Strong showing 'payoff' for Lecanto

Its county opponents -- the same ones Lecanto dominated the past five years -- may have gotten a good laugh at the Panthers' expense during the regular season.

But Lecanto got the last laugh in Saturday's Class A, Region 2 championships.

The Panthers entered the postseason with a 2-9 record, but emerged from the regional with more state qualifiers (three) and more champions (two) than any other county school.

"This is something we've been working toward all year," Lecanto coach Dana Wilkes said.

"With a lot of young kids, we knew we didn't have a great tournament team or dual-meet team. But we knew we had three good guys," he said. "So, yeah, this is kind of a payoff. It's what we've worked for."

Terence Hollis (160 pounds) and Billy Simmons (189) led the Panthers, winning their first regional championships. Mike Duca rounded out the effort with a runner-up finish at 125.

Of those, Simmons' unlikely win over Bishop Moore's Daniel Gardner in the 189 final was the most exhilarating.

Simmons trailed by 11 points after one period, but rallied with 17 points and a pin in the final 3 minutes and 55 seconds of the match.

Technique played a role for Simmons, but not nearly as much as the senior's determination to beat his opponent. "He had him pinned early in the match," Wilkes said. "But when he didn't get it, that's when Billy just took it to him."

Hollis' victory, while not nearly as exciting, was as impressive.

He came up a match short of going to state last year and didn't take any chances with Titusville Astronaut's Steven Nickerson, scoring three third-period takedowns in a 12-9 win.

"This feels good," Hollis said.

PRATT, HINMAN ADVANCE: Crystal River had just two state qualifiers, but the Pirates were close in at least five other classes.

Brian McErlean (135), Drew Lepinski (140), Josh Stone (152), Michael Kotsifakis (189) and Chauncey Minor (189) came within a match of qualifying for Thursday's state championship meet, but lost in the consolation semifinals.

"We had a few guys come close to placing," Crystal River coach Bill Tovine said. "But none of them made it through."

The Pirates led all county squads in the team competition, finishing sixth with 87.5 points.

Crystal River had state qualifiers in 145-pound champion Brady Pratt and 275-pound runner-up Matt Hinman.

"We knew (Pratt) had it in him to do well, and we hoped he would," Tovine said. "But he did surprise us a bit.

"He did a lot better and exceeded our expectations," Tovine said, "and he's only getting better."

'CANES SHUT OUT: Citrus did not have any of its wrestlers qualify for state, though one came within a match.

Nick Simmons made it to the 145-pound semifinals, but lost to eventual runner-up Cody Hoppel of North Marion before losing in a consolation semifinal to Hernando's Charley Combs.

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