Derek J. LaRiviere, Times Correspondent
Saturday, February 19, 2011
LAKELAND — In search of its 22nd state title and 11th in a row, Brandon is having a run-of-the-mill February weekend at the Lakeland Center.
Day 1 at the state wrestling championships is where other teams line them up and the Eagles set them down in preparation to their usual finals appearances. This season, 11 of the 14 in the Brandon lineup are penciled in to today's semifinals.
Among the names are Devan Berrian (103 pounds), James Flint (112), Kevin Norstrem (125), Rossi Bruno (130), Tyler Liberatore (135), Brice Jones (140), Travis Berridge (145), Clark Glass (152), Wally Figaro (160), Kyle Koziel (171) and Mike Ettore (189).
In Class 2A, Plant City's William Joyce (112) hopes to improve on last season's state showing as he returns to the semifinals this time around. He placed fourth at 103 pounds as a sophomore.
Other Hillsborough grapplers had a strong showing Friday in Class A. While Tampa Bay Christian (29.5 points) resides in seventh place in the team standings, there is a plethora of locals peppered throughout who went undefeated.
Dylan Lucas (103), Chase Singletary (112) and Dakota Greene (130) will represent the Rams, while Strawberry Crest's Abe Fernandez (103) and Spoto's Eric Franklin (130) also cracked into those same brackets. Tampa Prep's Eric Bach (135), Jesuit's Anthony Cimino (152) and Robinson's Chris Padilla (160) also have their sights set on the podium tonight.