Inside Preps: Wrestlers Ready for County Tourney

Thu. January 26, 2012 at 5:06 a.m. | By Solange Reyner

By SOLANGE REYNER

THE LEDGER

The Brian Bain Polk County Wrestling Invitational takes place Saturday at Winter Haven.

Lake Gibson won it last year when 10 of 14 wrestlers won titles but several county coaches think Lakeland has a solid shot at competing for the championship this time around.

"We'll have to be rolling on all cylinders in order for that to happen," Lakeland coach Brian Abdon said. "Lake Gibson is tough."

Here is a list of some top athletes to look for.

Auburndale: Senior Jonah Burkett (126) is 25-6 and junior Hunter Dowdy (132) 27-5. Both finished as runners-up last year at districts.

Frostproof: Junior Clayton Farrer had not lost a match at 160 pounds until this past weekend. Farrer, who is 28-1, won a district title last year.

George Jenkins: Aaron Brown (170) and James Hadley (heavyweight) both have strong records for the Eagles and should perform well, said coach Jestin Bailey. Billy Canoy (160) should be a No.1 seed.

Haines City: Junior Garry Evans (132) is 24-6 and placed third at the Spiegel Invitational. He is also ranked by Scout.com. Coach Broderic Ogzewalla said junior Brenn Hines (113) should also place in the top four. Hines is 22-3.

Kathleen: Junior Jonathan Meggars, who competes at 195 pounds, is 30-0 with 25 wins coming via pin.

Lake Gibson: Three wrestlers are ranked first in the state by Scout.com, including Seth Kelly (106), Skylar Moody (113) and Brandon Jorge (138). Kelly has been wrestling at 120, though. Another standout is Chase Krutzky (145), who won the Buzz Hill State Farm Invitational on Jan. 7.

Lakeland: Kevin Miller should be the top seed at 132 pounds. Miller went 8-0 at the Manatee Duals in January and won the Big Lake Classic in late December. Eric Wortman only has one loss this season at 145 and that's to Yoanse Mejia, who is ranked No. 2 by Scout.com in Class 3A. Demetrius Childs (182), Alec Nutting (220) and Mariano Santiago (103) should also be top seeds.

Mulberry: Senior Nino Cerna, who competes at 126 pounds, is 42-2. He's ranked third by Scout.com and has a really good shot at winning the tournament, coach Bing Osborn said. He hasn't lost a match since Nov. 19.

McKeel Academy: The Wildcats have several wrestlers that have stepped up this season including junior Dominic Livingston, who is 37-5 and ranked seventh in the state in Class 1A by Scout.com in the 152-pound weight class. Sophomore Dakota Rehbein (120) is 39-5 and senior Alex Probasco (195) 26-2.

Ridge Community: Senior Jhavelle Morton (220) is 20-0 and placed first at the Spiegel Invitational. Morton was going to wrestle at 171 or 189 this season but an illness caused him to move up in weight. Morton was not cleared to practice until mid-December.

Winter Haven: Heavyweight Robert Thornton is 24-1 and has won three tournaments this year.

The event starts at 11 a.m. with finals at 6 p.m.