Mistakes plague loss

Missing two of its lightweights, the Sebring wrestling team couldn't overcome five Mulberry pins during a 39-28 loss in the first home dual meet of the season on Thursday night.

"Pretty good effort out of the kids," Sebring coach Josh Miller said. "Small mistakes that cost us big, and that's been our problem so far this year."

Those small problems - like reaching back while on bottom - were the tipping point in an otherwise close match. And with two wrestlers, Ryan McNew (119) and Cody Kennedy (112), missing the meet, the Blue Streaks did well to make it competitive.

Kennedy's absence was particularly significant: He is 5-1 this season, and one of the anchors of the Blue Streaks' lower weight classes.

"We would have won if we had those two wrestlers," Miller said.

The meet began rather inauspiciously, with Sebring's Kyle Smith getting pinned in the first match. After a forfeit, the Blue Streaks got on the board with Jeremy Qualls (135) outdueling Donte Monk, 13-5, to pick up four points in a major decision.

In a matchup pitting two captains, Michael Pollaty emerged with a 5-3 win - good for three points - when he took down Troy Worthen in overtime.

"He showed a lot of guts," Miller said of Pollaty. "That impressed me."

Less impressive was the ensuing stretch, when Travis Escobar was pinned and Mulberry claimed two more victories via forfeits.

"I saw that the turkey hurt us," Miller said, "because we're out of shape still. Hopefully in about another week we should be where we need to be."

Mike Miranda, wrestling in his first varsity match, recorded a pin over Antonio Betancourt. And in the 189-pound weight class, Sebring's Teddy Bertrand clawed out an 8-4 win (three points) over Mike Arrington.

But the Blue Streaks closed poorly, with Andrew Cooper (215) losing via pin, heavyweight Shane Liskey falling, 7-5, at the final buzzer, and Steve Carbonell (103) being defeated by pin.

"The biggest thing there is conditioning," Miller said. "Those close matches come down to conditioning. When we got pinned, that just comes down to experience.

"Those problems will be corrected the fastest - getting in proper shape and getting rid of freshmen mistakes," he added. "After that, we'll be solid."

Those minor problems cost the Blue Streaks big points on Thursday - particularly with pins. Specifically, Miller said his wrestlers were "reaching back when on bottom," meaning they'd swing their shoulders open - thus losing leverage - and leave themselves susceptible to pins.

"It's just a natural bad habit you can only break through experience," Miller said.

As it is, the Blue Streaks will head to this weekend's Land 'O Lakes dual tournament with plenty to work on - and with plenty of competition awaiting them.

Sebring, which finished second in the 10-team meet last year, could be matched up against Brandon, which enters the tournament ranked fourth in the country.