Canes grapplers ready to tackle adversity

Coach Andy Gugliemini and his Manatee Hurricanes have never shied away from challenges.
Well, the 2009-10 season should provide plenty of them.
Manatee was bumped from Class 2A to 3A this season, putting the Hurricanes in the same classification as state powers Kissimmee Osceola and Miami South Dade, along with Brandon, which has won 20 state championships and also made the jump from 2A.
Not only that, but the Hurricanes will have to make due without some key personnel, including three-time state-qualifier Isaac Riley, who Gugliemini said has chosen not to wrestle, and junior Alex Doran, who won a state title as a freshman and was a state runner-up last year.
Doran hurt his knee and probably won't see action until January.
Kyle Ballard, another state qualifier, has moved to Wauchula, and Jacob Gregory, who won a state championship last season, graduated.
"It's just another challenge," , said Gugliemini, whose Canes have won four straught district titles and finished second in the state in Class 2A twice in the last three years. "We still have kids who have worked hard in the wrestling room, and we're not going to sit there and cry about the kids who aren't in that room - we're going to work with the kids who are.
"They want to be Manatee Hurricanes."
One of the guys who wants to be in that room is Doran, who became Manatee's first freshman wrestler to win a state crown in 2008, and nearly repeated last year before losing 3-2 to Brandon's Clark Glass in the finals of the 130-pound class.
"He'll be all right," Gugliemini said. "He'll be ready when January rolls around. He's matured, that's the biggest thing, and yeah, he's a hard worker, and losing by a point in the state finals will only make him want to work harder."
Among the returning Hurricanes are juniors Marshall Stewart and Travis Fulk, senior Stephen Cotton and sophomore Ronnie Whitt, all of whom made state last year.
Stewart enjoyed the biggest breakthrough of all, rallying to finish third in the state at 135 pounds.
And Gugliemini is high on freshman Thor Miller (215 pounds), who won a national championship while wrestling with the Manatee Kids Club.
"He's going to be a monster," Gugliemini said.
As for the rest of his wrestlers, Gugliemini is confident they will be ready at the right time.
"By the time January rolls around," he said, "our kids are gonna to be ready."