LAKEWOOD RANCH -- There were two things going through Jesse Fulk’s head Thursday at the Manatee County wrestling championships.
First, there was the rock music blaring through his earphones.
Second, and most important, was that he hoped Manatee’s key match with Palmetto came down to him.
It did. And Fulk, a freshman, did his part by scoring a first-period pin to help the Hurricanes beat the Tigers 41-33 and clinch the county championship for the second straight year and 15th time in 16 tries.
Manatee went 4-0 on the night.
“I felt I could finish a match and win it for us,” Fulk said.
A blind draw dictated that the match would start at 145 pounds, meaning Fulk’s bout came last. Manatee clung to a 35-33 lead.
“I felt that I’ve been in dual meets before,” Fulk said, “and I’ve had it come down to me before. I just thought of it as another match, win or lose.”
Fulk finished 4-0 to claim the title at 138 pounds and was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler.
“He’s wrestled all over the United States, pressure-packed matches,” Manatee coach Andy Gugliemini said. “For him, it’s just another match. But he enjoys wrestling for Manatee, because he watched all those years with his brothers (Hurricanes wrestlers Andrew and Travis). So this means a lot to him. And I preach that a lot -- ‘It’s got to mean something to you.’ And it means something to Jesse Fulk, for sure.”
Setting up Fulk’s win was Dakota Dawsey and Mike Keely, whose pins helped erase Palmetto’s 33-23 lead.
Dawsey was a replacement for Donnie Jankowski, a state qualifer who will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Dawsey, a sophomore, wound up winning the county title at 126.
“They had to set the stage to let Jesse go out,” Gugliemini said, “and do what he (does). ... That Fulk win was nice, but that Dawsey win was huge.”
Wesley McMullen (145), Brett Barber (152) and Jake Stickler (285) also won county titles for Manatee, which has won back-to-back titles since Palmetto snapped the Canes’ string of 13 straight in 2010.
“I’d like to think that we can run it out for as long as I’m doing this,” Gugliemini said. “We only had five county champs, so that tells you the strength of our team -- a little bit here, a little bit there. It’s not just one or two guys.”
Palmetto, Lakewood Ranch and Southeast all went 2-2 to share runner-up honors, while Braden River was 0-4. Bayshore did not participate.
“It just didn’t fall our way (Thursday). That’s just the bottom line,” Palmetto coach Bryan Wilkes said. “Anyone could have beat anyone here (Thursday). This was probably the most competitive Manatee County championships since we’ve been coming here (2005).”
Anthony Viscomi (120), Tyler Williford (160), Kevin Healy (170) and Stacy Williams (195) won titles for Palmetto, while Mike Anolfo (106), Evan Dipsiner (113), Blake Riley-Hawkins (132) and Kevin Garza (182) placed first for the host Mustangs.
Kane Takacs (220) took first for Southeast, while his brother, Gage, went 3-0 at 170 and 1-0 at 182 for the Seminoles.
MANATEE COUNTY WRESTLING TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Team scores
ROUND 1 -- Palmetto 75, Braden River 3; Southeast 37, Lakewood Ranch 36.
ROUND 2 -- Manatee 49, Southeast 30; Lakewood Ranch 65, Braden River 9.
ROUND 3 -- Manatee 60, Braden River 9; Lakewood Ranch 35, Palmetto 30.
ROUND 4 -- Manatee 41, Palmetto 33; Southeast 58, Braden River 15.
ROUND 5 -- Palmetto 42, Southeast 31; Manatee 43, Lakewood Ranch 30.
INDIVIDUAL COUNTY CHAMPIONS
106 pounds -- Mike Anolfo, Lakewood Ranch
113 -- Evan Dipsiner, Lakewood Ranch
120 -- Anthony Viscomi, Palmetto
126 -- Dakota Dawsey, Manatee
132 -- Blake Riley-Hawkins, Lakewood Ranch
138 -- Jesse Fulk, Manatee
145 -- Wesley McMullen, Manatee
152 -- Brett Barber, Manatee
160 -- Tyler Williford, Palmetto
170 -- Kevin Healy, Palmetto
182 -- Kevin Garza, Lakewood Ranch
195 -- Stacy Williams, Palmetto
220 -- Kane Takacs, Southeast
285 -- Jake Stickler, Manatee
Most Outstanding Wrestler -- Fulk, Manatee
