Gators coach surprised by team's season

LAND O'LAKES -- Brett Murray didn't have reason to expect too much in his first season as the Gators coach after five state qualifiers graduated, leaving a young team behind.

So when his team edged River Ridge by a single point for the top county place at Saturday's Class 2A, Region 2 meet in Brandon, Murray was pleasantly surprised to have three wrestlers representing Land O'Lakes at Thursday's state meet in Lakeland.

"I'm very pleased -- getting a freshman through, getting three guys through in what was supposed to be a down year for us," said Murray, who nearly had a fourth in 140-pounder Mike McCarthy, who lost in the consolation semifinals 3-2, missing the state meet by a single point.

Leading the Gators in Lakeland is junior Chris Bowen, who won the 160-pound title, handing Lakeland's Joe Lowe his first loss in the regional final. Joining him is senior Matt Embry, who needed double overtime to overcome Brandon's Rashard Gulf and reach the consolation finals, where he defeated county rival Joey Mayo of River Ridge.

Murray was most impressed by freshman Scott Mays, who started the year with a 4-9 record but bounced back for a 24-8 record since January. Mays won a district title last week and took the region's fourth and final berth in the state field at 160 pounds.

"He's done an outstanding job since January," Murray said. "I don't know exactly what happened, but he got his wrestling confidence. He finally started believing in himself and what he could do on the mat."

TOUGH DISTRICT: The 119-pound class has been the county's toughest all season, and three wrestlers solidified that at the Class A regional at Hernando.

Hudson's Luke Jubran, Zephyrhills' Nick Spine and Wesley Chapel's Bill Zeranski were 1-2-3 at the District 6 meet at Gulf a week earlier, and they swept the top three spots at the regional as well.

Add in Class 2A qualifier Matt Bullwinkel from Ridgewood, and the county has four state qualifiers in the same class, and only Jubran is a senior.

OPPOSITE RESULTS: Gulf and Pasco were at opposite ends of the spectrum this season.

The Buccaneers had enough depth to finish second in the conference and win a district title, qualifying all 14 wrestlers for the regional meet.

Gulf had just one, however, advance to the state meet, senior Butch Payne.

Pasco, meanwhile, spent most of the season with numbers so limited it made winning a dual meet nearly impossible -- the Pirates went 0-8 in the conference meet and finished fourth in a five-team district.

Still, the Pirates led the county with five state qualifiers and, with a solid showing this weekend, could finish in the top 10 in their class.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: The number of state qualifiers from the county -- 24 -- is down from 34 a year ago, but up from the 2000 total of 20. Nine wrestlers are returning to the state meet from last February, and Spine is making his third trip in as many years.

Only 10 of this year's 24 are seniors, and underclassmen represent five of the seven regional champions.

Leading the drive to next year's state tournament are Zephyrhills, which has three juniors there this week in Spine, Doug Burden and Shane Hand, and Pasco, which will bring back three qualifiers in junior Juan Trevino and sophomores Devon Bryant and Justin Craig.

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