Haines City Surprises in First Day of Polk Wrestling Duals

Fri. December 21, 2012 at 11:00 p.m. | By Polk Preps Staff

By BILL KEMP

LEDGER MEDIA GROUP

LAKELAND | Haines City wrestlers entered sick to their stomachs but exited waving just what the doctor ordered — a perfect record.

The Hornets finished the first day of the Polk County Duals 3-0 despite forfeiting all three 113-pound matches and the bulk of their roster grappling the flu. Along the way, Haines City maneuvered through McKeel, Auburndale and Mulberry Friday at George Jenkins High School.

"Half to 75 percent of our team is sick but they all just sucked it up," Haines City head coach Broderic Ogzewalla said. "Everybody who was sick wrestled. But this is what we trained for. This is what I tell the kids, they have to be champions and they have to come through."

The meet features 64 head-to-head meets between 16 county schools spread over a three-day period. When it's all said and done, 896 matches will be in the books.

Friday's action featured the first 24 dual meets with 36 more slated at 8:30 a.m., today. After today's rounds, the teams will be seeded according to pool records setting up Sunday's championship finals.

Tournament host Jenkins joined the Hornets with a 3-0 record in pool B, locking down Kathleen, Lake Region and Lake Wales.

"Haines City shocked a lot of people. They beat Auburndale and McKeel, which I would have never guessed," Jenkins head coach Jestin Bailey said. "Haines City is absolutely the surprise team of the day. We'll see all three of them (today), so it will be a busy day."

Lake Gibson and Avon Park also pinned down 3-0 opening day records out of Pool A. Gibson is the defending Duals champions, winning the past six tournaments.

"Basically we just wanted to get through today with no injuries and everybody on their weight good so we can come back tomorrow and try to repeat as champions for this tournament," Lake Gibson head coach Danny Walker said. "That's our goal.

"But on the other side (pool B) that is not what we expected. Coming into the tournament we were looking at Jenkins and Auburndale, but Haines City was definitely a surprise. They looked really good today, really good."