PLANT CITY — Palm Harbor University placed fifth and Springstead eighth Saturday to give the Tampa Bay region two top-10 teams in the 17th annual Cougar Invitational that shifted back to the Strawberry Festival Fairgrounds after a year in Tampa.
Host Durant finished 13th in the prestigious tournament that featured 32 teams from Florida and Georgia. Kissimmee Osceola won with 258 points.
Palm Harbor's Jared Prince (120) and Aaron Hartman (145), along with Hillsborough's Demetrius Hill (195), also advanced to championship matches, but did not win. Hartman and Hill were visibly upset after both were pinned.
Two area third-place winners were King's Wasserman (120) and Durant's Austin Haley (126). Wasserman defeated Kissimmee Osceola's Hakeem Butler in a 10-8 decision.
"After I lost in the semis it feels good to win a wrestleback," said Wasserman, who wrestled last year at 106.
Haley was deadlocked in a scoreless match with Palm Harbor's Mike May through two periods before winning 3-0.
"It was very, very exciting," said Haley, who last year placed fourth in the tourney at 106. "I just had to keep with the basics. If you make one little mistake they could capitalize on that. If you place good here it kind of helps your state ranking."
Among other area teams, King and Robinson and tied for 16th.
Riverview fourth at East Lake Invite
EAST LAKE — Riverview was the top-placing Hillsborough County team at the annual East Lake Invitational, finished fourth with 162 points in the 25-team field, behind meet winner Venice (247.5) on Saturday.
The Sharks put senior Dylan Baxter (145 pounds) and junior Connor Barrick (195) at the top of the medals stand. Baxter, who was one match shy of reaching state last season, posted a 5-0 record with two pins, culminated with a 5-2 win over Venice's CJ Trammel in the final. Barrick went 4-0 with two pins before beating Venice's George Walker, 4-3.
Times correspondent Andy Warrener contributed to this report.
Monday's schedule
Girls basketball
Academy at the Lakes at Hernando Chr,, 7:30
Lecanto at Springstead, 7:30
Boys basketball
Seffner Christian at Tampa Catholic, 7
Springstead at Weeki Wachee, 7:30
Wesley Chapel at Land O'Lakes, 7:30
River Ridge at Pasco, 7:30
Boys Soccer
Calvary Chr. at Academy at the Lakes, 4
Brooks Debartolo at Sunlake, 5
Zephyrhills at Pasco, 6:45
Wesley Chapel at Land O'Lakes, 7:30
Wiregrass Ranch at Mitchell, 7:30
Girls Soccer
Mitchell at Wiregrass Ranch, 7:30
Land O'Lakes at Wesley Chapel, 7:30
River Ridge at Sunlake, 7:30
Pasco at Zephyrhills, 7:45
Cougar Invitational hosted by Durant
Team scores: 1. Kissimmee Osceola 258, 2. Camden Co. 197.5, 3. Winter Springs 183.5, 4. South Dade 157.5, 5. Palm Harbor U. 151, 6. Effingham 136.5, 7. Riverdale 136, 8. Springstead 118.5, 9. Lake Highland Prep 115.5, 10. Lake Gibson 106.5, 11. SW Miami 102, 12. Collins Hill 92.5, 13. Durant 92, 14. Braddock 85.5, 15. Sarasota 78, 16. King 72, 16. Robinson 72, 18. Steinbrenner 70.5, 19. Bayside 59, 20. Fort Walton Beach 44, 21. Hillsborough 41, 22. Western 31, 23. Lakeland 30.5, 24. Freedom 20, 25. Strawberry Crest 15, 26. Tampa Prep 14.0