On, off mat, Knight senior employs energetic patience

Justin Fenton goes "non-stop' while waiting for an opportunity.

By JAMAL THALJI

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 17, 2000

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Art and wrestling. River Ridge's Justin Fenton approaches both the same way.

Patiently, that is.

As an illustrator, he likes to take his time with his drawings, savoring the moment when the lines come together, when his subject is transferred to paper.

"I like to impress myself," said Fenton, who can't remember when he started drawing. "When I look at something and draw a picture, when you first start, you don't understand you can do it. You might think you can't. But then you do it. That's how I like impressing myself."

As a wrestler, he's the same way. He would rather take his time, letting his opponent make the first move and the first mistake. By the end of the match, Fenton savors the moment when he can take advantage of an exhausted, frustrated foe.

"I just wait for the other guy to mess up or give me the opportunity to do something," Fenton said. "I don't wait forever for them to move, but I get tougher as the match goes on. That's what I work on."

The strange thing is, coach Mike DeGennaro said, Fenton otherwise moves like a blur.

"He's non-stop," DeGennaro said. "The kid is just constantly moving, in the wrestling room, on the football field. He's just an unbelievable leader. He's like another coach.

"He doesn't let anyone take a break for a second. I don't think he's been hit with a stalling call all year. He's a non-stop wrestler."

That's the way it is with Fenton, whether as an athlete (football, wrestling and weightlifting) or as an artist. (He takes commercial art classes at Marchman Technical Education Center.)

As River Ridge's nose tackle, Fenton was named defensive player of the year by the Sunshine Athletic Conference because of his gritty, workman-like dedication on the field.

That same quality led the senior to a 26-9 record and the runner-up spot in the 173-pound class at Friday's Class 2A, District 7 tournament at Springstead.

When the Royal Knight contingent heads to Lakeland Jenkins on Friday for the two-day, Class 2A, Region 2 tournament, Fenton hopes those same qualities lead to a berth in the state tourney.

So why wrestling?

"It's tough. It's hard. There's a lot of people who can't do it," Fenton said. "That's pretty much it."

Fenton also is one of the team's leaders along with Qasem Abdel-Hadi. Which makes things easier for their coach.

"In the beginning of the practice, I just sit there and let Justin run it," DeGennaro said. "He runs the stretches, the conditioning. If there's a lack of intensity, a little lull where people start to get tired, Justin's the first one yelling. He's the first one to get everyone going."

Fenton doesn't think of DeGennaro as a coach, anyway.

"We're more friends than anything," Fenton said. "If it's a close match, which I've had a lot of, he knows how to get me going more than anybody. He'll get me pumped up. He doesn't really have to say anything. He just looks at me.

"That's my greatest asset. At the end of a match, I don't give up."

Fenton went to regionals as a freshman but couldn't get past districts his sophomore and junior seasons. So he cut down from the 189-pound class.

Just getting to regionals isn't enough anymore, he said, especially when he walks into the wrestling room and sees the names of River Ridge wrestlers who placed at regionals.

"I want my name on that board," he said.

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