January 15, 2024
Mount Dora High Wrestler Russell Fickett Takes 1st Place at Ed Kilpatrick Classic
By Kyle Coppola
Mount Dora High Wrestler Russell Fickett Takes 1st Place at Ed Kilpatrick Classic
Congratulations to Russell Fickett from Mount Dora High as he wound up taking a first-place medal at the Ed Kilpatrick Classic in Inverness this weekend. Fickett has been demolishing competition this season as he is ranked in the top ten in the state in the 215lb weight class.
Fickett was not the only Hurricane athlete to medal. Colton Fickett would finish in 4th place in the 157lb weight class and Connor Berry and Michael Brutus finished 7th in their respective weight classes.
This has been one of the best seasons in Mount Dora High wrestling history. The season is far from over as the wrestlers are fine tuning their skills for the upcoming individual district tournament in February.
Mount Dora Wrestling Head Coach David Kemmy recently won his 400th career wrestling match. It has been a historic season for Mount Dora High which now includes the school’s first ever ranking inside the top 20 schools in the state of Florida.
Congratulations on all the success team!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.