Eagles Muscle Past Devils

LAKELAND - "There still not taking what we do in practice and bring that to the mat," said AP coach Lee Elder after watching many of his team underachieve during the George Jenkins Eagles, losing 45-24 in a dual meet on Wednesday.

"It's frustrating to see this," AP coach Ed Brown said. "We work hours and hours in practice, but when the whistle blows, some of us still don't know what to do.

"That is where we lack in experience with such a young team."

Red Devil junior Kermosi Hatten's quick pin of Morgan Mederis was a highlight for Avon Park, who went 5-6 on the night against a stacked Eagles roster.

Hatten (171) never let Mederis get position on him, hooking his leg and pinning him to the mat two minutes into the match for a very impressive win, but Brown would have liked to see more out of his state prospect.

"[Hatten], to be honest, is doing about average right now," Brown said. "I've been encouraging him to expand his arsenal, but he's in a comfort zone right now. What he does works at this level, but it won't work when we get to state.

"I don't buy into the philosophy that you can just turn it on once you get to state."

The AP junior was pleased with his performance, but admits he needs to push himself down the stretch.

"I've been going steady this season," Hatten said. "I expect to go farther than last year at state. I just really need to work on my set-ups and to get a higher success rate."

Hatten has a 7-2 record on the year, but has learned a lot more from the defeats than the wins.

"What I learned [from the losses] was those wrestlers were at a different level than I am now," Hatten said. "Those wrestlers were thinking one and two shots ahead. If I was able to counter their first shot, they would already have shots two and three in the works.

"It showed me where I want to be."

The larger-than-normal crowd were sent into a frenzy as the sounds of Red Rider's "Lunatic Fringe" could be heard through the loudspeaker to recall memories of the 1985 wrestling movie "Vision Quest." The Eagles paraded around the wrestling circle and went through their pre-match formalities, while the Red Devils stood, watched and waited.

Avon Park's John Chittum (119) was the first on the mat for the Red Devils, going the distance with George Jenkins' Ryan Cook, but was the aggressor for most of the match, before squeaking by with a 13-10 victory.

The win improves Chittum to 8-3 on the season, eclipsing his win total (four) from last season.

"I've worked hard to improve on the fundamentals," Chittum said. "This season is head and shoulders above last year. I'm more confident in my skills and want to make state this year."

In other results, Avon Park's Clint Faircloth (135) and Charles Hubbard (150) and Jace Grimett (heavyweight) all won by pins, while Jack Bland (145) outpointed Sam Upton 8-5 for the Red Devils.

Walking out to the bus, Elder stressed that the team needs to give the same effort in the match that they give in practice.

"They just have to have enough faith in themselves that they can win," the AP coach said. "We're still young and we'll get better, but the majority of the kids on this team have to stop saying and start doing."