Prep wrestling: Manatee County a tournament hotbed

Wrestling is coming to Manatee County this month when a number of county teams - including Jesse Fulk's Manatee Hurricanes - host tournaments in preparation for the postseason, which gets underway the first weekend in February.
Here are the events:

Southeast Duals
When: Friday, Jan 3 and Saturday, Jan. 4.
Locals: Southeast, Palmetto, Bayshore
Others: Brandon, Clearwater Countryside,  Sarasota Military Academy, Tampa Jesuit, Venice, Booker, Lakeland George Jenkins, Booker, Sarasota, Englewood Lemon Bay, Dunedin, Tampa Berkeley Prep, Port Charlotte.

Kiwanis Mustang Duals at Lakewood Ranch
When: Saturday, Jan. 4.
Locals: Braden River, Lakewood Ranch

Coach Kelly Memorial Hurricane Team Challenge at Manatee
When: Friday, January 10 and Saturday, Jan. 11.
Locals: Manatee
Others: Dunedin, Holiday Anclote, Largo, Lakeland, Jupiter, Port Charlotte, Tampa Alonso, Gateway, Nova, Englewood Lemon Bay, Harmony. 

Tiger Duals at Palmetto
When: Saturday, Jan. 11
Locals: Bayshore, Palmetto, Southeast, Lakewood Ranch
Others: Brandon, Ruskin Lennard, Riverview, Cape Coral Ida Baker, Charlotte, Cape Coral Mariner, Sebring, Fort Myers, North Port, Booker.

Prep basketball: Smoothie King Classic brackets

Bradenton Christian is hosting the Smoothie King Classic, a girls and boys basketball tournament running Dec. 27-28 and 30 at BCS.
Here are the first round pairings:

DEC. 27
BOYS
Manatee vs. Sarasota Christian, 11 a.m.
Cape Coral vs. Bayshore, 2 p.m.
Lakeland Victory Christian vs. West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman, 5 p.m.
Bradenton Christian vs. Citrus Park Christian, 8 p.m.
GIRLS
Bayshore vs. Cardinal Mooney, 9:30 a.m.
Sarasota Christian vs. Englewood Lemon Bay, 12:30 p.m.
St. Petersburg Shorecrest vs. Manatee, 3:30 p.m.
Bradenton Christian vs. Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian, 6:30 p.m.

Prep girls basketball: Willie Clemons brackets

Southeast is hosting the 10th Annual Willie Clemons Girls Basketball Classic from Dec. 26-28.
The eight-team bracket features the tournament's first out-of-state entry - Valdosta High in Georgia. Valdosta is coached by Bradenton native and former Seminole Edward "Amp" Wilcox.
Here are the brackets:

THURSDAY, DEC. 26
Palmetto vs. Riverview, 2 p.m.
St. Petersburg Gibbs vs. Dover Strawberry Crest, 3:30 p.m.
Seminole vs. Dade City, 5 p.m.
Southeast vs. Valdosta, Ga., 6:30 p.m.
 
FRIDAY, DEC. 27
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m.
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
2 p.m., 3:30 p.m.

SATURDAY DEC. 28
CHAMPIONSHIP
6:30 p.m.
CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP3:30 p.m.
THIRD-PLACE GAME 
5 p.m.
FIFTH-PLACE GAME
2 p.m. 

Prep sports: FHSAA proposes changing the "follow-the-coach" rule

A proposed bylaw may change the Florida High School Athletic Association's "follow-the-coach" rule.
The "previous contact" bylaw, scheduled to go before the association's representative assembly in January, would allow student-athletes who transfer schools to compete in sports that do not involve the coach in question. Further, the bylaw also allows student-athletes to compete in the affected sport at levels other than varsity, such as JV and freshmen levels.
The current "follow-the-coach" rule prohibits student-athletes from changing schools to play for a coach they worked with on a travel or club team.
Features of the proposed bylaw include:

• Allowing the student-athlete to play varsity levels at any sport but the one involving the travel or club coach. So if a student transferred  to a school where his club coach is also the school's baseball coach, he would have to play sub-varsity baseball for one year, but could play on the varsity for any other sport.
• If a student-athlete completes the final grade offered at his previous school (such as a school that offers grades K-7), he can play without interruption at his new school.
• Student-athletes can fully participate if the coach in question has been associated with the school's sport in question for less than a year.  

Another proposed bylaw calls for more mediation to the association's appeal process for student-athletes and schools challenging rulings. The proposal calls for a mediation process prior to the board of appeals, with the agreements being binding. The FHSAA and the school would split the cost of the process, and the hearings would take place monthly at the association's headquarters in Gainesville.
These proposed changes come in the wake of the FHSAA's surveying of athletic directors, administrators and coaches. According to the FHSAA, 72 percent of those surveyed said they wanted to see changes in the transfer and club sports participation rules; 53 percent said the follow-the-coach rule should be changed in some way; and 73 percent said parents and students should not be able to choose their schools based on athletic participation.
“This set of proposals will go a long way to make sure student-athletes get to keep playing the sports they love, while also making sure blatant recruiting is discouraged and punished,” Roger Dearing, the association's executive director, said in a statement. “This approach will be fair to everyone – the schools, the coaches and, most importantly, the student-athletes themselves.”
If approved by the assembly, the changes go into affect for the 2014-15 school year.

