SThe Sun /Sunday, February 16, 2014 www.sunnewspapers.net


* PREP WRESTLING: I


Lemon Bay pair


 finish fourth


Injury bug hits
one last time for
 North Port
 By ZACH MILLER
 SPORTS WRITER
 LAKELAND Lemon
Bay High School seniors
Ryan Dodge and Jack Lipp
sat high up in the stands,
nobody within several
yards of them.
 Tears welled in
Dodge's bloodshot eyes
while Lipp smiled, the
perfect illustration of
the bittersweet moment
both were dealing with.
In the preceding hour,
both wrestlers lost the
final match of their prep
careers, solidifying them
in fourth place of their
respective weight classes
at the Class 1A state
tournament. With four
wins during the weekend,
both earned state medals
for the first time.
 "We definitely beat
some people we weren't
supposed to," Lipp said.
"I think I beat four kids
who were ranked higher
than me in the last couple
days."
 Lipp, at 113 pounds,
finished his final season
45-11. Dodge, 160 pounds,
finished with a 64-9



HOFF
FROM PAGE 1
awesome to have,"
Charlotte head coach
Evan Robinson said.
"Trey works so hard, he's
definitely a product of
his father; and Rob, he's
one of the best assistant
coaches I've ever had.
He's there and he works
hard with his kids, he


record. In Dodge's last
loss, he also sustained a
chipped tooth and bloody
nose in the first period
that he fought through
the rest of the match.
 "I left all of it (on the
mat) and a little extra," he
said with a smile.
 Both wrestlers have one
more sports season left
before graduating: They
plan to compete for the
Manta Rays' weightlifting
team this spring.

 Tough weekend for North Port:
After four wrestlers were injured on
Friday, North Port's weekend at the
Class 3A state tournament didn't
get better Saturday. In the morning,
Anthony Tripke (106 pounds) and Josh
Pollard (170) both lost consolation
quarterfinal matches to miss medals.
 The Bobcats'semifinalists, John
Cruz (132) and Marcus Kirkland (195),
lost consecutive matches to end up
in the fifth-place matches. Kirkland,
a senior, won his final match with a
late takedown to earn a fifth. Cruz, a
freshman, forfeited after re-aggra-
vating a shoulder injury from earlier in
the season.
 "I really think if we were healthy we
could've placed five guys here,"North
Port coach Mark Kemble said."But the
thing is, we've got five state qualifiers,
one of which was a place-winner,
coming back, so next year is looking
pretty good. We'll be ready. We'll start
in about two weeks getting after it
again."


loves the kids and his son
is tremendous that way as
well."
 The Tarpons do return
their other team captain,
junior Bucky Dennis. The
heavyweight ended his
season the same way Trey
Hoff did, with three wins
on Saturday to complete
a 5-1 weekend and earn a
third-place medal.
 Contact Zlach Miller at 941-206-1140
orzmiller@sun-herald.com.


 Three lifters
win their weight
 classes at the
 LaBelle tourney
 STAFF REPORTS
 LABELLE -Anthony
Marinola, Josh Schulte
and Tyler Nelson won
their weight divisions at
LaBelle's Caleb Rimes
Invitational, but Lemon
Bay High School coach
Don Southwell didn't see
that as a surprise.
 Rather, the Manta Rays'
second-place finish in the
nine-team event raised
his eyebrows. LaBelle won
with 68 points, edging
Lemon Bay's 64. DeSoto
County placed third with
25.
 "Our goal going was
to be top three we
weren't sure what the
competition was going to
be," Southwell said. "We
ended up going down to
the wire with LaBelle."
 Marinola (154 pounds)
and Schulte (183) won
their divisions with
combined lifts of 550
points. Nelson took the
199-pound weight class
with a lifts combining 540
pounds.
 But heavyweights
Vinnie Messina and Sean
Reese caught Southwell's
attention.
 "Individually, there
were really no surprises,"
Southwell said. "Our
big guns did what they
normally do. The biggest
surprise was Messina
and Reese in the heavy-
weights. They went from


