. Three Hudson wrestlers also medaled to lead the Cobras to 12th place. "You hate to say it, but we almost kind of expected it," Gators coach Brett Murray said. "Because they wrestled so well last year, we expected good things out of them, but to finish fifth as a team, that blew me away. "If we had any other girls to go up there, we could have made a real big noise up there. I'm real proud of them and what they accomplished." Kearney won four consecutive matches to win her second consecutive gold medal, defeating Gainesville's Kayte Susse 8-4 in the 124-pound finals. It was the first points a foe scored against Kearney in back-to-back state tourney appearances. Kearney won despite having just one week of practice. She was nursing torn meniscus and anterior-cruciate ligaments in her left knee, an injury suffered at the Jerry Mita Tournament at Pinellas Park. "It was a lot tougher than I expected and I really didn't think I'd come out on top," Kearney said. "I was hoping I would, but I didn't think I could come up against someone with my same ability." But she did in the finals, so what was the difference? "I had more experience," Kearney said. Last season, Worthington left Oviedo disappointed with the silver medal after falling 8-6 to defending state and AAU national girls champion Kristen Ianuzzi of Winter Springs. But she came back strong this season, recording four consecutive pins to earn her first state title. In the 132-pound final, Worthington pinned Lyman's Rachel Martinez in 57 seconds. But Worthington said her toughest match was in the semifinals, when she was down 7-2 to Edgewater's Jennifer Guillen before taking the lead in the third period and pinning her in 5:40. "I think I was in a lot better shape and I knew more, which helped a lot," Worthington said. Both Worthington and Kearney plan to compete in the United States Girls Wrestling Association Nationals beginning March 22 at Lake Orion, Mich. Hudson's Tania Trenta Costa finished fourth at 120 after losing by pin to Lemon Bay's Tiffany Mason in 3:47 in the consolation bracket. Hudson scored two wins in the final round of consolations. Rachel Boyko took fifth at 107 by pinning Cypress Creek's Ashleigh Gallant in 2:58. Kelly Burger finished fifth at 112, defeating Ocala Forest's Brittney Wilder 4-3. Kearney is now practicing with the Land O'Lakes softball team and is competing for a catcher and outfielder positions. She said she doesn't want to risk further injury to her knee wrestling with the boys. But she will be back next season to try for a third consecutive state title, and she hopes the county can send a unified team to compete for the state title. "I'm just happy that no surgery was needed and that the knee was kind of rested," she said. "But if I keep wrestling this year, it could get torn all the way and then I'll need surgery."
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