Prep football: MaxPreps considers Florida's Class 8A the second-most toughest bracket in the country

Manatee's road to a sixth state championships is one of the roughest in the nation.
This according to Stephen Spiewak, national football editor for MaxPreps, who listed Class 8A second on his list of the top 10 toughest football brackets in the country.
"In many years, some of the medium-sized brackets in the state of Florida have the deepest fields," Spiewak wrote. "This season, Class 8A presents the most intrigue."
Manatee (16th) and Miramar (15th) are ranked in MaxPreps' Xcellent 25, and Apopka set the state record for points in the season before hanging 77 on Orlando University last week. The Blue Darters, who play Winter Park in a Region 1 semifinal, won the Class 8A crown last year and have recorded 601 points this season.
No one thinks the 11-0 Hurricanes will have an easy time Friday against 9-1 Fort Pierce Central in a Region 2 semifinal, nor will the winner get an easy draw next week, when its either Orlando Dr. Phillips or Tampa Plant in the regional final.
Then there is undefeated Deerfield Beach, which rolled past Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas during the regular season. Deerfield Beach meets Miramar on Friday in a Region 3 semifinal, with the winner getting Palm Beach Gardens or Palm Beach Central next week for the regional championship.
Florida was one of two states (California being the other) to land two brackets on the list: Spiewak ranked Class 6A at No. 6. That class features national powers such as Miami Central, the 6A defending state champion, and Seffner Armwood.
The No.1 ranking went to Texas' Class 5A-Division I bracket of the University Interscholastic  League, which includes Allen, currently at the top of MaxPreps' national composite rankings.

Prep football: Former Palmetto QB Trent Miller earns conference honors at Mars Hill

photo by Grant Jefferies

When Trent Miller talks about his first season at Mars Hill, a Division II school in North Carolina, he harkens back to his days as a Palmetto Tiger.
"It was pretty similar to Palmetto, where all the pieces were in place," he said Wednesday night. "They just needed that quarterback piece."
What the Lions got was Miller, who beat out two other candidates for the starting job and was named the South Atlantic Conference's Offensive Freshman of the Year on Wednesday.
"I'd say it's worked out for the best," said Miller, who transferred to Mars Hill after being a preferred walk-on at USF. "It was kind of scary leaving USF - it was in the summer and it was late, and it was nerve-wracking trying to find a team that needed a quarterback."
Miller finished third in the conference in passing yards (2,757) and touchdown passes (23) while completing 53.8 percent of his passes. He set a single-game program record Nov. 16 by throwing for 439 yards against Tusculum and helped wide receiver Dimitri Holmes set single-season school records in receiving yards (1,591) and touchdown catches (15).
"When I walked in, we had three quarterbacks and we were all fighting for the job. I wasn't expecting anything," Miller said. "I just focused on what I could control."
The scramble for the starting quarterback job was a little more crowded at USF, especially when Steven Bench transferred from Penn State and Fort Lauderdale University's Mike White signed on. White is now the Bulls' starter.
"They never came out and said, 'This is where you are on the depth chart,'" Miller said. "But with seven quarterbacks, I kind of saw the writing on the wall."
 Miller helped lead Palmetto to the Class 5A state final four in 2011, his only year as a Tiger. His team didn't taste similar success this past fall, when Mars Hill went 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the conference.
"We had the statistics this year, and if you look at the games, we were three plays away from winning those games," Miller said. "We have a lot of returning starters back next year, but now it's time to turn those stats into more production. Let's try and take it one drive more...We're losing some key seniors, but we know we have the depth behind them."

Prep football: FHSAA looking into Palmetto, East Lake scrum

The Florida High School Athletic Association plans on contacting administrators from Palmetto and Tarpon Springs East Lake in regards to a small scrum that broke out following Friday's Class 7A-Region 3 playoff game. An East Lake parent alleged on The Herald’s Facebook page and website that a Palmetto coach struck an Eagles player during the scuffle, and also sent the same letter to two different editors at The Herald.
The confrontation ended quickly and the teams did not shake hands. Palmetto huddled on its sideline after the game while the Eagles gathered under a goal post in one of end zones following the Eagles' 13-12 win.
"As of now, we haven't seen the game film. We're communicating with both schools," said Justin Harrison, the FHSAA's executive director of athletic services whose responsibilities include overseeing the conduct of coaches and players. "Whenever allegations come in of the sincerest nature, we always take a look to see what happened."
Harrison said he received an email from someone over at East Lake regarding the incident, but no official report had been filed. He also said he plans on speaking with the game's officiating crew.
Matt Braselton, a Palmetto assistant, responded to the claim by commenting on The Herald's page that "not ONE PHS coach threw any punches and allegations like that are not needed...it needs to be made clear coaches from both sides broke up a small scuffle that broke out after a late hit. No coaches threw any punches at any players, bottom line."
Palmetto athletic director Kenny Ansbro said he hadn't heard anything from the FHSAA as of 5:15 p.m. Monday.  Ansbro, who watched the game from Palmetto's sideline, said he didn't see any of the Tigers' coaches strike any East Lake players.
"I don't know where that came from," Ansbro said. "The referees, the coaches, they made everybody get back and that was it...It was quick."
Ansbro said the decision not to shake hands was mutual between the teams, adding the East Lake coaches were "very respectful."
Palmetto stayed 45 minutes after the game while the players ate their postgame meal, Ansbro added.
"The kids ate right there," Ansbro said. "Don't you think someone from their staff would have said something (if a coach hit a player)?"
Ruth Riel, East Lake's athletic director and assistant principal, said Monday afternoon she was still trying to gather information and declined further comment.
Bob Hudson, the Eagles' head football coach, did not respond to a phone call requesting comment Monday afternoon.
The Eagles (11-0) host Largo Pinellas Park on Friday in a Class 7A-Region 3 semifinal.