Gulf able to overcome distractions

By EDDIE DANIELS

ZEPHYRHILLS - It was a shaky week for those inside the Gulf wrestling room leading up to Saturday's Class 1A-District 6 tournament.

First, there was the loss of 152-pounder Matt Oliver, who suffered an ACL injury during the finals of the Sunshine Athletic Conference tournament the weekend before.

The Bucs then found out they would be without the services of their 119-pounder due to weight issues.

And for good measure, Gulf coach Travis DeWalt knew defending district champion Pasco would not be a pushover.

"Losing those two guys, it was a distraction all week, but we told them our standards aren't going to change, our expectations and our goals were not going to change," DeWalt said. "With or without those guys, we were going to win and that was our attitude all week."

Despite skepticism, the Bucs accomplished the goal set before them, winning its first district title since the 2001-02 season.

"It's great because last year our team got sixth in conference … I kind of doubted it in the beginning because Oliver, our 152-pounder was out. We knew it was going to be close," Gulf senior Mike Calafiore said. "Psychologically it throws us off because those are two studs, especially Oliver, who probably would have won this. It kind of made me doubt if our team could win it or not."

Gulf collected 155.5 points, narrowly beating back Pasco (148). Zephyrhills (134) was third, followed by Hudson (112), Oviedo Hagerty (84), Orlando Lake Highland Prep (77.5), Orlando Bishop Moore (75) and Wiregrass Ranch (28).

Of Gulf's six wrestlers in the tournament's finals, Brandon Muetzel (112), Jordan Holding (125) and Calafiore (130) collected championship. Josh Przsybsz (135), Daniel Mayhill (152) and Tim Longnecker (171) were second-place finishers.

Three of Pasco's six finalists won titles as well; Vidal Jimenez (103), Chance Finlay (145) and Eric Stroud, while Javier Benitez (130), Marcus Hicks (140) and Ray Perez (189) were runners-up.

Hudson matched Gulf and Pasco's number of champions with Tony Germano (160), Devinlee Brown (171) and William Bentley winning their finals bout.

Zephyrhills had two champions in Daniel Kunkle (135) and Westley Thornton (140).

In all, Gulf will send 10 wrestlers to the region tournament in Avon Park, hosted by Sebring, while Pasco takes nine, followed by Zephyrhills (9), Hudson (6) and Wiregrass Ranch (3).