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Wrestling is Pasco star's life
By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
DADE CITY -- It is the opening night of wrestling season, and Devon Bryant is disappointed. Pasco's opponent, Mitchell, is not fielding a 145-pound wrestler, giving Bryant the night off. It's a frustrating way to start his senior season, given everything that wrestling has come to mean for him. "It's pretty much everything," the 18-year-old said. "It's all I do. I even have bad dreams where I'm losing at state. For me, it's life." Dreaming about wrestling is a good thing, though. Just having something to dream about is a good thing for Bryant, who has found a salvation on the mats. Wrestling is something to focus on, something to give him pride in himself, something to keep him away from the temptations he's been surrounded by all his life. "It helps me stay away from bad people," Bryant said. "I go to school, go home for a bit and go to practice, and when I get home, I'm so tired I fall right asleep." Asked where he'd be today without the sport he's grown to love, Bryant smiles and says: "I'd probably be in trouble." He has grown up in a bad section of town, and wrestling has helped him avoid a life of drugs and crime that once seemed unavoidably his. Three years ago, Bryant wouldn't have been eligible to wrestle if he wanted to, but he didn't discover the sport until a teacher suggested it his sophomore year. He was a state qualifier in his first season, then as a junior, he won district, conference and region titles, reaching the state semifinals before finishing sixth on an injury default. It's brought him around in the classroom as well. He has three A's and three B's, and will attend night school after the season to get the final credit he'll need for graduation. In June, he'll be able to walk with his classmates, and wrestling could help him continue his progress on the college level. "I think his life is more in order now," coach Mark DeAugustino said. "This is wrestling, but we're in the business of kids. To see someone turn their life around the way he has is something. "He was on the other side of the tracks, but he's come out of that. Now he's very goal-oriented. His grades are up. I feel for him, because he's like a son." On a team with 12 freshmen, including seven starters, DeAugustino made Bryant his captain, knowing he could inspire his younger teammates to reach for the same success he's already achieved. "I have goals, but I want things for this team," Bryant said. "I love Coach D. Without him, I wouldn't be here." A new focus might be Bryant's greatest strength, but DeAugustino said his speed and technique are so improved he should better last year's 39-5 record. But ask him about his goals for his senior year and he doesn't just want a state title for himself. He wants his cousin, junior Justin Craig, to win one at 215 pounds, and childhood friend Tanner Orr to do the same at 152. "I think he's capable of being whatever he wants to be," DeAugustino said. "I know I wouldn't want to have to wrestle him. As far as he went at state last year, he's 10 times tougher. He's just a strong-willed kid."
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