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Raiders Finish 4th At Ocala Forest
Invitational
The Raider Wrestling Team finished the
Thanksgiving Holiday with an appearance at the Ocala Forest
Invitational. "It was important for us to see Ocala Forest because
they are new to Region 1-3A," Head Coach Chad Parker said. "When
we saw a list of the teams competing we knew we had to get in and wrestle
it."
The Raiders placed behind Suwannee, Durant and Gulf,
respectively. "Suwannee and Gulf are two teams that will likely
place in the top 5 in state in 1A and Durant the same in 2A," Parker
said. "We finished ahead of a bunch of other teams that, at this
point, we are probably not better than. I know a bunch of teams
were without significant starters."
The Raiders were led individually by Levi Duvall and Richard
Brown, who place second in their weight classes. "Those two made
it to the finals with tough matches in the semis," Parker said.
"Duvall had to beat a State Qualifier from Durant and Brown an
All-American. They both could have performed better in their
finals matches, but they lost to wrestlers who, at this point, are
better than they are."
Also finishing in the top 4 were Daniel Wolfe (3rd) and Tommy
Li (4th). "The way the tournament was set up, you had to make it
to the semis to wrestle for 3rd and 4th. Wolfe and Li are two
wrestlers who have stepped up their practice habits. That effort
in practice is beginning to transfer into competition," Parker said.
The remaining 7 Raiders who competed all won matches -
Timothy Lattimore, Luke Frame, Nick Morf, Joseph Gonzalez, Jacob Kirk,
Kimani Leecan and William Wiltsie.
"The other wrestlers who did not make it to the semis did not
have the opportunity to wrestle back for 3rd and 4th," Parker said.
"The best they could have placed was 5th. Due to time constraints
the tournament did not have the ability to wrestle that match (for 5th
and 6th). We would have had 5 in that round," Parker said.
"What I truly enjoyed was the absolute look of
dissatisfaction on the faces of our wrestlers," Parker said. "We
didn't have anyone win an individual title, and no one was happy with
their performance."
"It means they care. They care about how they wrestle.
They care about doing what we drill in practice every day. They
care about their teammates. I truly feel that every individual who
competed feels as though they let their teammates down by not wrestling
at their best," Parker said.
"They could have made a number of excuses, like the fact we only
had eleven wrestlers, or that we woke up at 4:30 in the morning to drive
to the tournament, or that some guys had to wait three or more hours
before they wrestled a match. They could have done that, and not a
single one did. There is a sense of personal accountability with
this team that I have never seen before," Parker said. "As a
coach, that makes your job so much easier. It means they're ready
to practice and get better in practice every day to ensure they don't
suffer the same fate the next time they compete."
The Raiders are off for almost a full two weeks before their
next competition, a dual December 10 with county rival Ridgeview.
"That team is loaded. They have a couple of State Runner-ups on
that team," Parker said. "We'll be lucky to win a match against
them. They are that good. All we can do is improve in every
drill, every day, and see where that improvement takes us in
competition."
Team Scores:
- 187.00 Suwannee
- 174.00 Durant
- 169.50 Gulf
- 142.00 Orange Park
- 131.50 Pinellas Park
- 122.50 Bishop Moore
- 92.00 Ocala Forest
- 85.50 Middleburg
- 84.00 Harmony
- 72.50 Dunnellon
- 71.00 Lecanto
- 70.00 Crystal River
- 68.00 Palatka
- 50.50 Bay
- 48.50 North Marion
- 44.50 Lake Weir
- 44.00 Belleview
- 39.50 Trinity Catholic
- 35.00 Seabreeze
- 31.50 Tampa Bay Christian Academy
- 31.00 Vanguard
- 18.50 Villages Charter
- 8.50 West Port
Individual Place Winners"
Weight: 103
1st: Kyle Mcclinton, Middleburg
2nd: Forest Swartzel, Gulf
3rd: Ashley Helsel, Belleview
4th: Taner Thompson, North Marion
Weight: 112
1st: Travis Laxton, Suwannee
2nd: Dedarius Varnes, Palatka
3rd: James Flint, Tampa Bay Christian Academy
4th: Gabe Portillo, Belleview
Weight: 119
1st: Chris Valdez, Harmony
2nd: Brian Santiago, Bishop Moore
3rd: Aaron Fountain, Suwannee
4th: Alex Ramos, Lake Weir
Weight: 125
1st: Anthony Ayer, Gulf
2nd: Toby Tague, Pinellas Park
3rd: Joshua Keith, Ocala Forest
4th: Troy Joyce, Tampa Bay Christian Academy
Weight: 130
1st: Alex Hamm, Durant
2nd: Sam Arcadipane, Lecanto
3rd: Brandon Bishop, Pinellas Park
4th: Austin Baker, Vanguard
Weight: 135
1st: Quicy Hoppel, Trinity Catholic
2nd: Zack Hurst, North Marion
3rd: Daniel Wolfe, Orange Park
4th: Joey Finneran, Harmony
Weight: 140
1st: John Boatwright, Suwannee
2nd: Jordan Wellman, Durant
3rd: Andrew Conklin, Bishop Moore
4th: Jonathan Robinson, Lake Weir
Weight: 145
1st: Phillip Bryant, Palatka
2nd: Logan Fletcher, Suwannee
3rd: Aaron Bryant, Durant
4th: Tommy Li, Orange Park
Weight: 152
1st: Ladarious Jackson, Gulf
2nd: Levi Duvall, Orange Park
3rd: TJ Davis, Durant
4th: Kevin Mansukhani, Ocala Forest
Weight: 160
1st: Taylor Nevitt, Pinellas Park
2nd: Mike Mesagna, Gulf
3rd: Richard Lowe, Dunnellon
4th: Matt Sblano, Lecanto
Weight: 171
1st: Titus Horner, Durant
2nd: Jacob Ritter, Gulf
3rd: Cornelius Booker, Bay
4th: Anthony Yingling, Pinellas Park
Weight: 189
1st: Robert Brass, Crystal River
2nd: Michael Garcia, Bishop Moore
3rd: Tony Murphy, Pinellas Park
4th: Colin O'Connell, Dunnellon
Weight: 215
1st: Joe McMillan, Suwannee
2nd: Richard Brown, Orange Park
3rd: Eddie Isola, Bishop Moore
4th: Justin Dey, Lecanto
Weight: 285
1st: Jamie Alvarado, Suwannee
2nd: Robert Rowland, Bishop Moore
3rd: Trey Butler, Pinellas Park
4th: Tyrell Biggs, Bay |
