Preps

Encore for Enriquez: tops in state again

Virgadamo and Spranger also finish in the top six as Jesuit captures sixth place.

By TERRY JONES, Times Correspondent
Published February 29, 2004

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LAKELAND - With only eight wrestlers in the state tournament and none with experience prior to high school, Jesuit was not expected to win the title. But the Tigers were determined to squeeze every point from each wrestler.

When the tournament was over, Jesuit had one state champion, placed two others in the top six, and took sixth in Class A as a team with 73.5 points.

"I told our kids to leave everything on the mat in their matches and not take anything off," Jesuit coach Brett McGill said. "This has been a good season and great tournament for us. All five of our seniors qualified and everybody scored points. I am so proud of our entire team. They could not have done more. They won everything they could."

Jesuit's top two wrestlers, defending state champion Alex Enriquez (152) and Alex Virgadamo (189), qualified for the finals.

Enriquez won his second title with a decision. Virgadamo placed second and Kurt Spranger, a sophomore 103-pounder, took fourth.

"We brought more guys here this year than we did in several years," said Enriquez, who is deciding among Princeton, Harvard and Davidson. "Spranger is just a sophomore and could very well win the state championship in the next two years."

Virgadamo produced his best performance in three years of state tournaments. In his sophomore and junior seasons, he was eliminated on the first day.

"I was tired of drive-by state tournaments," he said. "The last two years I drove in, lost two matches and drove home. Last year I was pretty cocky and was injured in my second match. I felt good this year. All the guys here did. At least it wasn't two-and-out again."

[Last modified February 29, 2004, 01:15:11]

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