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TIMELINE GREAT ESCAPES BY THE NUMBERS

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 6, 2008

Many tried to beat Brandon, but until Saturday night, none successfully, since Bradenton Manatee prevailed in the final match of the 1972-73 season. Manatee would tie Brandon the next year; therein lies the nine dual-match difference between the winning streak and the unbeaten streak. The close calls during the years kept the Eagles in check. The closest of the close: Nov. 26, 1979: Brandon 32, Leto 24. The first match of Jim Graves' final season as Brandon's coach. The key match was Marty Shirley's pin of Dennis Reynolds at 167 pounds. Reynolds went on to finish fourth in the state. Shirley fell out of the starting lineup by season's end. After this win, the unbeaten streak stood at 73 and the winning streak at 64. Jan. 10, 1980: Brandon 28, East Bay 27. With three bouts remaining, East Bay led 21-17, but wins by Tony Gustafson at 188 and Dave Walker at 220 saved the match, which was marred by a fight involving a former Brandon wrestler and East Bay fans. Graves went into the stands to help break it up. Dec. 1, 1981: Brandon 32, Chamberlain 25. Russ Cozart was in his second year at Brandon, coaching against his old school in the season opener. "It wasn't really close, but it got close toward the end," Cozart said. "It was an unexpected scare. Ed Goodpaster was also in his second year, having replaced me at Chamberlain, and he was building a nice squad." Nov. 30, 1982: Brandon 29, Chamberlain 27. This was another season opener, and Chamberlain had 12 seniors. Todd Gustafson and Eric Grant defeated Chiefs they had lost to previously, and Andre Green's pin at 189 gave Brandon an insurmountable 29-12 lead. The original final score was 29-24, changed after Brandon forfeited a bout for using an ineligible wrestler. It was Brandon's 100th consecutive win. Feb. 4, 1984: Brandon 35, Miami Southridge 24. Arguably the biggest challenge to the streaks since they began, Southridge came into the Eagles' Nest as defending state champion and led Brandon 24-23 with two matches left. Jim Husk watched in dismay as his last wrestlers were disqualified for stalling. The streaks were at 131 (unbeaten) and 122 (winning). Dec. 10, 1988: Brandon 31, Chamberlain 28. The first of two clutch performances by Brandon heavyweight Steve Smith, whose pin capped a comeback from a 28-19 deficit. The streaks were at 189 and 180. Jan. 10, 1989: Brandon 35, Bloomingdale 23. This match's original final score was 32-26 - this alteration resulted from a Bloomingdale forfeit - and Smith again was the hero. With the match tied at 26, he saved the streaks at 193 and 184 by pinning Charles Perez in 5:37. Elation was tempered by an injury suffered by Brandon's Jason Davis, whose leg was broken against Bloomingdale's Kevin Williams. Nov. 26, 1996: Brandon 43, East Bay 27. Before this weekend, this was the closest Brandon had come to falling since the 1990s began. East Bay got four consecutive wins beginning at 130 pounds to tie the match at 21. However, the Eagles, strong in the heavier weights that season, dominated the last half of the match, getting the clinching win from 189-pounder Josh Lambrecht. 1969 - Brandon's program begins with a 45-13 loss to Robinson. Feb. 20, 1973 - Bradenton Manatee defeats Brandon 28-19 in the final dual meet of the 1972-73 season, the last time the Eagles lost a dual meet. Nov. 29, 1973 - Brandon defeats Chamberlain 40-12 in the first match of the 1973-74 season, the start of a national record unbeaten streak, which ended at 468 after this year's Graves Duals final. Jan. 26, 1974 - Brandon and Bradenton Manatee tie 24-24 in the ninth match of the season, the last time the Eagles did not win a match before Saturday. Therein lies the nine-match difference between the unbeaten and undefeated streaks, both national marks. Jan. 28, 1974 - Brandon defeats Robinson 32-17, the first victory of the national-record winning streak which ended at 459. Feb. 7, 1980 - Brandon's last dual under Jim Graves, a 59-6 win against King. The Streak stood at 75 consecutive wins and 84 matches without a defeat. Graves resigned at the end of the season. He left with a career record of 97-11-1 and led the program to its first state title in 1977. Dec. 1, 1980 - Brandon defeats Chamberlain 47-17 in the first match under new Eagles coach Russ Cozart, who took over the program following two seasons at Chamberlain. Nov. 30, 1982 - Brandon gets consecutive win No. 100 with a 29-27 win against Chamberlain. Feb. 6, 1988 - Brandon notches win No. 176 with a 76-6 win against Hillsborough, breaking the national wrestling program mark for consecutive wins held by Bismarck, N.D. Jan. 27, 1990 - Brandon gets consecutive win No. 200 with a 70-6 win against Hillsborough. One day later - exactly 16 years after the winning streak began - Tony Ippolito, a beloved former Eagles standout and the program's and Hillsborough County's first state champion, dies from a rare form of cancer. He was 33. Jan. 18, 1997 - Brandon defeats Chamberlain for consecutive win No. 293, breaking the national mark for consecutive victories by a high school team in any sport. The old record was held by the Amherst (N.Y) Sweet Home High volleyball team, which won 292 consecutive matches from 1978-87. Dec. 16, 1997 - Brandon gets consecutive win No. 300 with a 70-3 rout of Plant. Jan. 8, 2005 - Brandon gets consecutive win No. 400 with a 53-12 victory against Chamberlain in Graves Duals semifinals. Jan. 5, 2008 - Brandon loses to Homestead South Dade in the final of the Graves Duals 32-28, ending The Streak. The Eagles' national record winning and unbeaten streaks end at 459 and 468, respectively.

