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Eagles' victory raises concerns

By BRANT JAMES

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 10, 2001

SPRING HILL -- That Springstead won a ninth consecutive district title Friday was no surprise.

What made the Eagles' customary romp intriguing was the raising of a question that can only be answered next weekend at the Class A, Region 2 meet.

Is District 7 competition really good enough to upset three top-seeded Springstead wrestlers or have some of the Eagles' weak spots been exposed?

"We had some people who better wrestle better next week," Springstead coach Bob Levija said. "And I think this district is going to dominate at regions."

Central coach Alan Solomon, whose team finished third, agreed with the latter point. "I think some teams had some chinks in their armor exposed a little bit," he said. "Springstead didn't do as well as I expected."

Whatever the answer, by advancing 11 wrestlers to regionals, the Eagles amassed plenty of points to roll to the team title with 2231/2 points. Lake Weir was second (176), followed by Central (153), Crystal River (1391/2), Lecanto (1281/2), Hernando (931/2), Citrus (821/2) and Dunnellon (82).

The top-four finishers in each weight class advanced to regionals.

Four Eagles won titles: Jason Faucher (28-5) at 119, Matt Booker (41-1) at 135, Gerard DeCristofaro (40-0) at 140 and Reggie Pena (40-0) at 152.

"I've been runner-up before because there's been some real tough people in my class," Pena said.

"This time, it was my turn."

Four Eagles lost finals as Louis Kachiroubas fell 8-6 to Crystal River's Nate Stone in overtime at 145, Hernando's Drew Innes edged Tim Cook 9-8 at 160, Lake Weir's Matt Hammons dominated Steve Garofano 13-6 at 171 and Lake Weir's Nate McCullough pinned Jose Flores in the 215-pound match.

Lecanto senior Harold Skidmore won his third consecutive title in ascending classes, beating Hernando's Billy Woods 14-3 at 130.

"I felt pretty good, but I'm not at my peak yet," said Skidmore, who improved to 32-1. "I'm not there yet, but I'm going to get it."

The Panthers' Jimmy Rodriguez (31-3) handed Lake Weir's Eddie Gonzalez (31-1) his first loss in winning the 112-pound title.

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