 PREP SCHEDULE
 TODAY
 No games scheduled
 MONDAY
 No games scheduled
 TUESDAY
 Baseball
 Imagine at Cardinal Mooney, 4
 Gulf Coast at Charlotte, 7
 North Port at Palmetto, 7
 Port Charlotte at Lemon Bay, 7
 Softball
 Gulf Coast at Charlotte, 7
 Palmetto at North Port, 7
 Tennis
 DeSoto County at Avon Park, 4
 Girls tennis
 Braden River at Venice, 3:30
 Boys tennis
 Venice at Braden River, 3:30
 WEDNESDAY
 Baseball
 Community Christian at
 Donahue Academy, 4
 Venice at North Fort Myers, 7
 Softball
 Charlotte at Port Charlotte, 7
 Lemon Bay at North Port, 7
 Venice at North Fort Myers, 7
 Tennis
 Ida Baker at Charlotte, 3

being outside top 10 (in
our last meet) to second
and third."
 LABELLE CALEB RIMES
 INVITATIONAL
Top three team scores (of nine): LaBelle
68, Lemon Bay64, DeSoto County 25.
Top Lemon Bay finishers
119 Dominic Schofield 150-125-275
(third). 129 Paul Leonov 175-155-330
(third). 139- Eric Smith 215-200-415 (sec-
ond),Jessie Baer 180-155-335 (fourth). 154
- Anthony Marinola 300-250-550 (first),
Andrew Tomanek 265-185-450 (third).
169- Uriah Edwards 215-205-420 (fifth).
183 Josh Schulte 300-250-550 (first),
Robbie Baer 285-215-500 (third). 199 -
Tyler Nelson 275-265-540 (first), Nic Mostyn
255-220-475 (fourth). 219-Jared Connor
285-190-475 (fourth). 238 Stephen Swi-
erkosz 235-240-475 (third). Hvy- Vinnie
Messina 285-240-515 (second), Sean Reese
285-225-510 (third).


SA grand entrance


 SUN PHOTO BY JENNIFER BRUNO
Stoney, the mascot for the Charlotte Stone Crabs, arrives at Atwater Park via the Sarasota County Sheriff's helicopter on Saturday
to deliver the ball used for the first pitch of North Port Little League's opening day. Raymond, the Tampa Bay Rays' mascot, was
also on hand to take part in the ceremonies, starting a busy period for both mascots across the area.


* COLLEGE BASEBALL:



 A Sports Park reunion


 Lemon Bay
 coaches renew
 old friendship
 via tourney

 By DAWN KLEMISH
 SUN CORRESPONDENT
 PORT CHARLOTTE
- Somewhere in a tiny
college town in Illinois,
Lemon Bay High School
girls' basketball assistant
Denise Young is famous
for winning "a lot" more
games in her coaching
career than her husband,
Mike, the Manta Rays'
current coach, with may-
be even a championship
or two on top.
 But Indiana State
baseball coach Mitch
Hannahs will tell you that
among the Lincoln Trail
Community College fami-
ly, the Youngs are legend-
ary for their dancing skills
and late-night laughs
around the fire pit.
 And since Hannahs and
his wife, Amy, are only in
town this weekend while
the Sycamores compete
in the Snowbird Classic,
they had no problem
letting the stories fly on
Friday afternoon.
 "You should see them
dance!" Amy Hannahs
said, shortly after Indiana
State played Auburn at
Charlotte Sports Park.
"They're really good.
We're going to grab din-
ner tonight, and there has
to be some (80s tribute
band) Pop Rocks at some
point. We'll get them
dancing."
 History between the
couples dates nearly a de-
cade when in 2003, Mitch


Lemon Bay coaches Mike and Denise Young pose with Indiana
State coach Mitch Hannahs (left).