STANDOUT SIBLINGS

There have been many faces in Brandon's program, some of which have looked pretty similar. Here is a list of state-title winning siblings to wrestle for the Eagles during The Streak (in alphabetical order): The Cozarts - Russ Cozart's sons, Rocky and Joey. Rocky, a 2005 grad, was a three-time state champion, while Joey won his first as a freshman last season. The Grajaleses - Cesar and Eric have been two of the best wrestlers to ever come through Brandon. Cesar, a 2005 grad, is one of two four-time state champions in program history, while Eric, currently a junior, is already a two-time state champ and undefeated as an Eagle. The Gustafsons - Todd and Bret each won two titles, Todd repeating as 145-pound champ in 1983-84 and Bret as 140-pound champ in 1986-87. The two combined for 161 victories. The Joyces - Ryan went 166-11 at Brandon and won his lone state title as a senior in 2003. Sean won three individual titles at Brandon (and four overall) and ended his career last season with a state-record 260 wins (165 with the Eagles). The Lambrechts - Josh and Zac each posted at least 100 career wins and each won individual titles in 1998, Zac at 125 pounds and Josh at 171. The Parrys - Both Adam and Todd won their lone state title as a senior. Adam, the younger brother and 1988 grad, went 67-6 in his career and won a 160-pound title; Todd, an '86 grad, finished his career 42-4 and won a 145-pound title. The Urquharts - Ken went 54-5 in his career and won the 130-pound title as a senior in 1991. Kris went 87-9 in his career and won the 160-pound title as a senior in 1996.

CHAMPIONS WALL

Here is the complete list of Brandon's state champions, all of whom have won titles during The Streak. In all, there have been 46 individual state champions combining to win 66 individual titles. Wrestler - Years won state Khalid Andwele - 2002 Alex Araoz - 2006 Bryan Barrett - 1989 James Brown - 2006 Fred Cachilli - 1984 Mark Church - 1995 Rocky Cozart - 2003, 2004, 2005 *Joey Cozart - 2007 David Craig - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Chris Denison - 1985 Juan Edwards - 1997 Stein Edwards - 1994 David Emch - 2001 Gary Garner - 1988 Rashard Goff - 2003, 2004 Franklin Gomez - 2005 Cesar Grajales - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 *Eric Grajales - 2006, 2007 Bret Gustafson - 1986, 1987 Todd Gustafson - 1983, 1984 Bob Hendrickson - 1985 John Heyman - 1981 Tony Ippolito - 1974 Ryan Joyce - 2003 Sean Joyce - 2004, 2006, 2007 Matt Juncal - 2001, 2002, 2003 Brady Keys - 1983 Dennis Kitko - 1991, 1992, 1993 Zac Lambrecht - 1998 Josh Lambrecht - 1998 Richard Lentz - 1976, 1977 Kevin Mancini - 1988 Steven Moraldo - 1998 Adam Parry - 1988 Todd Parry - 1986 Mike Pucillo - 1997 Mike Reynolds - 1992 Keith Simmons - 2004 Tommy Timothy - 2006, 2007 Marco Toledo - 2005 Ken Urquhart - 1991 Kris Urquhart - 1996 Ben Valladares - 1997 Bob Woodke - 1979 George Woodside III - 1995 Andy Yoerger - 1996 *-active 12,396 Consecutive days the winning streak lived, from Jan. 28, 1974 (first win) to Jan. 5, 2008 - a span of 33 years, 11 months and nine days. 495 All-time number of dual meet victories for Brandon, now in its 39th season. 34 District titles won by the Eagles, including 33 consecutive since the 1974-75 season. 29 Region titles won by the Eagles, including 18 consecutive since the 1989-90 season. 19 All-time number of dual meet losses for Brandon. 1 Losing season for Brandon. The Eagles went 3-10 in the 1971-72 season.

BEST OF THE BEST

The top six wrestlers at Brandon during Russ Cozart's tenure, as selected by the coach: 1. David Craig - The only undefeated wrestler in program history (183-0) and one of only two four-time state champions, the 2006 grad was the nation's top-ranked prep wrestler as a senior. 2. Cesar Grajales - One of only two four-time state champions at Brandon, the 2005 grad went 177-2 during his Brandon career, twice posting undefeated seasons. 3. Rocky Cozart - The coach's son and 2005 grad won state titles in each of his last three years and finished as a state runner-up as a freshman. He posted a career record of 176-4 with the Eagles. 4. Dennis Kitko - Currently the coach at Durant, Kitko was a three-time state champ (1991-93) who owns the program's No. 2 mark all-time for winning percentage after going 96-1 in his three seasons. 5. (tie) Franklin Gomez and Bret Gustafson - Cozart said it was a toss-up between these two, and it's understandable why the coach couldn't decide. Gomez went 97-2 during his three years, winning a state title as a senior in 2005. Gustafson, an '87 grad, was a two-time state champion at 140 pounds and went 78-2 in his career.

The top three wrestlers at Brandon during Jim Graves' tenure, as selected by the coach: 1. Mark McNitt - Graves called this two-time state placer the "best he ever had." McNitt went 62-8-1 in his three-year career, taking third in the state as a junior and second as a senior in 1975. 2. Richard Lentz - The most successful Eagles wrestler of the Graves Era, Lentz went undefeated in each of his final two seasons, winning consecutive 171-pound state titles in 1976 and 1977. He finished with a career record of 70-4-4. 3. Tony Ippolito - Arguably the most beloved wrestler in program history, he was Brandon's and Hillsborough County's first state champion as a senior in 1974.

TIMELINE

GREAT ESCAPES

BY THE NUMBERS

STANDOUT SIBLINGS

CHAMPIONS WALL

BEST OF THE BEST

Information from Tribune archives was used in this report.

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