Kell’s Longhorns recorded a lopsided 72-12 first-round victory Friday over outmanned Lithia Springs, providing a much-needed lift heading into the Region 5AAAA Dual Tournament’s second round against highly regarded Alexander.

“We needed that momentum,” said veteran coach Steve Lattizori, who nonetheless fretted about the Longhorns’ rare struggles against the Lions.

“We lost two matches,” he lamented. “We can’t give up those big points. We can’t give up those pins. We just gotta get after them. But the kids did come through and pinned a lot of their kids, and we’re on a roll.”

The Longhorns won four matches by forfeit and were formidable when they actually did hit the mat. Six Kell wrestlers recorded pins. They were Ryan Mullally (119-pound class, 4:19), Alec Stringer (140, 5:15), Steven Summey (145, :35), Michael Lattizori (152, 1:07), Matt McCrory (160, 1:00) and Adam Lenning (189, 3:27). Brian Link won by an injury default at 125.

Kell’s margin for error would be considerably smaller against Alexander, Lattizori suggested.

“They’re a well-coached team,” he said. “They have really physical kids. We just have to stay with our game plan with our conditioning and technique and do our best.”

[Editor's note:] Please check out our large photo gallery of the 5-AAAA Region Duals.