This time I won't be distracted'

By TERRY JONES

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 20, 2000

CITRUS PARK -- Heavyweight high school wrestlers rarely go undefeated. It is too easy to make a simple mistake, end up on your back and not be able to work out from under a large strong opponent.

However, the better ones learn from those mistakes and often go on to win numerous tournament championships.

Sickles High senior 215-pounder B.J. McGee won his first district championship last weekend, running his season record to 24-7. At the regionals, which started Friday, he will try to earn a top four finish and a return trip to the state championship next week.

He placed third in the regionals last year, but the huge crowds, herds of referees, noise and mat after mat of intense simultaneous wrestling throughout the Lakeland Center arena left him in state tournament shock, and he lost.

"This time I won't be distracted by the activities around me," McGee said. "This time I plan to focus on the opponent in front of me and the match at hand.

McGee played football as a freshman at Temple Heights Christian School but transferred closer to home three years ago, when Sickles first opened. He tried out for wrestling mostly as a way to maintain conditioning between seasons.

"I discovered quickly it was not just two guys trying to out-muscle each other. It is more like a chess game. There are moves requiring thought and reflexes to go with size and strength."

"B.J. has been our 215 starter and a team captain since we started the program," head coach Terry Brockland said. "The other kids look up to him for a number of reasons. Primarily, he always takes time to help them, he is a hard worker and such an honest kid. He is so intense and he never gives up."

In the district finals last weekend, McGee was down 5-1, a wide gap for the large guys. But he maintained an aggressive attack and pinned his opponent to win.

He has learned to respect his coaches' instruction in practice and in the heat of an intense match.

"As much as I focus on an opponent in a hard match, I am always aware my coach can see something I may not be able to see," McGee said. "People all over the gym are yelling and screaming out instructions, but as soon as the match starts, that becomes nothing but noise. My coaches voice becomes the only one I hear clearly, and it is a good feeling. Like I am not there alone and he is helping me win."

To be ready, should he get a second chance at the state tournament, McGee does extra work before and after regular training sessions with his teammates.

"There are no fish opponents there. Those matches are hard. I run before practice and after practice to build my endurance," McGee said. "I run at least 2 miles, but keep going until I am exhausted and breathing hard. Then I push some more. I plan to be ready to do at least my best. That is all I can do."

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