GULFPORT - For the past few years, Countryside's talent has been enough to carry it to the top of the Pinellas County Athletic Conference Tournament.
Not this year.
East Lake had just one individual winner, but had enough place winners - 13 in 14 divisions - to carry it to the championship Saturday at Boca Ciega.
East Lake won with 207 points. Dunedin was second with 193. Defending champion Countryside fell to third with 183, followed by Dixie Hollins (182) and Palm Harbor University (167.5).
"This was a total team effort," East Lake coach Chris Waite said. "You can't just write about one guy. We had 10 place winners (in the top six). The whole team worked to get this."
Still, the Eagles had been a work in progress this season. They had high aspirations but always seemed to fall a bit short - until this tournament. "We kept telling the guys this is what they are capable of," Waite said.
The East Lake win was all but assured by the end of the consolation finals, when the Eagles won five of six matches. That gave them eight finishers in the top three, best in the tournament.
Their lone winner was Austin West at 145 pounds, who outdueled Pinellas Park's Josh Baldwin 7-6. Dunedin had the most champions: Josh Hyman at 112, Brandon Emery 140, Dean Miller 152 and Scott Hanson 275.
"Our goal was to win the tournament, but we had to have a lot of things happen," Dunedin coach Mark Allison said. "But what a great team (East Lake) is. They're peaking at the end of the season, which is the right time."
