Stephen and David Pritz brush aside mental and physical blocks in search of medals.
By FRANK PASTOR
Published November 28, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - For months, Hernando senior Stephen Pritz cleaned his younger brother's room, ran errands, did everything David asked of him.
Stephen figured it was the least he could do after David dislocated his elbow.
But eventually, Stephen joked, enough was enough.
"I felt bad for a long time," Stephen said. "Then I was like, I'm not doing anything. Do it yourself."
Fortunately for both brothers, now David can.
Twenty pounds heavier than last season and recovered from the injury that dashed his hopes of qualifying for state as a freshman, David expects to contend for a championship at 160 pounds.
If he does, both brothers could have medals around their necks by the end of the meet.
"We're ranked third this year in the state (in Class A)," David said. "I think we can do better if we just work hard and wrestle good at state. That's the only thing that matters is states."
Stephen qualified each of the past two seasons but did not earn a medal. To do so, coach Matt Smith said Stephen will have to match the intensity he brings to the mat in practice.
"Stephen has all the tools," Smith said. "He's technically strong, he has a good stance, he can be physical when he wants to, but for whatever reason I don't think that he's shown his best wrestling outside of the practice room. Hopefully, we can get that out of him."
Stephen spent himself simply getting to the state meet the past two seasons. Each time, he lost his first regional match, forcing him to win five in a row to advance.
"If you lost that first match, it's do or die," Stephen said. "It's pretty much you win, you're going; you lose, you're out. So, you have to win."
Stephen said he thinks he got over his mental block at the intensive J. Robinson Wrestling Camp this summer in Erie, Pa.
"When you're at practice, you know you can mess up and it's not going to matter, but in a match you mess up and you're going to lose," Stephen said. "You can try things at practice, and it's not as stressful as with all those people watching you."
David started equally well, placing at a couple of tournaments and coming within two points of beating eventual fourth-place state finisher Zach Deaton of Panama City Bay in the Wakulla Tournament before the injury sidetracked him.
David dislocated the elbow while planting his right hand on the mat wrestling his brother in practice. He said the injury was the result of neither brother wanting the other to get the better of him.
"We pretty much beat each other up when we wrestle," David said. "I was mad when I hurt my arm, but I wasn't mad at him."
After being sidelined for a couple of months, David attempted a comeback at the conference meet, where he went 4-0. But he had not fully recovered and was unable to beat out teammates in wrestle-offs for the district tournament.
The injury gave David additional motivation for this season, Stephen said.
"I felt really bad, but I know he's really benefitted because he's worked his butt off because he didn't get to wrestle last year," Stephen said. "He's going to wrestle real tough this year."
Because the brothers are separated by only two weight classes (David competes at 160, Stephen at 171), they often are matched against each another in practice as part of a round robin that includes state champion Addison Chipoletti (189) and runner-up Charley Combs (152).
If anything, David's injury has stoked their competitive fires.
"It's fun," Stephen said. "(David) was a lot smaller, and I used to kil him all the time. Then he got big over the summer, and now he's actually bigger than me, so it's a lot harder to wrestle him.
"But you don't ever want your little brother to beat you."
- Frank Pastor can be reached at 800 333-7505, ext. 1430. Send e-mail to pastor@sptimes.com
