Carrabba’s Italian Grill, which has been open for a couple of months on S.R. 56, next to Bonefish Grill, held its official Grand Opening and North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov 17.
And what a tasty, fun event it was! In addition to a sizable number of NTBC members and Board members, Pasco County commissioners Jack Mariano and Kathryn Starkey, as well as Carrabba’s VP of operations Pat Hafner (a Wesley Chapel resident, by the way) and, of course, Wesley Chapel location “proprietario” and GM Mark Kolter (with scissors in top photo) and his joint venture partner Eric Yeagle were all on hand to cut the ribbon and enjoy some delicious food and beverages following the ceremony.
Once inside, free wine and samples of everything from Carrabba’s tasty meatballs, garlic bread tower, stuffed mushrooms and shrimp spiedino (middle right photo; which, of course, I couldn’t sample — shellfish allergies are soooo unfair!) to Merry Berry martinis and perfect mini-cannolis (bottom right pic) were passed around by Carrabba’s happy, friendly staff.
Feel free to tell Mark, Eric and the staff we sent you on your next visit to Carrabba’s! — GN
The Wesley Chapel girls soccer team. (Photos from Twitter)
Wesley Chapel High’s Mark Leonard coaches one of the top girls soccer programs in Pasco County, but he jokes — kind of — that no one seems to agree, at least until the season is over.
In the preseason, though, it always seems that mum’s the word.
“For a few years, it was Pasco High and Nature Coast that were talked about as the best teams, now it’s Cypress Creek and River Ridge,” Leonard says. “But, that’s okay.”
The Wildcats, 13-8-1 last year, have won district titles four of the last five seasons, including last year when, as the No. 3 seed, they knocked off No. 2 Cypress Creek and No. 1 River Ridge in the District 5A-6 tournament to advance to the State playoffs. The ‘Cats are in District 5A-7 this year.
There are many secrets to the Wildcats’ success. They have an elite goal scorer in junior forward Tatum Moore, who has seven of the Wildcats’ 13 goals (after scoring 30 last year to go with 12 assists). They also have veterans like seniors Emily Doonan (F), Nemsis Arroyo (MF), Alyssa Roberts (F/MF) and Kiera McFeron (F/MF), who combined for 32 goals and 21 assists last year.
Senior captain Lexi Mangione is a steadying force in the middle, and fellow captains Marianna Portillo and Kacey Snead help anchor the defense.
When teams effectively mark Moore, who has verbally committed to Division-I Coastal Carolina, youngsters like freshman forward Jessenia Joseph, who already has three goals, and sophomore midfielder Ali Goines already have stepped up offensively.
So, despite having a talent like Moore on the roster, Leonard says the biggest secret to the Wildcats’ success is turning in a total team effort.
“They are completely unselfish and there is no sense of entitlement with this group,” Leonard says. “Everyone contributes.”
The Wildcats are only off to a 3-3-1 start, but history tells us they will be a force to be reckoned with by the end of the season. Last year, the Wildcats went 4-1 in their last five games. The year before that, after a 5-8-1 start, they finished 5-1 in their last six games.
In 2019-20, they finished 9-1 and in 2018-19 they finished 8-1.
“Right around midseason every year, we really start to click,” Leonard says.
Coyotes Look To Improve
Cypress Creek, a 3-2 loser to Wesley Chapel in last year’s Class 5A, District 6 final, would like to reverse that trend.
The Coyotes, 4-2 this season, return one of the county’s top 1-2 tandems in junior forwards Ashley Souers and Ashley Olds. The duo has seven goals each and have assisted on four others already, after combining for 34 goals and 11 assists in 2020-21 when they led the Coyotes to an 11-7-1 record.
Senior Abigail Pittman, who scored four goals last year, and the Fulop sisters — senior Hannah, junior Jordan and freshman Lindsay – are all expected to be key contributors, and sophomore Avery Blevins has scored four times. Keeper Alex Capocy, who had 81 saves and a 1.72 goals against average in 2021-22, is expected to post similar numbers in 2022-23.
Are The Bulls Charging Back?
The top team in Wesley Chapel the past few years has been Wiregrass Ranch High, and while they did suffer some losses on their vaunted defense — allowing only 10 goals while going 15-3-2 last season — the Bulls are poised to contend for the playoffs again.
It has been feast or famine for the Bulls, who are 3-2 and have scored eight goals in each of their wins, but been shut out in both losses. Isabella Maldonado has nine goals after scoring just three all of last season. In fact, last year’s leading scorer only had 10, a mark the senior midfielder seems poised to eclipse.
Senior Siena Booth has four goals, and junior Sydney Spitzer already has matched her season total of a year ago with three goals. Seven different Bulls have scored, many on assists from Aixa Barrera and Kennedy Bequette, who each have four.
Defense has been the Bulls’ calling card in past seasons, having yielded only 53 goals in their last 89 matches dating back to 2018.
Speedy senior defender Ashtyn Warner, one of the team’s captains, heads up the defense this season, and is also dangerous on the counter attack.
