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GIBSONTON — Powerhouse Brandon, which has won the Hillsborough County Championships since its inception in 2002, did it again with 366 points, well ahead of runnerup Durant's 206.
Saturday at East Bay, the Eagles had a shot at repeating last year's performance when they claimed 12 of 14 individual titles. This time, however, Brandon settled for nine of 14.
Of the three county wrestlers to defeat a Brandon finalist, one was a former Eagle. Wharton's Tyler Liberatore, a three-time state champion for the Eagles before his family moved to New Tampa, pinned Troy Joyce in 57 seconds in the 138-pound final.
"That's my old team, and I still show them the utmost respect," Liberatore said. "I don't go out there with a chip on my shoulder or anything like that."
Hillsborough's Demetrius Hill and Ben Richards gave Brandon its other losses in the finals. Hill scored a 7-3 decision over Robert Enmon at 195 pounds and Richards, a county runnerup last season, bounced back from a right arm injury to defeat John Summitt 6-2 at 220.
"You always want to beat them; you always want to take out a Brandon guy," said Richards, who missed the past seven weeks with his injury.
Brandon champions included: Dylan Lucas, 106; James Flint, 113; Rossi Bruno, 126; Kevin Norstrem, 132; Dakota Greene, 145; Travis Berridge, 152; Clark Glass, 160; Jacob Haydock, 170; and Kyle Koziel, 182.
The other division winners were Plant City's William Joyce at 120 and Durant's Richard Woods at 285.
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