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Brandon Tops In State 8th Time In Row

Robert Burke / Tampa Tribune

Brandon's Joey Cozart is congratulated by his father, Eagles coach Russ Cozart, after winning the Class 2A state title in the 140-pound class.

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By ADAM ADKINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 17, 2008

LAKELAND - Things certainly didn't go Brandon's way when the championship finals of the state wrestling tournament began Saturday night at The Lakeland Center. But when everything was done, the Eagles were still exiting the building with the piece of hardware they'd come to claim.

Powered by individual state champions Eric Grajales (130 pounds), Kevin Timothy (135), Joey Cozart (140) and Phil Uno (215), and runners-up Sean Padgett (103), Terry Dawson (112), Nick Hutchinson (125) and Aaron Fullenwider (285), the Eagles claimed their eighth consecutive team state championship and 19th overall.

Brandon finished with 232.5 points in the Class 2A team standings, well clear of runner-up Naples Palmetto Ridge (174).

"We knew that we were going to be in for a tough battle with Palmetto Ridge, because they're a great team. We knew we had to be sharp. We brought 12, we placed 10; four champs, four seconds, a third 145-pounder Wally Figaro and a fourth 160-pounder Zaq Berridge. I thought we had a great tournament, we beat a great team, and I'm real proud of our guys," Brandon coach Russ Cozart said.

Brandon wasn't the only Hillsborough County program to produce an individual champ. Tampa Bay Christian's Rossi Bruno (103) and Tampa Prep's Tyler Liberatore (112) also won gold. Pasco's Eric Stroud (215) won a 1A title to finish as Pasco County's only champ, while Countryside's Kyle Grueninger (112) produced Pinellas County's lone champ with a 3A crown.

Hudson's Tony Germano (160) and Pasco's Ray Perez (189) each finished as runners-up.

It was a good thing Brandon didn't need a knockout performance in the finals (the Eagles had mathematically clinched the team championship prior to the start) because nothing bounced their way early. Their first three wrestlers up - Padgett, Dawson and Hutchinson - each fell in the final.

Meanwhile, the pair of eighth-graders with ties to Brandon - Bruno and Liberatore - stole the show. Each member of the youthful duo, wrestling partners on Brandon's club team, claimed his first career individual state title, and each win certainly had its share of suspense.

Late in the first period of his title match against Miami Belen Jesuit's Rick Rodriguez, Bruno suffered a broken nose and a laceration on his upper lip. The blood was flowing so profusely it took the trainers on hand several attempts to stop it; the end result was a mound of tape covering his nose and upper lip and a special face mask.

Bruno said it was difficult to breathe under all the alterations, but it wasn't until a late warning from the referees that he really started to worry.

"They told my coach that if I spit it the blood up that they were going to call the match," Bruno said. "So I just kept swallowing."

Rams assistant coach Mike Joyce called Bruno's match, a 10-8 decision that improved him to 40-0, the "gutsiest performance I've ever seen."

When Liberatore took the mat, it looked as though he would end things quickly against Englewood Lemon Bay's Scott Bouthiller. But Liberatore, too, ended up needing the trainers' assistance late in the third period when he came down awkwardly on his neck.

"I was just hoping I could get up," Liberatore said. He did, and held on to defeat Bouthiller, the defending state champ, on a 10-5 decision.

Brandon rebounded shortly after that, once the Eagles sent their top wrestlers to the mat. Grajales, Timothy and Cozart reeled off consecutive wins in the 2A finals to get the Brandon fans going. But the biggest cheers were reserved for Uno, who upended Bradenton Manatee's Richie Cunningham, who ended Uno's state title hopes last season and was someone he'd never beaten.

"We've learned so much about each other in this whole thing with The Streak going down and us losing a close match and then coming back and winning a state title. It's been an awesome year. It's been an awesome year for me and it's been an awesome year for the kids. I think we did a great job," Cozart said. "I think we all went at this as a shot at redemption and getting a little bit back from what we lost. And I think we did that."

Reporter Adam Adkins can be reached at (813) 657-4533 or aadkins@tampatrib.com.

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