Devils, Streaks shine at Speigel Memorial

The annual Spiegel Wrestling tournament always draws a strong field of teams.

This year's event was no exception as 21 squads from around the state competed at Sebring High School on Saturday.

Host school Sebring was led by Michael Polatty, as the Blue Streaks senior won the 140-pound weight class with an outstanding run through his bracket.

"Michael wrestled really well," said Sebring second-year wrestling coach Josh Miller. "He dominated his match in the finals against a quality opponent and that was probably the best match he's wrestled all year."

Sebring, led by Polatty's class win, scored 80 points to claim a respectable eighth place in the tournament that featured numerous state qualifiers from last year.

"The competition was really stiff," Miller said. "There were some outstanding teams and solid wrestlers in the tournament and this is the kind of experience we need against good competition heading into the district tournament in two weeks."

Sebring freshman Cody Kennedy finished fourth in the 103-pound weight class, sophomore Jeremy Qualls came in fourth in the 130-pound weight class, Blue Streak sophomore Cody Spiegel came in fourth in the 135-pound weight class and junior Andrew Cooper finished fifth in the 215-pound weight class.

"We've got a fairly inexperienced squad and our guys are improving with each match they wrestle," said Miller. "The guys are hitting on all cylinders and we host the district tournament in two weeks and we want to be peaking at that time."

Dwyer (Tampa) finished first in the 21-team tournament with 156 points, while Lakeland George Jenkins placed second with 128.50 and Bartow came in third with 114.50.

Avon Park scored 83 points to finish in seventh place.

The Red Devils were led by freshman Johnny Baldridge, who placed second in the 103-pound division, while junior Charles Hubbard came in second in the 160-pound weight class and senior Omar Torres finished third in the 171-pound weight class.

"We did a lot better than we expected," said Avon Park co-coach Lee Elder. "We didn't wrestle very well against Sebring last Thursday night and we had a long talk with the guys after that meet.

"We told them to have fun, trust what you know and they did a real good job of bouncing back with a solid effort against very tough competition."

Baldridge has made quite an impact as a freshman for the Red Devils in the 103-weight class.

"Johnny is a real good athlete," Elder said. "He's progressed very nicely, is very quick and wrestles with a lot of energy.

"He's very coachable, improves every time he's on the mat and has a lot of potential."

Hubbard and Torres, both very experienced wrestlers, continue to lead by example for the rest of a fairly young Red Devils squad.

"Charles lost to a real good wrestler from Lakeland Kathleen," said Elder. "He's only lost twice all season and both were to the same kid, hopefully, he'll beat him the next time they wrestle.

"Omar is doing the best he can because he's battling a back injury and this was the first tournament he was able to wrestle every match."

Avon Park continues to improve with each match and the Red Devils will compete in the Polk County Duals this weekend before heading to the district tournament on Feb. 5.

"We're a pretty inexperienced squad and we're in a tough district," said Elder. "We've got to get all of our kids healthy, because it's hard to win a district championship with 11 wrestlers, when every other team has 14.

"The Polk County tournament is going to be tough, but our kids want to wrestle against top competition so we'll be better prepared for the district tournament."