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MHS wrestlers ready for regionals

By Dustin Kent
Published: February 11, 2010

The Marianna Bulldogs will carry five wrestlers into this weekend’s 1A regional meet at Clay High School.

Angel Candeleria will represent the Bulldogs at 119 pounds, with James Sawyer (140), Blaine Hansford (130), Dalton Hendrix (160), and Dylan Reed (189) also competing for Marianna.

The meet begins Friday and concludes with the finals at 6 p.m. on Saturday night.

Marianna wrestling coach Barry Gardner said he was proud of his qualifiers, but thought they could have had even more.

“We did pretty good, but we should’ve had more go,” the coach said. “We had a couple more chances (in the district meet), but we just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities.

“But we’re really excited about this. It’s a step up in competition. There are a lot more teams who have been up there longer, but we’ve got a couple kids who have a chance.”

The Bulldog with perhaps the best shot is the senior Canderleria, who Gardner called his most consistent wrestler.

“He’s a senior leader, and he’s been doing it the longest,” the coach said. “Sometimes he just tries to outmuscle people too much. But he’s really strong, and when he uses his technique, he does a good job.”

With Reed, Sawyer and Hendrix all sophomores, and Hansford just a freshman, the experience of competing at the regional meet should pay dividends in the future.

“It should be good for us,” Gardner said. “I think this is a big step forward for them. Some kids young need to learn how to wrestle and do the right thing, and a step up in competition can only be a good thing.

“When they get there again, they’ll be ready and they’ll understand what’s going on. The kids are excited about it.”