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Run of victories gives Rams title

LAND O'LAKES - A year ago, Ridgewood had the brief honor and subsequent heartbreak of being awarded a district title and smiling for the cameras, only to have it taken back on a recount, losing to Land O'Lakes by a half-point.

Saturday, the Rams entered the Class 2A, District 9 finals with a 71/2-point lead on those same Gators, but instead of recounting, their victory was resounding. Ridgewood crowned six champions and went 3-0 in the consolation finals for a 189-1601/2 victory. "There's no taking it away this time," Rams coach Vinnie Lowe said. "We won nine out of 10 in the finals, and that really puts an exclamation point on it. And eight of the nine won with bonus points. We told them we needed to win and win with bonus points, and they deserve credit for that."

The Rams swept six consecutive weight classes, getting wins from Josh Rupe (112), Micah Marcano (119), Billy Bullwinkel (125), Matt Bullwinkel (130), Anthony Jackson (135) and Keith Coghlan (140). Patrick Kelly (215) was the only Rams finalist to lose, getting pinned in 2:37 by Mitchell's Adam McManus. McManus provided the day's first upset of a No. 1 seed when he pinned Hudson's Tim Bentley.

Land O'Lakes had two repeat champions in Clay Hulsey (171) and Scott Mays (189) and a first-time winner in Jeff Ramer (152). The Gators had a district-high 11 advance to this week's regions, including runnerups Jon Zakel (125), Bobby Castillo (145) and Josh Kweller (160).

"It wasn't surprising or unexpected," Gators coach Brett Murray said. "I had (Ridgewood) pegged from (112 to 140) taking championships, and they did."

Mitchell's Nate Pozzi moved up a class and won the 145 crown, and Wesley Chapel's Kevin Boyd won at 160, nine classes higher than the 103 class he won a region title in two years ago.

Hudson had two No. 2 seeds pull upsets in the finals in A.J. Reyes (103) and heavyweight Chris Assaf. Springstead finished sixth among eight schools, with only six advancing. Of those six, only heavyweight Chuck Gonyea won a title.

BROOKSVILLE - Forget the win-or-go-home drama. This was more like the feel-good district tournament of the year.

At district meets, the top four in each class earn region berths. Yet Class A, District 8 has only five teams, three of which are strong with complete rosters while one is a first-year program with just a handful of wrestlers.

So at Hernando, there was hardly any suspense over whose seasons would survive for one more week. Hernando, Zephyrhills and Gulf had 14 wrestlers, and all finished among the top four.

The Leopards, dominant all season on the North Suncoast, won individual titles in seven classes and won the event with 218 points. Zephyrhills, which lost to Gulf at the Sunshine Athletic Conference tournament, turned the tables in finishing second (1781/2), just ahead of the Buccaneers (172).

Pasco finished fourth (87) and advanced 10 of its 12 wrestlers to this's week's region at Green Cove Springs Clay. The Villages, a new program, had four fourth-place individuals and finished fifth overall.

"With only five teams, I'm not sure where that sits," Hernando coach Matt Smith said. "But what it does, it sets you up for (this) week. A No. 1 (Saturday) will go up against a No. 4 next week."

Any No. 4 seeds are not likely to have fun with the Leopards' best. Defending state champion Addison Chipoletti officially started his title defense at 171 pounds with a pin of Zephyrhills' Martin Calhoun in 1:39 in the final. 2003 state runnerup Charley Combs needed one more second to pin the Bulldogs' Timothy Breeden in the 145 final.

Combs' younger brother, Michael, was not as successful, defaulting to Zephyrhills' Marvin Johnson in the 140 final. Johnson, who also won district last year, led Combs late when their heads collided. Combs, who had taken his injury time during the first period, could not continue.

Gulf's Joey Pospisil (112) and Bryan Ryder (135) also successfully defended district titles.

- JOHN SCHWARB

DUNNELLON - Crystal River sophomore Seth Metz wanted to send a message to the rest of the state.

Metz, who missed qualifying for state last season thanks to a wrestleback loss to Hernando's Addison Chipoletti, downed Dunnellon's Matt Glancy, whose only loss entering the tournament was to Chipoletti, 6-4 in the 171 final to set the tone for what he hopes is a lengthy postseason run.

"Glancy is a real tough kid, and I knew that I had to stay physical with him," Metz said. "I know that I'll see him again at regionals, and I know that I will see Chipoletti there also."

Metz was one of five champions for Crystal River, which won its first title in three seasons. Roderic Sparks (112), Arlando Madison (160), Richard Drawdy (189) and Ryan Stephens (heavyweight) also won. The Pirates scored 56 more points than second-place Citrus. Lecanto was fourth among the six teams.

Crystal River wrestlers won 9 of 11 first-round matches.

"We knew all week that we had to come in and do well in the first round," Pirates coach Bill Tovine said. "The key was pinning as many people as we could, and we did a good job of that, especially in the first round."

Citrus had two champions, Dawson Merry (130) and Marlin Dimitrion (119). During his run, Merry beat Citra North Marion's Rick Tortora, who took fifth in Class A at state a year ago. Tortora was pinned while going for a pinning combination.

"I wanted to win," said Merry, who later beat Ocala West Port's Greg Gaines 18-13 in the final to improve to 7-12. "I thought I had lost when I got up. But the good ref saw what had happened, and it really feels great to win."

Cole Heitt (125), Michael Musto (140) and Corbin Glantz (152) won titles for Lecanto.

- RICHARD BURTON