Wrestling Champions: Kowboys Clemons, Locksmith win it again; OHS second

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Wrestling Champions: Kowboys Clemons, Locksmith win it again; OHS second

Sports

Thursday, 25 February 2010 02:32

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
Two Osceola Kowboys own championship medals and two more reached the finals at the Class 3A state wrestling tournament at the Lakeland Center Saturday.
Joe Locksmith (135) and Levi Clemons (171) ended their high school careers on top by winning their second consecutive state championships.
They, and St. Cloud’s Frank Cousins, who won the Class 2A 160-pound title, are the first to win repeat titles in Osceola County.
“I didn’t think about that, but it’s cool,” Locksmith said shortly after winning the state championship Saturday.
He pinned Winter Springs’ Eric O’Niel in 2:54 in a finals match that was never in doubt.
“I don’t go out there with a general goal, like to just win,” Locksmith said. “I had a specific goal for that match, and that was to dominate from every position. I think I did that.”
While Locksmith, who will enter the U.S. Naval Academy this summer, has seen many of the state’s elite wrestlers this season, he had not competed against O’Niel previously.
“No, I’ve never seen him before,” Locksmith, 43-2, said. “It didn’t matter.”
Clemons, a USA Wrestling National Greco Roman champion, joined Locksmith, Alex Eggers and Javier Maldonado as two-time champions at Osceola High.
Like Locksmith, Clemons was in command of his match against Brandon’s Kyle Koziel, but the Brandon sophomore stayed within striking distance before Clemons won a 5-3 decision.
“I beat him at regionals and I was pretty confident,” Clemons, a four-time state qualifier, said.
Clemons, bound for Tennessee-Chattanooga on a wrestling grant, said he felt in control in the final period, event though Koziel could have won had Clemons, 56-1, suffered a lapse.
“I feel like I’m always going to win the third period. It’s conditioning. I can go hard all the way through to the end,” he said.
Like Locksmith, Clemons expressed satisfaction in becoming one of the first county wrestlers to bring home back-to-back titles.
“They said at the awards ceremony against St. Cloud that we were probably the best senior class ever to come out of the county, so it’s something that we can be proud of,” he said.
The Kowboys, defending state champions, placed second (134.5) in Class 3A, two points ahead of Hialeah American. Brandon (239) won its 10th consecutive state championship and 21st overall. Brandon, ranked No. 3 nationally, moved to Class 3A this season after dominating Class 2A over the past decade.
“I was proud of how our guys went toe to toe with Brandon. They weren’t intimidated at all,” OHS Coach Jim Bird said. “Even the losses were great matches. The kids really performed great.”
Bird said Locksmith and Clemons capped outstanding careers at OHS.
“Joe has done a great job since he joined us as a junior, and Levi is a program kid, he’s done everything that you could do as far as his work ethic since he’s been here,” Bird said.
Locksmith actually struggled in his first match at the state meet, edging Frank-wood Altenor, of Homestead, 7-6, in overtime.
“He probably learned more in that match than he did from anything else that happened to him,” Bird said. “He wasn’t prepared for his first match, and he struggled; he was fortunate to win that one. That will be a lesson he’ll carry with him.”
Osceola’s Pete Baldwin, a junior, lost the 140-pound championship in one of the best matches of the night, 10-8, to Winter Springs Matthew Nereim.
Both wrestlers were aggressive throughout, and the score was tied at 8 with 11 seconds remaining when both went to the mat. Nereim scored two points for a reversal as time expired.
“I was thinking I could get a quick two points with a takedown, but obviously getting caught for a reversal wasn’t part of the plan,” Baldwin said.
His night grew worse later when he discovered that his iPod was missing.
“That probably bothered him as much as anything. Pete is going to be fine, he knows he has the talent to beat anyone anytime he goes on the mat,” Bird said. “That was a crazy match between two real good kids. It could have gone either way.”
Baldwin, 53-2, the 2008 champion at 119 pounds, lost in the 135-pound final in 2009. He became the first Osceola County wrestler to reach three consecutive finals. It also was his fifth state tournament after qualifying twice at Life Academy in the seventh and eighth grades.
Gabriel Bird, the coach’s son, like Baldwin a five-time state qualifier, lost the 145-pound championship against Brandon’s Clark Glass, 7-5. Bird entered the finals unbeaten and finished the season 54-1.
The match was decided with 20 seconds left when Glass scored a takedown.
“That was another great match between two real good kids,” Coach Bird said. “It was an emotional one for me because it’s your kid out there and you know how hard he worked for it and how much he wanted it. It leaves you a little dazed after its over. It’ll be a while before he gets over it, but at some point he’ll realize that he had a great career and he did everything he could possibly do in that championship match. He wrestled as hard as he could. I’m really proud of him.”
All seven OHS qualifiers placed (top six) in Lakeland.
Sophomore Tim Locksmith, Joe’s brother, took third place at 119 pounds after picking up two pins in the wrestlebacks.
“Those pins were huge, those were extra points that, if we don’t have them, we don’t finish in second place,” Coach Bird said. “Tim is going to be one of the kids we count on for big things for the next couple of years.”
Osceola’s E.J. Jimenez, a junior, was sixth at 112 pounds, and senior Jeremy Strickland was sixth at 125 pounds. Strickland reached the semifinal round.
Other county schools also had reason to celebrate at the state meet. In addition to Frank Cousins winning the 160-pound championship, St. Cloud senior heavyweight Josh Chattin placed sixth.
Liberty had two seniors on the Class 2A podium in 130-pounder Felix Betancourt (fourth) and Aric Fernandez at 171 (sixth).
Harmony junior Matt Vaughn placed sixth at 130 pounds in Class 2A.
Lake Highland Prep seventh-grader Fox Baldwin (57-5), Pete Baldwin’s brother, reached the 112-pound finals in Class A where he lost to senior Travis Laxton, of Live Oak Suwannee, a two-time state champion, 6-1. Baldwin placed fifth at Class A 103 pounds for Kissimmee Christian Academy last year.