2021 SUN Preps All-Area Athletes & Teams
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Page 42 www.yoursun.com STATE CHAMPIONS!! BY VINNIE PORTELL, PATRICK OBLEY AND SCOTT ZUCKER SPORTS WRITERS T HREE MOMENTS STAND OUT AMONG THE MANY IMPRESSIVE TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL ACCOM- PLISHMENTS OF AREA HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS OVER THE PAST YEAR: THE THREE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRA- TIONS BY AREA TEAMS. THE VENICE GIRLS SOCCER TEAM, THE CHARLOTTE HIGH WRESTLING TEAM AND THE TARPONS BOYS WEIGHT- LIFTING TEAM. HERE IS A LOOK BACK AT THE STORIES FOR THOSE HISTORIC DAYS. VENICE GIRLS SOCCER The Venice and Lourdes Academy girls soccer teams went through 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-min- ute overtime periods without a goal — sending the 6A state championship to penalty kicks at Spec Martin Municipal Stadium in DeLand. Venice senior goalkeeper Ashton Pennell thwarted two of the Bobcats' first three kicks while senior team- mates Kiki Slattery, Rachel Dalton and Olivia Fair buried their penalty kicks to hold on for a 3-1 win — cap- turing the first state title in program history. "Going into PKs, I was very confi- dent in myself and the team," Pennell said. "We've been preparing since last year, and I think we all had that goal in mind. "It feels amazing because a lot of us were there when we lost last year, and it was just heartbreaking. Going out with a bang is the best." The Indians left Spec Martin last year with tears in their eyes and a mission to make it back to the state final. After a long season Venice found itself facing Lourdes Academy once again in the championship round. The Bobcats entered the state final having allowed just five goals all year, and the Indians knew what they were facing — especially after losing to them last year. Venice and Lourdes Academy each had fleeting chances to score, with most of them coming in the first half. The Indians put up four shots in the first half as the Bobcats seven shots — each with three shots on goal. There were moments, such as the 27th minute, when Lourdes Academy headed a ball off the top goalpost, and then had a point-blank shot ricochet off a Venice defender. The Indians had their chances, too, as senior midfielders Rachel Dalton and Eileen Solomon each fired in shots on goal that made Bobcats goalkeeper Mia Alexander work to get in front of the ball. Still, neither team could gain an edge. In overtime, Venice recorded three shots on goal while Lourdes had two close looks in the 98th minute that were both deflected away. Then, the soccer state final turned into a game of best-of-five penalty kicks. Once Kiki Slattery, Rachel Dalton and Olivia Fair had recorded their kicks — and Solomon's was blocked — the Indians needed just one more stop from Pennell to hold on for the state title. Instead, Bobcats player Coco Aguilar sailed the ball over the goal. Moments later, the whistles blew and the Indians ran to celebrate together one last time — as champions. "It's exciting," Bolyard said. "You look back on the past of all the girls who have built this program to a ped- estal and to get here. It wasn't just this year. It was all these years combined getting up to this point, and these girls finished it off." CHARLOTTE WRESTLING Lucas Willis needed just 63 seconds in the championship match against Jesuit's Sergio Desiante to win an in- credible fifth state title. In the process, his victory clinched Charlotte's third state team title, joining the 1980 and 1997 teams. The Tarpons sent 10 wrestlers to the state meet and seven of them landed on the medal stand, led by Willis, Cody Rice and Andrew Austin. The most successful wrestler in school history, Willis became just the seventh wrestler in state history to win five titles. Austin's win came in dramatic fashion against the only wrestler to have defeated him this season. He de- feated Brandon Basile, 6-5, at the last moment. Rice defeated Countryside's Brian Burburija, 5-2. Austin gives away a lot of weight to Willis in the wrestling room, but said his mentorship came through in the lessons he taught in attitude and technique. Austin became a two-time state champion. "He's really like an older brother to me," Austin said. "He has mentored me all through my high school career, even in middle school. It's honestly the reason I'm a good wrestler." The key to winning the team title might have been Camren French and Nathaniel Box, the roster's bookends. French took fifth at 106 while Box capped an impressive second half of the season with a fourth-place showing at 285. SEE STATE CHAMPIONS, 43 SUN PHOTO BY VINNIE PORTELL Venice girls soccer team celebrates their state championship.