Brandon wins another wrestling title; Gulf close to first

Posted Feb 20, 2010 by Adam Adkins

Updated Feb 20, 2010 at 07:00 PM

Brandon has secured yet another state wrestling title, and in typical fashion, the Eagles have done so before the final matches have been wrestled.

Brandon stands with 214.5 points entering tonight’s championship finals at The Lakeland Center, and the near-100 point margin over second place Hialeah American (currently with 132 points) is an insurmountable lead in the race for the Class 3A crown.

It is the 21st state title in Brandon’s history, and the 10th consecutive for the program.

Brandon might not be the only local program to win a state team crown tonight, however. Gulf is currently in first place in Class 1A with 100 points, just ahead of Suwannee (92.5).

The Bucs have three wrestlers in tonight’s Class 1A finals – Anthony Ayers (119 pounds), R.J. O’Connor (135) and Ladarious Jackson (152) – and a win by one of those wrestlers will be enough to lift the program to its first state title in program history. Suwannee has two wrestlers still alive in the finals.

Brandon has eight wrestlers – Rossi Bruno (119 pounds), Kevin Norstrem (125), Tyler Liberatore (130), Clark Glass (145), Joe Cozart (152), Kyle Koziel (171), Mike Ettore (189) and Henry Chirino (285) – in tonight’s Class 3A championship matches.

Other Hillsborough County wrestlers vying for individual state crowns are Tampa Bay Christian teammates James Flint (103) and Troy Joyce (119) and Tampa Prep’s Wes Jarrell (160) in Class 1A, and Durant’s T.J. Davis (152) in Class 2A.

Pinellas County has three representatives wrestling in tonight’s finals. Dunedin’s Luis Agramonte (285) is going for a title in Class 2A, while Northside Christian teammates Aaron Hartman (103) and Dalton Dennis (125) are in the Class 1A finals.

The championship finals are scheduled to begin tonight at 6:35 p.m.