“She is not only an incredible athlete, but an amazing soccer player,” says coach Chloe Marie Mercado. “(Ashtyn) is such a versatile player that can move to different positions and continue to do such a great job on the field. She is able to attack and get forward which is something not a lot of defensive players are capable of doing, so that is fun to watch.”
If freshman Caitlynn Figueroa can mind the nets effectively, the Bulls appear equipped to make a run at a fifth straight district title.
Midfielder Jeremy Caruso, who had 27 assists for Wiregrass Ranch High last year, as well as five goals, works on his shot at a recent practice. (Photo: Charmaine George)
In just about every year of its existence, the Wiregrass Ranch High boys soccer program has been able to reload.
This year, for the first time in a long time, it is rebuilding.
“We haven’t had to do this since, well, our first year,” says head coach Dave Wilson.
However, as the 2022-23 soccer season kicks off, Wilson finds himself dealing with a significant amount of newcomers as he tries to keep the Bulls atop the local boys soccer scene.
Wiregrass Ranch lost 13 of last year’s 19 players to graduation, and 10 of the 17 players on his roster this year are either freshmen or sophomores.
And yet, that hasn’t stopped the Bulls from getting off to a 7-2 start.
“It’s a rebuilding year that we hope to turn into a reloading year,” Wilson says. “It’s basically a whole new team. But, we have the tradition here, that bar has been raised and it makes the guys know what is expected.”
What is expected is a ninth straight Sunshine Athletic Conference East title, a Class 6A, District 9 title and maybe a playoff win or two.
The Bulls have the talent, with seniors Cole Turner (MF/D), Jeremy Caruso (MF) and Briggs Bent (D/F) leading the way.
Wiregrass Ranch also has been bolstered by the addition of senior forward Alex Rodriguez, playing his first season for the Bulls after playing in the U.S. Academy program the past three years. He scored four goals in the first three games, and leads the team with eight goals in seven matches. Sophomore forward Alexei Leon, who scored nine times last year as a freshman, is second on the team with five goals.
Caruso led the Bulls with 27 assists and already has nine early on this season.
Wilson also expects big things from sophomore twins Malachi and Mykall Lewis, whose brothers Malcom and Maurice are former Bulls standouts.
“I think we always expect to be in the hunt for the district title,” Wilson says. “This group is just going to keep on getting better and better.”
‘Cats Look For Repeat
Wesley Chapel, 17-6-1 and District 5A-6 champs last year, must replace its leading scorer, but senior forward Josh Lindo (12 goals, 5 assists last season) and senior midfielder Lucas Herrera (11 goals, 15 assists) are up for the challenge. Lindo (five goals so far) and sophomore striker Cameron Brunner (three goals) are leading the way for WCH so far, as the Wildcats have started out 3-1-1.
Coyotes Contending Again
The Cypress Creek High Coyotes are coming off an 11-6-2 season where they finished as the District 5A-6 runners-up behind Wesley Chapel.
At 4-2 so far with losses to undefeated Sunlake and Wesley Chapel, the Coyotes return a wealth of talent and should contend for the district title again.
The two players who combined to scored 30 of the team’s 53 goals return — junior striker Jackson Stump and sophomore striker Chase Lasasso.
Stump had 22 goals and four assists last year, and has five goals in the season-opening win against Gulf and leads the team with eight this season. Lasasso had eight goals last year and has four this season.
Midfielders Nicolas Cifuentes (6), Max Laframboise (8) and Jose Pacheco (3) lead the Coyotes in assists so far and keeper Dylan Lolley, who had 142 saves and 2.12 goals-against average in 2021-22, is back in net. Lolley has 27 saves and a 0.90 GAA this season.
Our hearty congratulations go out to all of the winners of the 2022 North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) Excellence in Business awards, who were presented with their trophies at the NTBC’s annual “Celebrating Excellence” awards banquet on Nov. 10, at Treble Makers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant in The Grove at Wesley Chapel.
Hosted by NTBC Chairman Javan Grant and the Chamber’s president and CEO Hope Kennedy, the Excellence in Business awards event was a super-fun evening of delicious food, beverages, music and festivities, as several Wesley Chapel- and New Tampa-based businesses were finalists for the four awards which, as Kennedy explained, are the four guiding principles of the Chamber — Integrity, Collaboration, Inclusivity and Innovation.
Two businesses located in Wesley Chapel — Junkluggers, which won the Innovation Award, and RADDSports, which won the Integrity Award (and also was nominated for the Collaboration Award), ended up taking home top honors, while Wesley Chapel-based Innovation Preparatory School (Innovation), Blue Heron Senior Living (Integrity) and RAW Space Collaborative (Inclusivity) and New Tampa-based Shred 360 (Integrity) all made it to the top-three vote-getters among the NTBC’s Board member judges, but didn’t end up winning their respective awards.
The other award winners, which aren’t located in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel were AmSkills, Inc. (based in Holiday), which won the Collaboration Award, and the Pace Center for Girls in New Port Richey, which took home this year’s Inclusivity Award.
