Brandon Breaks Records, Wins State

It was a record-breaking night for Brandon on Saturday at the FHSAA state wrestling championships, and the end of a stellar career for one Brandon senior who will be remembered as one of the best in the state's history.

Brandon set a state record for most team points in claiming the program's 20th state title - and ninth consecutive Class 2A crown - and set a state record with seven individual champions. One of those individual title winners was standout Eric Grajales, who ended his high school career by becoming just the eighth wrestler in state history to win four individual state championships.

Grajales' technical fall of Orange Park Ridgeview's Giovany Ocasio in the 2A 135-pound final improved his record at Brandon to 219-0, making him the second Eagles wrestler to finish his career undefeated.

"It feels great, but I won't lie, it's hard now that it's over," Grajales said. "My whole life I wanted to wrestle for Brandon and be a part of this team. But now I can look back and say I did what I wanted to do, I never lost a match and won four straight titles, and I lived up to my hopes and dreams."

Grajales' championship win, at the time, was the fourth on the night for the Eagles. Senior Ryan Renkey was the team's first winner after earning a 3-0 decision against Armwood's James Gray at 112. Freshmen Rossi Bruno and Clark Glass followed with wins at 119 and 130, respectively. After Grajales, senior Kevin Timothy earned his second consecutive state title with a win at 140, and Joe Cozart followed with his third straight crown with a victory at 145, which tied the state record of six title winners that was held by Brandon's 2002, 2004 and 2006 squads.

The record-breaking heroics came from undersized sophomore 189-pounder Mike Ettore, who earned his first state title with a hardfought 10-5 decision against Springstead's Scott Wern, whom he lost to at the region tournament.

All 12 wrestlers Brandon sent to state placed in the top five (tying a program record for state placers), including 160-pound runner-up Kyle Koziel, which helped the Eagles amass a state-record 270 points, well clear of runner-up Bradenton Manatee (125.5).

"When we walked in, we just wanted to do the best we could," longtime Eagles coach Russ Cozart said. "It was a great performance - all heart out there from the kids."

Brandon wasn't the only local program to produce a winner. Tampa Bay Christian eighth-grader Kevin Norstrem (45-1) became the program's third state champ in as many seasons with a win in the 1A 112-pound title match, and Northside Christian senior Dillon Dennis capped a perfect season at 39-0 and became the program's first state champion with a win in the 1A 140-pound final.

In addition, Bloomingdale senior Chris Figari, who earlier this season became the program's all-time leader in career wins, capped a perfect season at 54-0 by winning the Class 3A 160-pound title.

"This feels great. It's just unexplainable," said Figari, the program's first state champ since 2005. "Going through all that hard work, all the misery last year after taking fourth, working through the summer and working hard all year, when it comes together in a victory like that, it's just surreal."

Dunedin's Antonio Talley (2A; 171 pounds) and Gulf's Ladarious Jackson (1A; 152) finished as individual runners-up. Kissimmee Osceola won the 3A state team title, while Fort Myers Riverdale was the 1A state champion.