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© St. Petersburg Times, published December 11, 2001
Unlike most sports, wrestling coaches often are forced to fill out a lineup card that is less than complete.
The combination of injuries, illness, failure to make weight and disciplinary problems left several teams shorthanded last weekend.
"We only brought nine wrestlers. We had a few that didn't show up," said Hudson coach Dana Bentley, whose team finished 13th in a 17-team field at Wesley Chapel on Saturday. "I was surprised they didn't show, but it was just a bad week."
Bentley said failing to make weight, family trips out of town and illness kept many of his wrestlers off the mats.
The Wildcats were also less than full strength, with one key wrestler injured, another hampered by illness and another out for disciplinary reasons.
Pasco, meanwhile, competed at Seminole with only 11 wrestlers, a difficult but important concession for coach Mark DeAugustino, who was disappointed with the commitment from a small portion of his team.
"I had to decide if I wanted to have wrestlers out there or a bunch of kids on the mat," said DeAugustino, who has seen his team's numbers dwindle from more than 30 a month ago to "down in the low teens."
DeAugustino made tough choices with two wrestlers: sophomore Jeremy Alford and senior Bobby Cole, both significant contributors who had failed to give the sport the time and effort DeAugustino requires.
"It's not about conduct," he said. "It's about not coming to practice and then not wanting to do anything when you do come to practice. The biggest part is they're afraid to work hard and fail. If they have the right attitude, they come ready to commit themselves."
Those losses, combined with senior Jack Bailey's absence to take college entrance exams, kept Pasco from fielding enough wrestlers to finish higher than ninth in a tough 11-team field.
"I lost a couple of kids I didn't think would fold," DeAugustino said.
Individually, Pasco had a good showing, getting a title at 112 pounds from senior Nate Engel, who defeated a wrestler from first-place Countryside 15-6 in the final. Junior Juan Trevino (160) reached the finals before losing to Springstead's Steve Garofano. Four other Pirates were in the top six.
FIRST RANKINGS: The first state polls have been released at floridakids.net, a site that follows prep wrestling, and a few county teams are deep in the rankings. A streak of four runs near the bottom of the Class A poll: Gulf is 21st, followed by Wesley Chapel, Hudson and Pasco. River Ridge is 24th in the Class 2A poll.
KEEPING BUSY: Gulf's second-place showing at Wesley Chapel makes the Buccaneers one of the county's big early-season surprises, and coach Travis DeWalt has the December schedule stocked with plenty of dual meets to get a young lineup as much experience as possible.
"When I talked to some of the coaches like (Ridgewood coach Vincent) Lowe and (former Land O'Lakes coach Ed) Goodpaster, they said to get the kids 40 or 50 matches," said DeWalt, whose team had two dual meets last week, another with Jesuit on Monday and faces Pasco on Wednesday. "That's the only way to get them ready for districts, and what people remember is who won the titles at district and regionals."
ETC.: Mitchell sophomore Seth Perry, on crutches since injuring his right knee in a tournament at Northside Christian 10 days ago, will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging test this week. The talented 152-pounder has had difficulty extending his leg. "It's rough having him out," coach John Maretta said. "He's a guy you can always count on." ... Hudson has two talented heavyweights in Larry Barabas and Walter Truzack, who each have a 4-0 weekend already under their belts. Truzack is looking to drop 10 to 15 pounds so he can wrestle at 215, giving the Cobras a strong 1-2 punch in the top classes.