Red Devil wrestlers qualify for state

Experience paid off in a big way for Avon Park wrestlers Charles Hubbard and Omar Torres at Saturday's Class 1A-Region 2 wrestling meet at Matanzas High School.

Hubbard, a talented junior who qualified for the state finals last year, displayed great grit and determination in winning the 160-pound weight class to qualify for Friday's state wrestling finals in Lakeland.

"Charles wrestled well and beat some real quality kids," said Avon Park co-coach Ed Brown. "He's a hard worker, a team leader and is peaking at the right time.

"Charles made it to the state finals last year, and he learned so much from that and he just focused on what he had to do and is hitting on all cylinders right now."

The Avon Park wrestling program, which had two state champions last year, is only in its fifth year of existence, but the Red Devils are quickly gaining a reputation around the state as a group of grapplers to be reckoned with.

Torres, a talented senior who has battled numerous injuries during the season, placed second in the 171-pound weight class to punch his ticket to the state finals for the first time.

"Omar has overcome a lot of injuries this season and his diabetes is bothering him," said Brown. "He's taking some medicine to help regulate that and it's amazing what he's been able to accomplish on the mat.

"He is one tough competitor and it's a credit to him because he's the one that's sacrificed and put in all the hard work to be successful."

Avon Park, which had a fairly young squad this year, has a very promising wrestler in freshman Johnny Baldridge.

Baldridge, who improved tremendously during the season, just missed qualifying for state after losing his fourth-place match to a wrestler that was ranked fifth in the state.

"Johnny wrestled really well for the limited experience he has," Brown said. "He was only a point behind with 35 seconds left in the final round before losing his final match.

"In my 26 years of coaching, he's one of the best freshmen I've ever seen and the experience he gained the last two weeks is only going to help him."

Avon Park had eight wrestlers compete in the regional meet and most of those were underclassmen.

"I'm very proud of all of our guys," said Red Devils co-coach Lee Elder. "Charles and Omar wrestled super and showed the other guys what it takes to succeed."

Hubbard and Torres will begin their quest for a state championship on Friday at the state finals at the Lakeland Civic Center.

"Charles and Omar have as good a chance as anyone at the state finals," said Brown. "We respect everyone, but we fear no one.

"It's not going to be easy because they will be wrestling the very best in the state, but they'll be ready and we'll see what happens."

Blue Streaks fall at regionals

LAKELAND - Sebring had four wrestlers compete at the Class 2A-Region 2 meet at Lake Gibson High School on Saturday.

None of the four wrestlers moved on to this week's state meet, but Blue Streak senior Michael Polatty came the closest in the 140-pound weight class after losing his fourth-place match.

"All of our guys wrestled hard and gave outstanding efforts," said Sebring coach Josh Miller. "Michael really wrestled well and lost to some very tough guys.

"If we were in any other region, Michael would have advanced to state."

Sebring had a very young and inexperienced team this year and the Blue Streaks look to be in good shape for the future.

"We had a tough season with injuries and other things," said Miller. "But our guys worked hard to improve and we should be pretty strong next year."