Gulf third in its tourney; Chamberlain takes title
By STEVE WATERS
Published December 19, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Gulf was one win from reaching the finals.
In a back-and-forth semifinal against Chamberlain, the Buccaneers' Brian Baaron lost in the tense final, ending a strong run for the host team in the Gulf Invitational.
But it was close. The score teetered nearly the entire match and it was tied entering the last match. But Chamberlain pulled through, winning 39-33.
Chamberlain went on to win the tournament, defeating Englewood Lemon Bay 52-21.
The Bucs were hurt by the loss to Chamberlain but will take third place, coach Travis Dewalt said.
"It helps the wounds a little bit," he said. "But the team was devastated, that loss really hurt them.
"Chamberlain could have gone either way," he said. "I've got a young team, they're excited, they're aggressive. And it was a fun match to watch.
Gulf didn't take their loss lightly, going on to soundly defeat Jesuit High 43-30 in the consolation final, taking third place for the competition.
"My kids were upset about (the loss to Chamberlain), and they showed that against Jesuit," Dewalt said. "They did a great job."
Twenty three schools from throughout Florida competed in the two-day tournament.
Zephyrhills missed out on the finals after a 44-30 loss to Gulf in the first round.
"They caught us like a deer in the headlights," Bulldogs coach Matt McDermott said. "I think we went out a little intimidated, not ready to wrestle that tough of a match."
But Zephyrhills regained composure and won the rest of their matches.
"I got angry, the kids got real angry," he said. "So we went 4-1, we're 8-1 overall. I saw some things we can work on, so we'll get a couple more shots against (Gulf) this year."
Wesley Chapel, Springstead and Zephyrhills each went 4-1 in the tournament, Mitchell and Ridgewood were 3-2 and Hudson finished 2-3.
But Dewalt said that though the tournament didn't pan out quite the way he wanted, his wrestlers see it as a warmup to the state tournament.
"I told them, nobody remembers this stuff," he said. "What people remember is the state tournament, and we're ready for that."
