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GOLDEN BOYS BLAND, GRIMMETT WIN AP'S FIRST-EVER STATE WRESTLING TITLES

Brian Gjurgevich/Highlands Today

Jace Grimmett celebrate with coach Ed Brown on Saturday after the Red Devil seniors won state wrestling championships, the first in school history.

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Story and Photos by BRIAN GJURGEVICH

Highlands Today

Published: February 23, 2009

LAKELAND - The contrasts between James Bland and Jace Grimmett are plentiful, but there's one distinction the pair will forever share: They're Avon Park's first-ever state wrestling champions.

Bland, a four-time state qualifier and three-time regional and district champion, capped off a groundbreaking career with a victory in the 160-pound class, while Grimmett, first-time state participant and 2009 district and regional champion, closed out the meet with a heavyweight title to give the fourth-year program itsfirst state championships and guide the Red Devils to a fourth-place finish at the Class 1A state wrestling meet.

Bland, who defeated Tronic Williams of South Fort Myers in a 14-5 major decision, said his first appearance at state during Avon Park's inaugural season as a wrestling program was the scariest day of his life. Four years later, he was still coming to terms with what winning the championship meant.

"At first, I thought it would be the best thing in my life, and it feels good, but I'll never wrestle in high school again," said Bland as he watched three other state finals being hotly contested in front of 3,000 fans at the Lakeland Center. "Coaches told me, son, if you work hard, you'll be a champ. Work hard every year and keep learning and you'll be OK.

"It's all worth it, and nothing feels better."

Grimmett, who closed out the meet with a 4-3 double-overtime victory over Lemon Bay's David Garlock to win the heavyweight (275) class, said he'd repeatedly dreamt of the final match with the top-ranked, undefeated Garlock early in the season, right down to the orange singlet.

"I knew it was going to be him, I don't know how to explain it," Grimmett said. "I said all season nobody in the state could hold me down for 30 seconds. I said that all year and I had to prove it right there. It doesn't get any better than that."

Avon Park co-head coach Ed Brown said he was "numb" following both victories and most proud of his wrestlers for sticking with the disciplines that brought them to the state finals.

And both certainly have different styles.

Bland is sleekly built with a smooth style and calm demeanor, which contrasts with Grimmett's instense, somewhat unkempt, ball of pent-up tenacity as he warms up and steps onto the mat.

But whatever the lead-up, both were at their peak once the finals began, and both took different paths to grab gold.

"I am so pleased James did not abandon what got him here," Brown said. "He's just a get-in-your-face-and-let's-go kind of wrestler and he did not go away from that. And it won him a state championship."

Co-head coach Lee Elder said Bland had his mind set on winning state from the start of the season, and that his senior captain truly embodied the "Whatever It Takes" motto written on the back of the team's T-shirts. Bland stayed aggressive and picked away at Williams in the final, the same wrestler he'd faced in the third-place match at 160 last season. He got the first takedown and when he got caught in a bad spot in the second period, he wisely pushed his way out of bounds to avoid being pinned.

"He didn't want second, he wanted first," Elder said. "He's a very smart wrestler. He knew it was going to be a tough match, but in his mind, he'd already planned on doing whatever it takes.

"I couldn't be more proud of him. He's the hardest working kid we have in the weight room and he deserves everything he gets."

Grimmett's final was a test of wills, as the two heavyweights kept their heads down and scrounged for every point as exhaustion set in and the match went past five minutes. In the second OT, a 30-second tiebreaker, Grimmett was able to get to his feet and breakaway from a down position, giving him the point he needed for the title as crews were already disassembling the adjacent mats to the 1A final.

"It wasn't a fancy move, but the rules are if you got get out in 30 seconds, you get the point and you win," Brown said. "Jace did what had to be done and I'm proud as I can be of him.

"To his credit, the majority of his training has been with undersized people that are weaker than the competition he faced, and that's a disadvantage. Jace doesn't have quality workout partners like James has, but he had the determination to get things done."

Elder said he and Brown were simply trying to keep Grimmett aware of the stakes as his the match dragged on.

"We were just trying to exhort him to keep going because we knew he was tired," Elder said. "But we knew if we came out on top, he was going to be state champion and that was his goal.

"This is the most determined I've seen him wrestle. He's done everything we've asked him to do and now he'll forever be a state champion."

AP senior Kemosi Hatten also reached the medal stand, taking fourth place in the 171-pound class, up a spot from his 2008 state run.

Hatten said his consolation finals opponent, 2008 state 160-pound champion Luke McGurrin, was the toughest he'd faced, but the senior still felt he could've fared better.

"He definitely showed me where I was, but I probably could've done better," Hatten said. "My quarterfinal match showed me I can't overlook anybody. He was taking shots and I wasn't applying pressure like I was taught."

Elder said Bland and Hatten, good friends off the mat, left their mark on the AP wrestling program before the state finals even kicked off.

"James and Kemosi gave us instant credibility," Elder said. "Whenever we'd go to wrestle somehwere, they'd say, 'where's James Bland and Kemosi Hatten?'

"People associated them with Avon Park wrestling and now other kids have gotten on board and we have a good program."

Four years ago, when Brown and Elder started the Red Devil wrestling program from the mat up, Brown was walking the halls of APHS when principal Stu Guthrie and athletic director Mort Jackson stopped him in the halls.

"Coach Guthrie says, 'How long do you think it will take a championship program?' " Brown recalled as Grimmett and Bland smiled for pictures and waved to Avon Park fans in the stands. "I said, 'Give me four years.'

"And this year, we won four major tournaments, including the Spiegel and districts, took second in regionals by one point and finished fourth in state. These kids did the work. They have to get in the circle and do it, and as long as that keeps happening, we'll keep being successful."

Brian Gjurgevich can be reached at 863-386-5841 or bgjurgevich@highlandstoday.com.

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