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Kings of the Mat

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Avon Park senior Kemosi Hatten, in red, dominated Space Coast's Carlos Londono in the finals of the 171-pound weight class during Saturday's Spiegel Memorial Wrestling Tournament at Sebring High School.

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By Mark  Pinson | Highlands Today

Published: January 26, 2009

SEBRING The Avon Park wrestling team is like a runaway train that can't be stopped.
The Red Devils dominated the action from the opening whistle by taking six weight classes en route to the overall team title in Saturday's Spiegel Memorial Wrestling Tournament at Sebring High School.
"It's always special to win the Spiegel because it's a quality event with good competition," said Avon Park co-coach Ed Brown. "I'm really proud of our guys because they stepped up and took care of business."
Avon Park won the 14-team meet with 149 points, Space Coast placed second with 134, Gulf Coast had 114, Mulberry scored 104 and Bartow finished fifth with 82.
The win was the third consecutive team title that the Red Devil grapplers have earned in the last three weeks.
"We've been wrestling well the last few weeks and we're finally bonding and coming together as a team," said Brown. "Everybody is pulling for each other and that makes all the difference."
Avon Park sophomore Charles Hubbard got things rolling by winning his two matches en route to the 145-pound weight class title, while senior Alvin Moore knocked off three state qualifiers in winning the 152-pound division.
"I'm not happy with my performance because I started a little slow," said Hubbard. "Coach told me to quit playing around and I finally got down to business, but I can't make those kinds of mistakes at districts."
Moore's performance was so impressive that he was selected as the "Outstanding Wrestler" of the tournament.
"Alvin has a great personality and is a catalyst for our team," said Brown. "I'm really proud of his effort and  he certainly deserves the award."
Senior James Bland won at 160-pounds, senior Kemosi Hatten won at 171, junior Omar Torres finished first at 189 and senior Jace Grimmett won the unlimited division.
"We're on a roll now and this win is extra special since it was a local meet and the kids got to perform in front of their families and friends," said co-coach Lee Elder. "This is a great event with good teams and we like competing in it.
"We got off to a good start and the kids feed off of each other and the momentum just kept building."
Sebring, which has been decimated by injuries, finished 11th with 60 points, and was led by junior Michael Polatty, who won three matches en route to winning the 130-pound weight class.
"All the hard work I've been putting in paid off today," said Polatty. "I'm wrestling well right now and my goal is to win the district tournament."
Blue Streak senior Dustin Drummond placed second in the 125-pound weight class after dropping a tough 4-3 decision to River View's Nguyen Tai.
Sebring is hoping to get some of its walking-wounded back in time for the district meet in Lake Wales in two weeks.
""I'm happy with our effort and since we're a young team with seven freshmen we gained some valuable experience," said first-year Sebring coach Josh Miller. "Michael had a solid meet and Dustin wrestled well in spite of the loss.
"Hopefully, we'll get some of our guys back in time for the district meet, and the healthy ones are going to keep working to improve."
Sebring and Avon Park finish the regular season with an away meet in Polk County on Saturday.
"We're looking forward to the competition because there should be some big schools at the Polk County meet," said Brown. "We want to stay sharp, but we also want to stay healthy.
"We've got some experienced wrestlers, but they have room for improvement because the learning doesn't stop."
Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandstoday.com

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