5 Teams To Keep An Eye On In Local High School Sports This Winter

The Wiregrass Ranch High boys soccer team, a state semifinalist in 2015, is poised to have its best season yet. (Photo: Andy Warrener)

Below are five teams we’re watching closely this winter high school sports season:

1: Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) Boys Soccer — Head coach David Wilson says that the 2017-18 team could potentially be the best he’s ever had. That’s saying a lot from a coach who brought his team to the state semifinals in 2015 and hasn’t lost a game against a Pasco County team in four years.

“When you have a strong and talented group of seniors that have played together for three years on varsity, there’s potential for great things,” Wilson said.

A trio of senior veterans coming off All-State seasons form the down-the-middle strength for the Bulls. Center back Jackson Trudel controls the game from the back line. Center-mid Royce Luedde is 6-foot-4 and controls the air, the middle of the field and is great on set pieces. Midfielder Ian Flores is one of the most highly-recruited players Wilson’s ever had, with 60 colleges having contacted him, including Rutgers Univ. in New Brunswick, NJ, which has offered him a scholarship.

The youngsters aren’t bad either – freshman Justin Amis and junior Rafael Silva scored three goals apiece in a 13-0 preseason win over Hernando, with sophomores Noah Leonard and Jake Bierhorst pitching in two goals each.

2: WRH Boys Basketball — The Bulls have had the unenviable situation to be mired in Class 8A, District 8, which is brutally tough, with the likes of perennial New Tampa powerhouses Freedom and Wharton, as well as defending state champion Sickles. If the Bulls continue to build on their 2016-17 arc, they might be ready to pull even with that triumvirate of top-tier teams.

“Eight seniors return for this year’s team,” says Bulls head coach Jeremy Calzone. “So, if there’s a year to do it, it’s this one. It’s the most experience we’ve ever had to start a season.”

Senior forwards Jayden Wilson (6’-9”) and Justin Rush (6’-6”) give the Bulls great size. Junior guard Elijah Howell is the team’s best shooter and leader on the floor. Senior guards Val Garcia and Jordan Miner also are veterans who have been on varsity since their freshman years.

3: Cypress Creek Middle High (CCH) Girls Weightlifting — New program starts from scratch, right? Not so much. Four-year Wesley Chapel High (WCH) girls weightlifting coach Tico Hernandez has 24 girls on the team to start the season.

Like their coach, sophomores Addison Metcalf and Megan Faysash, who is already emerging as the team leader, come over from WCH. Junior Neely Peterson didn’t lift in 2016-17, but is a fierce competitor, according to Hernandez. Freshman Emily Speck is the team’s spark plug and is working to perfect her skills and technique.

4: Wesley Chapel High (WCH) Girls Basketball — The team’s toughest opponent this year likely will be adversity.

Coming off their best record (15-9) since the 2009-10 season with everyone poised to return, the Wildcats lost their top returner to an ACL injury, and CCH’s opening just four miles away took some of WCH’s other key players.

“We lost 80 percent of our scoring from last year,” Livingston said. “We only return three kids total from last year’s varsity team.”

But the toughest adversity will come in the form of getting over the death of a family member. The Monday prior to tryouts, assistant coach Marcellus “Coach Shack” Shackelford was killed in a car accident.

Shackelford was the only assistant four-year head coach Peter Livingston ever had.

“There’s a lot of adversity we’re trying to overcome this year,” Livingston said. “We also want to celebrate him (Coach Shackelford) and try to get ready for the season.”

5: WCH Boys Basketball — Last season was a down year for the typically steady Wildcats boys basketball team. After a 21-8 season two years ago, WCH managed just a 9-17 record in 2016-17.

They should bounce back this season, as they get a shot in the arm from the school’s football team. Division I-A senior football recruits Chaz Neal (who is 6’-9”) and Isaiah Bolden will take to the hardwood for the ‘Cats in 2017-18.

Neal played in seven games for Armwood a year ago, averaging three rebounds.

Dr. Greg Stepanski’s Children’s Dentistry Has Kept Local Kids Smiling For 25 Years!

Dr. Greg and his friendly professional staff will make sure your children smile every time they visit the dentist.

With a visit to Children’s Dentistry in the Cory Lake Professional Center on Cross Creek Blvd., kids get to see Greg Stepanski, D.D.S. — a pediatric dentist with more than 25 years of experience in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area — and a demeanor and office that kids and parents alike seem to recommend without reservation.

