ST. PETERSBURG - Since taking over the Countryside program in 1980, Dave Frayer has dominated Pinellas County wrestling, winning 21 district titles.
But for Frayer, who is retiring after 24 seasons as coach, his 22nd title in the Class 2A, District 10 tournament at Northeast brought a new level of dominance and was a fitting cap to his career.
With all 14 wrestlers advancing to the finals, the Cougars made the tournament their own. They set school records for most points (300) and most champions (11).
"My principal asked how we would do at the tournament and I told him I thought we could have all 14 guys get to the finals," Frayer said. "I thought we could win 13, and we came close. We'll take it, but we know we have our work cut out for us next week at the region meet."
In the finals, Countryside's Kent Costell (103 pounds), Greg Vernon (112), Vince Scholl (119), Casey Schreiber (135), A. Jay Hixon (145), Wesley Walker (152) and Sean Murphy (160) won by technical fall. Dominic DeNunzio (140), Ben Rzymek (171) and Parker Miles (215) won by decision, and Raniel Heredia (130) won by pin.
The Cougars, despite losing three state champs from last year, were the only team in the district to send each of its wrestlers to next week's region meet at Punta Gorda Charlotte.
"I don't know if we are more outstanding than last year," Frayer said. "We're just more balanced."
Dixie Hollins was second with 168 points. The Rebels had one champion, Robert Hartline at 189, and will send nine wrestlers to the region meet.
Dunedin scored 130 points for third. Adam Weintraub (125) and Steve Edgerton (275) each won in the finals for the Falcons.
3A-6: Pinellas Park rallies to win seven classes, title
SEMINOLE - Pinellas Park was third behind Palm Harbor and East Lake going into the final two rounds Thursday night. Then coach Walt Allison reminded his team of its individual responsibilities before the consolation round.
The Patriots responded by winning seven of the 14 weight classes and placing in three others to win the district title with 187.5 points.
"I had a ninth-grader (Matt Walker at 103 pounds) who had to win against East Lake and he did," said Allison. "That was the turning point."
Felipe Quieroz (112) followed Walker's momentum-changing match with a first-period pin of East Lake's Zach Lutz. And Jeremie Dobie's last-second decision over Palm Harbor's Sean Armil at 119 put the late-charging Patriots in position for the win.
"I looked at the clock and (saw) five seconds left," said Dobie. "Adrenaline comes from everywhere when you have to win and I knew what I had to do to get it done."
Mike Falgoust (130), Ricky Ferguson (140), Gregg Anderson (215) and Travis Youngs (275) also turned in top finishes.
East Lake finished second with 171 points. Palm Harbor, which led going into the final two rounds, could only manage 14 more points and ended up third with 168.
