Schools

Brandon Wrestlers To Compete in Baku at Fila Cadet World Championships

For the first time in U.S. history, three wrestlers from the same club will be competing on the same team at the Fila Cadet World Championships, said Russ Cozart, the Brandon coach behind the qualifying efforts of Kyle Norstrem, Dylan Lucas and James Flin

 

With three wrestlers sitting with him at Beef 'O' Brady's on Kings Avenue, Russ Cozart, the head coach of the Brandon High School wrestling team and of the Brandon Wrestling Club, talked about an upcoming trip to Baku, the largest city and capital of Azerbainjan, a former member of the Soviet Union.

There, wrestlers Kyle Norstrem, an incoming freshman, Dylan Lucas, an incoming sophomore, and James Flint, an incoming junior, will compete at the Fila Cadet World Championships, having qualified with wins at the national tournament in May, at the University of Akron, in Ohio.

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That this is another notch on the belt for world-class wrestling in Brandon is not lost upon the world-renowned, Hall of Fame coach, Cozart, whose team this year at Brandon High is vying for the school's 24th state championship and 13th state title in a row.

"We're going for the 'Baker's Dozen,' " Cozart said, July 12, at Beef's, where a "Spirit Day" for the wrestlers was held in the restaurant from noon to 8 p.m.

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But first, for Norstrem, Lucas and Flint, there's a tournament 6,823 air miles away, after a stop first at the U.S. Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs.

"We all won [in Akron] back- to back to-back," Flint said. "We didn't know where the world team [championship] was going to be until we won it. I was just excited to get out of the country. I've never done that before."

Back home for the 2012-13 school year, the three wrestlers will be back on the mat in their journey to win five individual state titles, a feat that was accomplished for the first time this past year by wrestlers Rossi Bruno and Clark Glass. Their feat broke a state record.

To win five state titles, a wrestler must successfully compete at the state tournement in the eighth grade, which Flint, Norstrem and Lucas did as students at Tampa Bay Christian Academy. They also share the experience of having started wrestling as very young boys.

"I was 5 and my brother, Kevin [an incoming senior wrestler at Brandon] was 5 also," Norstrem said. "He helps me a lot. He cracks down on me when I'm in states."

Lucas said he is excited about his upcoming trip to Baku because last year, having won the national tournament, he had a chance to compete for the Fila Cadet World Championships in Hungary. A broken ankle prevented him from competing.

This year, things will be different.

"We're the first club ever to qualify three wrestlers on the same team in United States history," said Cozart, who in the off-season from high school wrestling runs the Brandon Wrestling Club for athletes of all ages.

"[The tournament] is a great opportunity for them to get the international exposure," Cozart added. "And it's another little notch in our program."

Cozart, who has been the head coach at Brandon High for more than 30 years,  has been at the helm for 22 of the school's 23 state titles. His team is known worldwide for "The Streak," a 34-year run of consecutive dual-meet victories that ended Jan. 5, 2008, at No. 459.

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The Brandon Wrestling Club

  • The Brandon Wrestling Club is a group of young men and women, ages 6 to 54, practicing their wrestling skills and competing in wrestling tournaments.
  • The club is in not part of the Brandon High School wrestling team, but future high school wrestlers do get their training there and the club allows for former student wrestlers to continue training and competing.
  • The club has three Kid Divisions: ages 10 and under, 11 to 12 and 13 to 14. The Cadet Division is for ages 15 and 16. The junior division is for ages 17 and 18. The Open Division is for ages 19 and over.

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