Also honored at the event was Rotary District 6950 (of which the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon is a member club), which took home the Community Hero Award for the District’s efforts to help Hurricane Ian victims in Ft. Myers.
District 6950 Governor Troy Willingham accepted the award on behalf of the District, and he was joined on stage by numerous members of the Wesley Chapel club, which helped spearhead the collection of truckloads of much-needed supplies that were brought to Ft. Myers.
Congratulations again to all of the winners, finalists and 93 total nominees!
For membership and other information about the North Tampa Bay Chamber (1868 Highland Oaks Blvd., Suite A, Lutz), call (813) 994-8534, or visit NorthTampaBayChamber.com.
Newly sworn-in District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Seth Weightman has taken over for Mike Moore in the district that includes much of Wesley Chapel. (Photo by Charmaine George).
For the first time in eight years, Wesley Chapel’s District 2 has a new Pasco County Commissioner.
While Ron Oakley remains on the Pasco Board of Commissioners (BOC) for District 1, which covers the northern part of Wesley Chapel, newcomer Seth Weightman takes over for Mike Moore in District 2, which includes the rest of Wesley Chapel (and parts of Land O’Lakes).
Weightman was sworn in on Nov. 20 at the Dade City Courthouse.
“I’m looking forward to getting started,” he says. “I have big shoes to fill.”
Married to Jessica and the father of two children, Weightman may be a first-time commissioner but he has deep roots and connections in the county.
“I’m a born-and-bred Pasco guy,” says Weightman, whose great uncle Thomas is the former Pasco Superintendent of Schools for whom Weightman Middle School was named. “My family has been here a long time. I’ve seen all the changes over the years. Knowing the county’s history and being involved in the community for so long, I think I have a really good understanding of the identity of Pasco County.”
Moore, who recently announced he was joining The Southern Group, Florida’s largest lobbying firm, served two terms in District 2, during a time when Wesley Chapel experienced unprecedented growth and change. He spearheaded efforts to speed up construction of the diverging diamond interchange at S.R. 56 and I-75 and the Overpass Rd. interchange, championed parks and recreation projects (including a new indoor recreation center and a universal abilities park at Wesley Chapel District Park), put a focus on public safety, worked to make this area the crown jewel of the county’s sports tourism efforts and took a pro-business stance when it came to development.
Weightman says he plans to pick up where Moore left off.
“I hope to kind of follow Mike’s same path,” Weightman says. “We think very similarly, and have very similar values. We’re both business-minded and family men. Mike’s done a terrific job in representing Pasco County the last eight years. He set the bar high. I’m competitive, and I know I have work to do, and want to do it as well as he did, if not better.”
Weightman says he has been receiving a crash course in being a county commissioner the past few months, and is eager to start working on some of the goals for his first term.
While he may be new to the county commission, Weightman is far from a political neophyte.
He has served on the Southwest Florida Water Management District (aka Swiftmud) Board, after being appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in November 2019, and is on the Boards of the Pasco-Hernando State College Foundation and the AdventHealth Foundation.
He also has worked as an aide to former Florida Speaker of the House Will Weatherford, and has a number of strong relationships with Republicans around the state. He says that experience will benefit the county when it comes to negotiating for state funds.
“What the county has done really well is work well with our state delegation, and it has been able to receive a significant amount of road and infrastructure funding,” Weightman says.
“That’s been a huge feather in the county’s cap. I have built strong relationships, not just with the Pasco delegation but those in the Florida House and Florida Senate. Those are genuine friendships and working relationships that will be a benefit to me as a commissioner when it comes to advocating for the county.”
Weightman will inherit some projects that are already under way. During his term, big developments like Downtown Avalon Park and the Wiregrass Ranch Town Center will unfold, while the Epperson area continues to boom.
And, while many of the major road projects that began with Moore as commissioner are winding down, the widening of Old Pasco Rd. is only in the early stages.
“When Seth comes in, that’ll be one of the things we wanna make sure that he stays on,” Moore says. “It’s definitely very important for that area, especially with the schools that are there and the new (Overpass Rd.) interchange that’s there.”
With development, however, comes displacement, and not every area resident is enthralled by the growth.
Weightman, 35, says that as a Pasco native who grew up in the area long before homes and businesses had spread, he understands there needs to be a balance.
“That’s the elephant in the room,” he says. “How do we do this? What’s the happy medium?”
Weightman says that while he is pro-business, he also is a big proponent of the county’s Environmental Lands Acquisition and Management Program (ELAMP), which was created in 2004 and is responsible for purchasing environmentally sensitive lands to protect them.
Moore was the first person to endorse Weightman when he announced his plans to run for the District 2 seat earlier this year. Weightman held off primary challenges from Christie Zimmer and Troy Stevenson, effectively winning the seat.
Now, Moore thinks his replacement is ready to be a great county commissioner.
“I have all the confidence in the world in Seth,” Moore says. “He understands constituent service. It’s what he did for Will Weatherford, and he understands government. He sat on the (Swiftmud) board so he’s already a policy maker, and he actually cut taxes while on that board. I know he will do well on the county commission.”
