Brandon, as usual, dominated, but Durant and Jesuit pulled surprises.
By TERRY JONES
Published February 23, 2004
BRANDON - Saturday, for the first time since the Florida High School Athletic Association separated teams into three classifications, county teams swept the region tournaments.
Durant won Class 3A. Brandon won Class 2A, and Jesuit won Class A.
The Eagles were expected to win. But like it did in the district meet, when it won all 14 weight classes, the No. 4 team in the nation and No. 1 in Florida among all classifications put on a powerful display.
Brandon won 11 individual titles, and its other three wrestlers placed third to also qualify for the state tournament, which is Thursday-Saturday at the Lakeland Center. The Eagles' 3381/2 points were more than second-place Flagler Palm Coast and third-place Chamberlain combined.
Jesuit had to battle in wrestlebacks and consolations to come from behind and defeat Englewood Lemon Bay for its title. The Tigers scored 1861/2 points, 19 more than Lemon Bay.
Senior Alex Enriquez (152) and Alex Virgadamo (189) won individual titles for Jesuit. The Tigers also had two place second, two place third and two place fourth.
By finishing among the top four, all eight qualified for state.
"I have never seen our team wrestle as well as they did in the regional tournament," said Enriquez, a two-time state champion.
"Everybody wrestled great, even those who did not qualify for state. I am so proud of our whole team."
Durant also was a surprise, especially to the other teams in the Class 3A, Region 2 meet. The Cougars didn't even know they had won their district meet until Wednesday, when a recount gave them 10 more points and a 51/2-point victory over Riverview.
Saturday, the Cougars scored 146 points followed by Gulf Coast (140), Pinellas Park (1381/2) and Riverview (1211/2). Sophomore 103-pounder Tim Burdine was Durant's only individual champion.
