Wrestling season never ends for Gulf's Pospisil
This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on June 12, 2003.
By JOHN LAWTON
NEW PORT RICHEY - Joey Pospisil wants to be a Florida state wrestling champion. He is working hard in the off-season to achieve that goal. He has taken to heart the axiom that "summer wrestling makes winter champions."
In today's competitive sports environment, those who want to be the best have to put in their time with a year-round schedule of activities. The work ethic of Pospisil closely parallels that of his high school coach at Gulf, Travis DeWalt. DeWalt was a 1990 state champion in Class 3A.
According to DeWalt, "Joey is a mat rat, a true student of the sport. Anything I ask he will do."
Pospisil gets up at 5:45 a.m. He starts by running about 5 miles on the sidewalks of New Port Richey. Then he goes home and gets ready for a full eight-hour day of work at Parkwood Medical. At Parkwood, he cleans medical supplies such as wheelchairs. Pospisil said he is the "workhorse. I do all the dirty work."
He needs the money from the job to help pay, for his summer wrestling camp. At the end of June, Pospisil and his buddy and Gulf teammate, Bryan Ryder, will travel to Minneapolis to participate in the J-Robinson's Intensive Camp.
That 28-day camp, run by University of Minnesota coach J. Robinson, is regarded as the toughest wrestling camp in the USA. Attending costs $1,775. Travel from Florida to Minnesota is extra.
After he gets off work, Pospisil is the first one at the Gulf High gym, awaiting DeWalt's arrival. As one of the team leaders for next season, Pospisil usually updates his coach with the latest team gossip. Then he wrestles from 6 to 8 p.m.
Last season, Pospisil placed third in Class 1A in the 103-pound class. He finished with a record of 42-4. He was District 6 and Region 2 champion. His only loss in the state tournament was in the semifinals, to Temple Heights' Sean Joyce, the eventual state champion. He won all of his other bouts by a pin, tech fall or major decision. Pospisil has moved up to be the highest-ranked returning state tournament placer in 1A. Champion Scan Joyce and runner-up Keith Koziel have transferred to schools competing in 2A.
"Last year's third-place finish would be satisfactory for some, but to a true competitor like Joey it is only a painful reminder of how close he came to his goal of becoming my first state champion," DeWalt said. "He is bothered by his finish, and it is used daily for fuel as he drones forward in efforts of having his picture beside mine in the Gulf High main office."
Last week, Pospisil was the starting 103-pounder for Team Florida South in the fifth annual National High School Wrestling Coaches Association duals tourney in Salisbury, Md. Team Florida and Pospisil each finished with a 3-2 record.
The tournament had 24 teams from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts plus two teams from Florida. Pennsylvania's Team Diesel was the defending champion, and Florida had the unlucky break of facing them in the opening meet.
Pospisil was up first, and it didn't help that he had an upset stomach only minutes before he was to take the mat. More unlucky timing: He faced Ryan Finkbiner, who finished sixth in Pennsylvania's tough Class 3A. Pospisil lost by an 11-2 major decision, and Team Florida lost 56 to minus-1.
In the second matchup of the day, Pospisil's stomach had quieted, and he recorded a second-period pin against a foe from Ohio. Team Florida went on to win the team match 41-14.
That is how it went for Team Florida. As Pospisil fared, so did the team. When he won, the team won.
"It's always good for the first guy to win his match. It sets the tone " Pospisil said.
In the tournament's final meet, Pospisil and New Jersey's Anthony Morano were 2-2 going into the final period. Morano had choice and took bottom and escaped to lead 3-2. Morano got a takedown to open up a 5-2 margin, but Pospisil gained an escape to close the gap to 5-3.
With about 30 seconds remaining Pospisil shot in for a takedown, and the two wrestlers scrambled for position. Pospisil found the energy to step over and score the takedown. He put Morano on his back to score a three-point near fall for the winning points. When the buzzer sounded, Pospisil won 8-5. Team Florida went on to win the meet 45-24.
Tournaments such as the NHSCA duals let Florida wrestlers become familiar with the techniques used by Northern and Midwestern wrestlers.
Those high school wrestlers have the advantage of seeing college wrestlers, especially NCAA Division I athletes, in action. Florida has no Division I college wrestling, even though Miami, Florida, Florida State, South Florida and Central Florida compete at the Division I level in athletics.
"[The tournament] was pretty tough," Pospisil said. "I saw some good wrestling and brought back with me different styles of moves. They used more aggressive top moves that are a lot meaner than we know in Florida."
In two weeks, Pospisil and many of his Gulf teammates will travel to Orlando to compete in the Disney Duals. He will be competing at 112 pounds; no weight allowance is given for this event.
"Our program is in the rebuilding phase, as we lost four starting seniors," DeWalt said. "But wrestling four days out of the week for the entire summer, coupled with occasional trips to Brandon and the Disney Duals, we should be in the thick of things again."
