Prep wrestling | After years of Manatee-Palmetto clashes, Lakewood Ranch aims for first county title

PALMETTO -- Two of the last three Manatee County championships waited until the final match of the final meet to determine a winner. Most recent seasons have presented two obvious county contenders: Manatee and Palmetto. Most recent championships have lived up to the hype.

Usually, something odd swings the county title -- maybe it's a first-year wrestler scoring an upset or a match which could have gone either way tilting in the final moments -- but no one other than the Hurricanes or Tigers have ever claimed victory.

"It's become a pretty good rivalry between us and them," Canes head coach Andrew Gugliemini said. "I think you really need to throw Lakewood Ranch in there this year. I think on paper they might be the favorite."

After years of the area's two most traditional powers rolling to titles without much of a challenge, the Mustangs emergence during the past two seasons has positioned them as perhaps the Hurricanes' greatest obstacle on the way to a repeat. After skipping last year's county championship because of a scheduling conflict, Ranch will tussle with the Hurricanes, PHS, Braden River, Southeast and Bayshore at 4 p.m. on Thursday in The William "Butch" Hughes Gymnasium at Palmetto High School with a chance to win its first county championship.

Each team will wrestle five dual meets -- one against every other county opponent -- in Palmetto and the field's depth makes this year's county championship particularly intriguing.

"It's going to be tight," Lakewood Ranch head coach Pat Ancil said. "Whoever brings a high level of intensity and a lot of physicality, that's what's going to determine it."

It isn't typically the eventual state contenders or Division I wrestlers who determine the county champion. Teams usually have a sense of who's going to win in those matches. The champion needs a contribution from its less heralded weight classes.

The 2015 championship wasn't decided until the Canes and Tigers sent their heavyweights to the mat. Manatee's heavyweight was Peyton Rosier, a first-year varsity grappler with less than three months of competitive experience. Less than 1:15 into the match, Rosier scored a stunning pin to give the Hurricanes a county title.

"There's always somebody that comes out of nowhere and they're like, 'Who? Where'd this guy come from?'" Gugliemini said. "It's usually not the studs. Everybody knows the studs are going to do what the studs do, but then there's this kid that's been working his tail off all year, and then out of nowhere comes in and does something for his team that makes the difference."

Two years earlier, Tim Dinsdale topped PHS' Bradley Dickerman in an overtime match to seal a county championship for the Canes.

"Even the other teams stopped," Tigers head coach Bryan Wilkes said. "Everyone was watching."

The year between those two was a rout for PHS. The Mustangs, although a program which consistently features region and state contenders, have been conspicuously absent.

Gugliemini, however, says Ranch would have been a serious contender last year, and as injury and illness ravage teams late in the season Lakewood Ranch's depth plays well. Manatee will be without Caleb Rudisill, who was a state hopeful before tearing his ACL. The Tigers expect to be missing three contributors with flu-like symptoms.

The Mustangs are banged up, too, only they have the depth to weather it.

So Ranch is ready to crash the county party Thursday. In 21 years, the Hurricanes have won 19 titles and PHS has won two. A year after a shriveled field meant a continuation of the status quo, Lakewood Ranch has a chance to make history.

"I think we would've been competitive and hopefully we will be tomorrow," Ancil said. "Hopefully it'll be close. Hopefully we can walk away with a county championship, and if we don't we'll wrestle hard and we'll look forward to district."

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Prep wrestling | After years of Manatee-Palmetto clashes, Lakewood Ranch aims for first county title ."