LAKELAND –– Both the Heartland's regional wrestling champions won their opening matches by pin on Thursday at the Class 1A state wrestling tournament at The Lakeland Center. Avon Park junior James Bland continued his undefeated season with a pin in the second period over Matanzas junior Shane Dennis in the 160-pound class, while Sebring senior Shanaan Spiegel needed just two periods to dispatch junior Mike Hawthorne of Robinson in the 152-pound class. Bland is now 41-0 on the season, while Spiegel is 45-1. In a hotly contested 172-pound match, Calvary Christian sophomore Dominick Pierre narrowly defeated Avon Park junior Kemosi Hatten in the final seconds of the third period, sending Hatten (39-5) to wrestlebacks. All three wrestlers will compete today. Second-round competition begins at 10 a.m., while wrestlebacks kick off at 2 p.m. ...more

February 14, 2008

CLASS 1A-II WRESTLING TOURNAMENT Graham, Pritz claim individual gold as 6-of-8 HHS grapplers advance to states. ...more

February 14, 2008

2A-II WRESTLING Eagles place second to Brandon, sending seven to states including champions Swanton and Cook. ...more

February 14, 2008

It has been said there are more roads than one to reach a certain destination in life. ...more

February 13, 2008

For the past seven years, the Class 2A state wrestling tournament has seemed to be a formality. When the three-day event concluded, everyone knew Brandon wrestlers would be hoisting the state championship trophy. ...more

February 13, 2008

AVON PARK –– After winning the 152-pound weight class at the Class 1A-Region 2 wrestling meet on Saturday, Sebring senior Shaanan Spiegel wasn't overly excited. The talented Blue Streak grappler was satisfied with his performance, but with this being his third and final trip to the state meet, winning an elusive state title was foremost in his thoughts. "It feels good to win," said Spiegel. "I wrestled pretty well except for a couple of small errors. "I'm satisfied because this is my second consecutive regional championship, but my goal is to win a gold medal at state. "I didn't wrestle very well at state the last two years and I'm determined to do better, because this is my last shot." The two-day regional meet was held at South Florida Community College and it attracted 34 teams, with the top four wrestlers from each weight class advancing on to the state meet, which begins on Thursday in Lakeland. ...more

February 11, 2008

The way Brandon performed during Saturday night's finals of the Class 2A-Region 2 wrestling tournament at Poinciana High, there's little reason to believe the Eagles aren't ready to extend their current record of consecutive state championships this week. ...more

February 10, 2008

Countryside and Durant finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the two-day Class 3A-Region 2 wrestling tournament, which wrapped up Saturday at East Lake High. ...more

February 10, 2008

Jesuit's Ben Reid and Chris Kavouklis, along with Tampa Christian's Rossi Bruno, each won titles in their respective weight classes at the Class 1A-Region 3 wrestling championships at Golden Gate High on Saturday night. ...more

February 10, 2008

Things are certainly going to get more difficult for Travis Vollick this weekend. ...more

February 9, 2008