“I recommend Children’s Dentistry to all my friends,” says Carla Schoolfield. “They’re great. From the minute you walk in, everyone is so nice and greets you by your name. “They are definitely an A-plus in customer service.”

Carla’s not the only one who thinks so. With 142 Google reviews, Children’s Dentistry’s overall rating is 4.9 out of 5 stars.

“I have other friends who went there when they were kids,” she adds. “Now, they’re taking their kids there. I think that’s a testament to Dr. Greg and his staff.”

Carla’s son is five and has been seeing Dr. Greg — as his patients and their parents call him — since he was just one. Her daughter is only nine months old and will be ready for her first visit soon.

Carla is glad she took her son to Dr. Greg early in his childhood.

“I think it’s great because it gets your child used to going,” she says. “It’s not anything invasive. Dr. Greg is so gentle and such a good doctor, and now my son loves going to the dentist.”

Dr. Greg, who earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree from the Ohio State University College of Dentistry in Columbus, says, “We are encouraging children to have a dental home by the age of one.” He also earned a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN.

Dr. Greg explains that age one is now recommended by both the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Academy of Pediatrics for a child’s first dental appointment.

“It’s preventive,” he says. “Now we’re seeing more and more patients at age one and seeing less problems. We’re also seeing a little bit less tooth decay.”

Dr. Greg says he has a good relationship with many of his peers in the area, and even runs a study club where quite a few pediatric dentists get together for discussion, speakers and continuing education.

“The club has been going on forever,” he says. “I inherited it in 1991.”

That’s when he purchased an existing pediatric dentist office on E. Fowler Ave. in Temple Terrace. He moved that practice to its current Cross Creek Blvd. location 14 years ago.

His many years in practice don’t mean any outdated equipment or procedures, though. Dr. Greg says this year, he added a new, digital panoramic X-ray machine.

“We’ve been using digital X-rays for many years because there’s lower radiation and better clarity,” Dr. Greg says. “The new panoramic machine takes amazing pictures and has the added benefit of allowing us to do bitewing X-rays externally for those kids who may have a gagging response to having the bitewings in their mouth.”

Dr. Greg says the new equipment is so good, some orthodontists send their patients to him to get X-rays taken.

Community Outreach

Dr. Greg’s office is more than just a place to get your children’s teeth checked. He and his staff say it’s like a family, and they host events to build that community feeling, as well.

“They do a lot of things outside of being a dentist,” says Carla. “They do holiday parties and events every year. I think that says a lot. It’s not just them taking my money, but they say, ‘I want to appreciate you for giving me your business.’”

Every year, Carla’s kids and Dr. Greg’s other existing patients are invited to visit Santa at the practice’s annual Christmas party.

“Our families bring their kids all dressed up and take their family Santa photos with our professional photographer,” says Dr. Greg, who adds that there also are fun activities for the kids, such as face painting, a balloon artist and crafts. “It’s become quite an event.”

This year, Dr. Greg says, “We have to expand the venue because so many of our patients have said they’re coming.” He says there will be tents in the parking lot, but it’s important that he holds the party inside the office, too.

“We have it here so the kids can see that it’s a fun destination,” he says. “They can interact with me and the staff while we’re having fun, not trying to do a filling or fix a tooth that was knocked out.”

In addition to the Christmas patient appreciation party, Dr. Greg and his staff typically also host a spring bowling party, which is open to the community, too.

“It’s an opportunity for our patients to bring their friends and introduce us,” he explains. “They get to see me not with a mask and a mirror in my hand, but like a normal person.”

Besides his office’s events, Dr. Greg reaches out to the community in many other ways. He brings “Tommy the Toothbrush” — a character who stresses good dental hygiene — to visit local schools during February, which is Dental Health Month.

“We give toothbrushes to all the kids,” he explains, “Some of them might not have one.”

He also has provided dental care for migrant children and does a program each fall where he donates a Thanksgiving turkey to Metropolitan Ministries in the name of any pediatrician or dentist who refers a new patient to him.

“We like to give to Metropolitan Ministries,” he says.

Dr. Greg also is a charter member and past president of the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club, an active church member at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church and a fundraiser for Corpus Christi Catholic School in Temple Terrace, where his wife Sue has taught kindergarten for 15 years.

For appointments and more information about Children’s Dentistry (10317-B Cross Creek Blvd.), call 973-3100, visit DrGreg-ChildrensDentistry.com, or see the ad on page 28. Most major dental insurance plans are accepted.