Prep wrestling: Manatee's season had some positives

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie)

It wasn't the sort of year Manatee's wrestling team and its head coach, Andy Gugliemini, expected, nor was it one they are used to.

The Hurricanes placed third in the district and only sent one wrestler to the state tournament. And it was the first time in 14 years a Hurricane didn't come back from The Lakeland Center with a medal, awarded to the top six finishers in each weight class.

Donnie Jankowski, a state qualifier last year, tore a ligament in his knee prior to the county tournament and was lost for the postseason. And Thor Miller, figured to be a factor at heavyweight, injured his knee after coming back from football season and spent the rest of the year recovering.

Yet the Hurricanes have some positives to reflect on as they gear up for next winter. State qualifier Brett Barber (145 pounds) may have come one win short of the medal round, but he set a program record with 56 wins, and his 133 career victories are seventh all-time in program history.
Freshman Jesse Fulk, whose brothers Andrew (a state champion as a senior at 189 pounds) and Travis (four time state-qualifier and a medalist his senior year) were accomplished Hurricanes, won 54 matches and fell a win shy of qualifying for state.

And the Hurricanes won the county championship for second straight year and 15th time in 16 seasons.

It wasn't the kind of year Manatee envisioned. But the Canes are hoping for healthy seasons from Miller and Jankowski - both juniors - next year, and Fulk will have a full year of varsity wrestling under his belt, as well.

Will it be enough to get Manatee back to its recent past, which included a pair of runner-up finishes to Brandon at the state tournament? Time will tell. But if they can send a few wrestlers back to Bradenton next February with a state medal, that would be a fine start back up the ladder.

Prep baseball: IMG's Pastornicky featured on MLB.com video

(photo from blog.imgacademies.com)

Tyler Pastornicky, a graduate of The Pendleton School at IMG Academies and the Atlanta Braves' starting shortstop heading into the season, is featured in this video on MLB.com.

The video is currently being promoted on MLB.com's Facebook site.

The 22-year-old Bradenton native was a fifth-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2008 before being dealt to Atlanta in July 2010 as a part of the package that brought shortstop Alex Gonzalez from Toronto.

Pastornicky is a career .278 hitter in 406 professional games with 146 stolen bases. Pastornicky performed well with the Braves' Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett last year, batting .365 with seven steals and nine RBIs in 27 games.

The Braves play their spring training games at Champion Stadium at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in the Walt Disney World Resort. They don't came to Bradenton this spring to play the Pirates, but will be in Sarasota on March 8 to meet the Baltimore Orioles, so there is a chance Pastornicky will get to play a game close to home.

Prep football: Manatee's ring ceremony scheduled for next Thursday

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie)

Manatee's football team will receive its state championship rings Thursday, March 8 at G.T. Bray prior to the baseball team's game with Riverview.

The ceremony is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game is set for 7.

Hurricanes baseball players Cord Sandberg, Chase Sandberg and Garrett Waiters were on the football team, which won Manatee's fifth state title and first since 1992.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will honor Manatee prior to their March 26th game with the Baltimore Orioles at McKechine Field.

It's the Pirates' lone home night game of the spring and is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Prep baseball: Sarasota Baseball Classic Day 1 schedule

(photo by John Lembo)

Correlle Prime and the Manatee Hurricanes are one of a handful of local teams slated to take part in this year's Sarasota Baseball Classic.

Listed below is the Day 1 schedule for each of the area teams competing:

ELITE BRACKET

Monday, March 12

Manatee vs. Flanagan, 4 p.m. at Sarasota High.

Lakewood Ranch vs. Montverde Academy, 7:30 p.m. at Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex.

PREMIER BRACKET

Monday, March 12

Cardinal Mooney vs. Martin County, 4 p.m. at Riverview High.

Palmetto vs. Tampa Berkeley Prep, 4:45 p.m. at Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex.

Braden River vs. Benjamin, 1 p.m. at Sarasota High.

The IMG Academy vs. Island Coast, 4:45 at Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex.

Prep football: Offers piling up for Manatee's Calloway

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie)It appears as if Derrick Calloway has emerged as the breakout star of Manatee's stacked defensive line.
Or at the least the most heavily-recruited.
Calloway has received scholarship offers from a number of Division I schools, including Ohio State, who offered the junior Tuesday, according to Manatee assistant coach Chris Conboy.
USF, FSU, Miami, USC and Texas Tech have also extended offers to Calloway, who received a four-star rating rating from Rivals and was ranked the fourth-best defensive lineman in the state by Flavarsity.com.
Calloway had 58 tackles and 11 sacks last year for Manatee, including three sacks against Jacksonville First Coast in the Class 7A state final.
Calloway anchors a defensive line next year that also returns Blake Keller, DeMarcus Christmas and Marquis Dawsey.
The group teamed for 43 sacks last fall in helping the Hurricanes win their fifth state title and first since 1992.

Prep basketball: Palmetto up against one of nation's best Saturday

(photo from maxpreps.com)

Palmetto's fate in Saturday's Class 6A-Region 3 final may hinge on its ability to stop Winter Haven's DeVon Walker.

Walker is a 6-foot-8, 187-pound shooting guard averaging 24 points and 10. 5 points per game for the Blue Devils (20-7), who head to Palmetto on Saturday.

Rivals rated Walker 149th in its list of the country's top 150 players for the class of 2012 and ranked him as the class' 33rd-best shooting guard.

He has 12 scholarship offers, according to Rivals, from schools such as Alabama, Clemson, Florida and USF. Walker is shooting 37 percent from the field and 78 percent from the foul line.

The winner of Saturday's game meets either Naples Baron Collier or Miami Norland on Friday, March 2 in a state semifinal at The Lakeland Center.

Prep football: Manatee's Tankersley will kick for Carson-Newman

(photo by Grant Jefferies)

Manatee kicker/punter Nick Tankersley has c0mmitted to Carson-Newman College, according to Hurricanes assistant coach Chris Conboy. Carson-Newman is a Division II located in Tennessee.

Tankersley booted 53 extra points and 16 field goals this year for Manatee, including a school-record 53-yard kick against Sarasota. He had four extra points and a pair of field goals during Manatee's 40-0 win over Jacksonville First Coast in the Class 7A state final.

Tankersley also sent 53 of 93 kickoffs into the end zone and averaged 37.3 yards per punt with a long of 50.

Tankersley was offered as Gene Chizik's preferred walk-on before accepting to play Carson-Newman, which has won five national titles and went 5-6 last season.