Pinellas Park High School - Occurrences Yearbook (Largo, FL)

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Special efforts lead to pins Wrestlers are Special People is a bumper sticker which most wrestlers agreed with. It took a special control and willpower to wrestle and the Patriot wrestlers had this. It ' s a great feeling after you ' ve won a match, said Derek Cooper, senior. It makes all the practice worth it. Everyday for two to three hours the wrestling team lifted weights, conditioned, ran, and used actual mat time. Practice even involved winter break. Everyday was important for team progress. Coach Pete Collins, head wrestling coach for five years and an ex-wrestler himself, felt that this Patriot season was a good one. We had the mix of ex- perience and new talent, which added up to a motivated team. Tough Patriot matches were VARSITY WRESTLING 11 27 Northeast 34-30 11 29 Boca Ciega 60-18 12 4 St. Pete 34-25 12 11 Osceola 50-17 12 13 Tarpon Springs 39-30 12 14-15 Patriot Invit. Tourn. 12 18 Seminole 45-20 12 20 Clearwater 44-17 1 10 Dixie Hollins 25-34 1 11 Dunedin 46-19 1 18 Sarasota 42-21 1 22 Lakewood 50-12 1 24 Gibbs 41-22 1 29 Largo 34-30 1 31 Countryside 14-48 2 1-2 PCC Tourn. 2 9 Lake Gibson 2 16 District Tourn. 2 22-23 Regional Tourn 3 1-2 State Tourn. Complete concentration is seen on the face of junior Larry Williams as he struggles for points while heing top versus Dixie Hollins and Pinellas County Conference Champions, Countryside. Man for man I felt we had the ability to contend with our most competitive rivals. We just had to stick it out, Cooper explained. If anyone could beat those teams, we could, added senior Joe Demos. We were strong. Strength was important, but concentration and strategy were equally so. Practice and learning was the key to winning. The Patriots had this key and with it, they dominated the mats. John Gorman, senior, tries to defen himself against a Tarpon Spring takedown. ,f- i;m VARSITY WRESTI, INC

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A inning despite all odds nc. ' spilc ci slow si, 111 lliis scisdii, le golt h ' ani held loqclluir wilh a ositivc oullodk. I)ii(! to oiling, le Patriots did not have a wcniltli f territory from vvhicli to draw racticod golf players. This also icsiillcd ill liiiiili ' d aci.css Id uoll (;ours(!S tor praclice. l- ' aeinj such drawbacks. I he golf team was forced to foifril ils first four match(!S. As (- ' odcli Ralph Kgolf commiMited. Our school zone included only one major country club from which lo draw players of good enough (piality to play at Ihe conipetitivt; high school level, In addition, th(; new, later school dismissal time this year upset old, set ar- rangements with the various country clubs. The team did manage to bring in some new talent to add to the I I ' l II I 11 1 iig, piilisluMl lajciil. ' I ' lirougli peer sii[)|)orl. ihe team was abh; to liirn ii[) with a re- warding S(!ason. Sfuiior Chuck Spamer, a fourth year ijlay(;r, was joined by S(!nior |o(!y Norris iind juniors f hris Torgusen and Michele Vinieratos in h. ' ading the team. They helped set an example by which the in- coming players were able to im- prove their game. Although the Patriot golf team was faced with hardships, they were able to overcome them and enjoy a 9-15 record. Despite their late start, they came up with a successful season. iinior Michele Vinieratos aims for erfection to a tee as she prepares jr the match against Dunedin. OLF — Chris Torgusen, junior, Tom Edwards, freshman, Michele Vinieratos, mior, Brian Lught, sophomore, Chris Bishop, freshman; NOT SHOWN: seniors huck Spamer and Joey Norris, Coach Ralph Egolf A GOLF 197

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iiuiiiiintuLU In a match versus Tarpon Springs, Scott Simonson, senior, works to free himself from underneath his com- petitor ' s grasp. VARSITY WRESTLING - ROW 1: Ninh Chau, Jerry Joyce, Mike Charlton, John Troyer, Frank DiBari; ROW 2: Coach Dale Updergraff, John Gorman, Jack VanZile, Joe Winkowski, Larry Williams, Bill Hunlly; ROW 3: Coach Dean Updergraff, Sam Williams, Chris Haugabook, Ben Solomon, Ed Nobel, Tim Barker, Joe Demos, Scott Simonson, Derek Cooper, Mike Starkey, Darren Kolofski, Happy Franklin, Coach Thad Starling, Coach Pete Collins; NOT PICTURED: Tom Piver VARSITY WRESTLING 199