Devils Spoil Streaks' Show

Football conditioning and wrestling conditioning are two different tasks altogether.

Just ask Avon Park's Isuel Guzman.

"I was definitely not in wrestling shape," said the senior co-captain, who labored into the third period of his season-opening match before pinning Lake Wales' Marcus Johnson on Saturday at the Sebring Preseason Classic.

"It's great to be back on the mat. I know where I am not compared to where I want to be later on in the season, and I have a lot of improvement to make."

Of course, Avon Park would certainly like to be where it was after Saturday's tri-meet against district rivals Lake Wales and Sebring: The Red Devils defeated the Highlanders 42-30 before knocking off the host Streaks 47-12 in the season-opening meet.

John Chittum was 2-0 on the day, including a victory over Sebring freshman Jeremy Qualls, while Tyler Russell, Charles Hubbard and James Bland each picked up victories over their Blue Streak opponents. State qualifier Kemosi Hatten also looked solid in his lone match of the day, which ended with a quick pin in the third period against Jeremy Edwards."

Chittum, the Red Devils' top diver in the fall, said he started feeling a bit short of breath in his first match.

"It was in the middle of the second period when we went out of bounds and I said, 'Oh man, we've got another period," Chittum said. "This gives me some confidence. I made a few mistakes, but I did what I had to do."

AP coaches Ed Brown and Lee Elder each mentioned impressive outings by youngsters Daphney Jean Felix and Russell, and Brown noted most of the veterans realize they're not in shape just yet.

"Kemosi looked good because he's been in practice every day, but some of the guys are just coming off the football team," Brown said. "Guzman just came off the football field and he did well. He was gassed after the first minute, but he went ahead and stuck it out and managed to win the match.

"That's good match management, and that's a maturity thing."

Elder, coming off the football sideline as an assistant coach himself, said the gridiron and mat require two different kinds of stamina.

"In football, you go hard for four seconds and you rest for 30 seconds," he said. "Here, they don't get a breather. They'll get in shape through practice, and it won't take long.

"They did well because they're in some kind of shape, but it's a different kind of shape."

Sebring's Evan Hunter and Cody Spiegel were 2-0 on the day with Hunter picking up a quick victory in his opening period against AP's Ricardo Barton, after battling for a win against Lake Wales' Jeremy Edwards, despite not knowing he'd be wrestling in the 160-pound match.

"I thought I was going to have to forfeit," said Hunter, who quickly removed his warm-ups and earrings and rushed onto the mat for the victory. "I did pretty good in that first match, but in the second one I made a lot of mistakes.

"I have to stay in my position to get better form. I get sloppy out there when I get tired."

Dustin Drummond's season debut was a quick one: The senior with state aspirations pinned his pinned his Lake Wales counterpart nine seconds into first match. Despite his short time spent on the mat, Drummond said he's looking for some definite improvement next time out.

"I want to see this whole team more motivated," he said. "Today we were pretty quiet and not getting into the matches enough."

Sebring coach Josh Miller said his goal was to get everyone suited up on the mat, and that other than a lot of cautions, his team looked good.

"I've definitely found out what we need to touch up and work on," said the 2004 SHS graduate and former district and regional champion. "We didn't pin well and we put ourselves on our backs a couple of times. We'll have a full team out when we get a couple of football players to fill those weights, and when we do that, the goal is a district championship."

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