Hannahs, then an athletic
director and baseball
coach at Lincoln Trail,
hired Denise Young to be
the women's basketball
coach.
 "He gave me an oppor-
tunity to chase my college
coaching dreams," Young
said. "It was a great time
up there."
 The Hannahs and
Youngs became a close-
knit bunch, and while
Denise was winning
championships with
her women's squad, her
husband was coaching
the Hannahs' oldest son,
Derek, in basketball at
Robinson (111.) Middle
School. Derek, now 22,
plays baseball for his
father at Indiana State.
 The Youngs moved to
Florida in the mid-2000s
and now it's Mike who
wins the champion-
ships the Manta Rays
secured their first district
title in more than a
decade this month before
bowing out in the Region
5A-8 semifinal.
 Mitch Hannahs


eventually left his po-
sition as Lincoln Trail
athletic director and this
season accepted the base-
ball coach's job at Indiana
State, his alma mater.
 But the couples have
kept in touch over
the years through text
messages, and both sides
were thrilled to learn that
Mitch Hannahs' new job
would allow the quartet
to cross paths for the first
time in a while, thanks to
the Snowbird Classic.
 "This is the first time
we've played on the dirt
this season, and we're
happy to be outside
and in the sunshine,"
Hannahs said Friday. "But
(my wife and I) are really
looking forward to catch-
ing up with (the Youngs)
over dinner. We let them
know we would be in
town and were hoping to


run into them, and it was
great to see them here
today."
 Mike Young said he
and Denise couldn't pass
up the opportunity to
reconnect with the couple
they had shared so many
good times with.
 "We love them," he
said. "We always have a
great time when we get
together."
 The Youngs' daughter,
Jacie, sensed the excite-
ment at the ballpark
had more to do with
than just the game and
danced happily between
the couples as they
conversed, towing two
stuffed animals nearly as
big as she.
 Denise Young had
told her daughter the
Youngs were going to
meet friends of theirs
from back home that day,
and after the game the
5-year-old had no qualms
about marching right up
to Mitch Hannahs, who
was still in uniform.
 "Does this mean Coach
Mitch is my friend, too?"
she asked.
 It sent the group into
laughter as they finalized
plans for the evening and
readied to part ways.
 "It's always good to
see familiar faces," Amy
Hannahs said. "Coming
together like this just
shows you how small the
world really is."


SNOWBIRD AT A GLANCE


WHEN: Today-March 22
WHERE: North Charlotte Regional
Park 1185 O'Donnell Blvd, Port
Charlotte; South County Regional
Park, 670 Cooper St, Punta Gorda.
WHO: 24 Division I programs; 20
Division III programs


ADMISSION: $7 per person per
day/$35 weekly pass (Saturday to
Saturday)
TODAY: Two games at North
Charlotte Regional Park, starting
at noon. There is no shade and
bleacher seating is limited.


t--rM*-77 ----ll~v --mm-- J '
 PUNTA GORDA STORE ONLY
 Now Open Sundays Noon-4pm
 ALL LOCATIONS are open Mon-Thur lOam-6pm
 Friday lOam-5pm Saturday lOam-3pm


 Today's games
at North Charlotte Regional Park
Connecticut vs. Auburn, Field 3, noon
Indiana State vs. Ohio State, Field 6, 1 p.m.
 Saturday's games
Indiana State 3, hits across six innings to earn the
Connecticut 0: David Stagg win for Ohio State. Auburn (1-1)
pitched seven shutout innings, left nine runners on base to waste
allowing two hits and three walks, starter Michael O'Neal's effort. He
Landon Curry, Mike Fitzgerald and allowed four hits in six innings.
T --_ ._..c ... I k C -


layer Steen iea me Sycamores
with RBI singles. Anthony Marzi
took the loss for Connecticut (0-2).
He allowed five hits and five walks
in 42/ innings.
Ohio State 1, Auburn 0:
Josh Dezse's fourth-inning single
scored Jacob Bosiokovic from
second for the game's lone run.
Starter Ryan Riga scattered four


Indiana State 7, Ohio
State 3: Mike Fitzgerald's
two-run double in the fifth gave
the Sycamores (2-1) the lead for
good in the fifth inning. Ohio State
(2-1) took a 3-2 lead in the fourth
on Ronnie Dawson's three-run
homer. Indiana State starter Brad
Lombard earned the win.


1 B Noon Citeroon After 2pm After 3pm
IIncludes 18 Holes with Cart &Tax. Rates subject to change w/o notice

 CallTo chedle ouree imeToay
 S 941-25-691


* BOYS WEIGHTLIFTING: Caeb


Mantas take 2nd


in opening event


Tournament facts


 THANK YOU
FOR MAKING 112 # I DIKE 2HOP!


SP Page 7