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Area teams shine in postseason

Sickles' girls take the 5A District 7 soccer championship by beating Gaither.

By TERRY JONES
Published February 6, 2005

NORTH TAMPA - A lot of high school teams in north Hillsborough County are now competing in postseason tournaments and meets. The competitions, some of which will last through the rest of this month, may lead some teams to the statewide Final Four of their sport, or even to the dream of a state championship.

This past week was active, and many local athletes did well. Here are some of the results:

Sickles High School (20-1) captured the Class 5A, District 7 championship last week with a 4-0 win over neighborhood rival Gaither. Sara Lockler scored two goals for the Gryphons, while Chelsea Wright and Ashley Middleton added one each.

Angie Torres and Wendy Moenart each scored goals in a 2-0 win over East Bay on Thursday night, allowing the Gryphons to host the regional semifinal match this Tuesday at 7 p.m. The win improved Sickles' record to 20-1 for the year, a new school record.

After finishing regulation play 2-2 in the Class 4A, District 11 finals last week, Freedom High lost 5-3 on penalty kicks to Newsome.

However, behind the strength of Vanessa Rangel's kicking skills Thursday night, the Patriots defeated Winter Haven 6-1 in the regional quarterfinals at Winter Haven's field.

So the Freedom Patriots will travel to the semifinals Tuesday.

Gaither got back into the postseason mix with a 3-1 upset of King in another quarterfinal match on King's field.

Shanna Pace did all the scoring with her hat trick. The Cowboys will travel Tuesday for a semifinal match.

Freedom pulled off an upset over Newsome to gain a spot to play Tampa Bay Tech, with the Class 4A, 11 championship and a favorable berth for the first round of regional matches starting Thursday at 7 p.m.

The Patriots needed regulation, two overtime periods and three rounds of penalty kicks to beat Newsome 3-2 in their semifinal match. Freedom won the PK battle 14-13, with keeper Hector Castillo stopping the shot that Newsome needed.

In Class 5A, District 7, Alonso eliminated Wharton in a grueling battle by a 2-1 score after regulation, two overtimes and one round of penalty kicks.

The Alonso Ravens' keeper, A.J. Madero, blocked Wharton's first penalty kick, which turned out to be the winning factor for Alonso.

Gaither closed out Chamberlain's season with a 4-2 victory. Long after press time Friday, Gaither met Alonso on the Ravens' field for the district championship.

Fernando Gonzales scored twice and Jerome Dunkly and Ryan Henriquez added one goal each for the Cowboys' win over the Chiefs. Mitchell Middlekauff and Jeff Tamayo scored for Chamberlain.

With 28 wrestlers in all weight classes and 30 in some, placing in the top six in last weekend's Ippolito Memorial Wrestling Tournament at Brandon was quite an achievement.

For some of the quality wrestlers, seven state champions and 16 state contenders, it was a warmup for the state run starting with the district finals on Feb. 12.

Alonso junior 125-pound contender Chris Allen did the best with a third-place finish, and his teammate Jonathan Reyes was sixth at 189.

From five north Hillsborough teams competing, Jefferson placed the most with three.

Andrew Lopez finished fourth at 140 pounds. Anthony Bearden (112) and James Bearden (119), both placed sixth.

Gaither's Martin Crow was fifth at 130 and Wharton's David Cieplenski was sixth at 152.

Competing in its own state-run warmup, Sickles tied for first in the Top Gun Duals at Land O'Lakes with a 4-1 record.

[Last modified February 5, 2005, 09:49:05]