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Brandon Closes On State Title

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By ADAM ADKINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

LAKELAND - Brandon has not mathematically clinched the Class 2A state wrestling title, but one thing is for certain: The Eagles, eyeing their eighth consecutive team state title and 19th overall, control their own destiny in tonight's championship finals.

Brandon advanced nine wrestlers to Friday night's semifinals and all but one managed to win, meaning eight Eagles will take the mat tonight at The Lakeland Center beginning at 6:30 in search of individual gold and a chance to help the state's most dominant program add another piece of hardware to an already impressive collection.

"It's a little bit of a tradition with us," Brandon coach Russ Cozart said. "Once we get on a roll, sometimes we're pretty hard to stop."

Brandon rolled from the start of the semis, getting wins from their first six wrestlers to take the mat - junior Sean Padgett (103 pounds), sophomore Terry Dawson (112), junior Nick Hutchinson (125), junior Eric Grajales (130), junior Kevin Timothy (135) and sophomore Joey Cozart (140). Seniors Phil Uno (215) and Aaron Fullenwider (285) followed suit after freshman Wally Figaro fell in a 145-pound semifinal to Naples Palmetto Ridge's Richie Dehnz, a two-time state champion.

It is the most individuals Brandon has advanced to the finals since advancing nine in each of the 2004 and 2005 seasons, according to Cozart.

Success for Hillsborough County wrestlers was not limited to those wearing Brandon singlets. Two eighth-graders - Rossi Bruno of Tampa Bay Christian and Tyler Liberatore of Tampa Prep - also earned the opportunity to wrestle for an individual title with semifinal wins. Bruno and Liberatore will be in Class 1A finals at 103 and 112 pounds, respectively.

Pasco County, meanwhile, produced three 1A semifinal winners in Hudson's Tony Germano (160) and Pasco teammates Ray Perez (189) and Eric Stroud (215), and Pinellas County will have one wrestler going for individual gold in 3A tonight in Countryside's Kyle Grueninger (112).

But Friday belonged to Brandon. Of the eight wrestlers in tonight's finals, only two - Grajales and Joey Cozart - have won individual titles, meaning the Eagles have a great opportunity to add quite a few new names to an already impressive list of champions.

Whether the Eagles can equal their state-record six champs, a feat reached in 2002, 2004 and 2006, is a question that will be answered tonight, but considering the way they performed Friday it certainly isn't far-fetched.

"We've been fighting for this since the Graves Duals," Grajales said. "For my teammates to get anything less than gold would be a shame."

Of course, the best news for Brandon is how the success affected the team standings. The big night helped the Eagles run their two-day points total to 193.5, 55.5 points ahead of Palmetto Ridge.

"We've wrestled pretty close to perfect this entire tournament," Cozart said.

Local wrestlers who lost in the semifinals: Ridgewood's Dean Stupar (112), Armwood's Leroy Minley (130), Countryside's Eric Deupree (135), Hudson's Devin Brown (171), Jesuit's Chris Kavouklis (189), East Lake's Alex Dinielli (285) and Hillsborough's Moses McCray (285). While each has secured a spot on the medals podium (no worse than sixth), they can improve their position during this morning's wrestlebacks.

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