Brandon v. Oviedo

[Trusty]

Has anybody been following this ridiculous crap these two coaches have been pulling?

Just let your guys wrestle and shut the hell up.

[Flop the Nuts]

No, what's going on?

[Trusty]

doug said:

No, what's going on?

It would take forever to explain, but in short.
Brandon has a dual streak record of like 20 years or something crazy.(by dodging any team that is half way decent)
Oviedo is also in Florida but in a different district so they have never met in dual competition. Each coach says they have tried to set duals but the other coach is the one that makes it not happen.
So a few weeks ago they agreed to dual, but has gotten crazy again.
Go to themat.com and check out the High School section and read some of the crap, it's hilarious!

[ISU2008]

No big thread on it just 2 small ones. I guess it got pulled.

[leglace]

I know a little more than I would like to admit.

Brandon's streak is actually a credible streak. Many people around the country have tried to redefine what the streak means. The streak is nothing more than an a good program that hasn't lost a dual in their state. Much like a team that wins districts over 30 years in a row. For about 20 years of that streak, they were not head and shoulders above their competition. They had to achieve many dramatic finishes. Local teams have been coming from abroad to end that streak. And that is an important factor to the emergence of wrestling in the state of Florida. Not until recently (within the last 10 years) have Brandon started to pull away in talent thanks to a very strong youth program. Only then has the pressure been on them to seek better competition. They answered back by adding a "challeneg the streak tournament" that was said to not turn down a request. They petitioned the county and the state to try to travel out of state for more competition. They were turned down for many years until 3 years ago, allowing them to enter the Ironman and then the Beast. Now that the rules have allowed them to compete with out of state competition (in the last 3 years), the outcry has been to put the dual streak on the line against an out of state team. But remember that the streak was never anything more than an in-state dual streak. Regardless, they feel strongly when their streak ends, it should be in the state of Florida where local fans can see. They don't wake up in the morning thinking of ways to lose it or to preserve it.

The reason I sound like I am defending Brandon is because people have tried to discredit all the years prior to the recent (last 5 years) incidents when they weren't so much better than their competition. I think its unfair to those who worked hard to preserve that streak. We would all agree that in the past 5 years they have been good enough to compete with the nations best. This has nothing to do with their regular schedule dual streak.

Oviedo is another story. Brandon continually battled the top ranked teams like Southridge, Cardinal Gibbons, & Countryside at the Graves Challenge the streak when Oviedo was less of a presence. The Oviedo coach never accepted an invitiation to the Graves when they needed to. Oviedo was making claims that they match up well w/ Brandon, which is a fact. The problem is JD Robbins, coach of Oviedo and Russ Cozart do not get along, at all. JD came to Florida from California during the time Russ was very well established, and came in to take over Florida USA wrestling. He didn't like any of Brandons coaches and got rid of them. That might be where the bad blood started. Regardless, you have to blame their relationship for brandon not wrestling Oviedo.

Brandon again invited Oviedo to the Graves last summer, but Oviedo stipulated that Brandon must agree to attend the Jarzynka. Brandon agreed even after finding out Oviedo had obligations in place of the Graves dual tournament.
Russ had little to no contact with JD Robbins in all this. Russ was told that they would not be included in any seeding meetings. Russ made calls explaining that he would not agree to allow the Oviedo coaches to decide all the seeds without any input from other coaches. It was more the principle. Now comes the different versions of the story. Russ made phone calls to Tomm Coffman, asst coach since JD wouldn't answer his calls. Russ wanted a discussion about the seedings. He left a message with Tom Coffman later on that if he does not hear a resolution to the seedings, he will not be taking his team. He got no response. According the Oviedo, Brandon was told like everyone else through an e-mail that the seedings would be done by computer. Russ denied that they were informed. So its he said they said. But it all could have been avoided if they could have picked up the phone and given Coazart the respect he deserved and told him personally to avaoid all the confusion.

Could Brandon have won regardless of the seedings. Yes. But Russ felt disrespected in how they handled it. I believe he should have taken the higher road and went anyway. But he acted on principle. Oviedo ran to the papers explaining how they backed out and that they would challenge them to a dual at their home gym. Russ mentioned that they had an opening at the Graves for them, though it was known Oviedo had obligations. Oviedo again ran to the paper and cited Brandon for using the Graves a scapegoat when they knew Oviedo had obligations. Russ then started making phone calls to figure out how he get in an add'l non-district match witin the county rules. He found a loophole in which involved creating a tournament that still involved paying a penalty. It was obvious Brandon really wanted this. Oviedo accepted, but slowly threw excuses along the way. First it was, "they have to get permission from their teachers in order to leave school a bit earlier". AFter that they threw the bomb. A demand that they must use a top 20 NCAA ref (against district rules) and reserve seating for Oviedo fans. They could not get the ref. So Oviedo never responded. Yesterday they had until 3 pm to respond if they are going to attend. Once again, no response.
What I get out of this is that they are both guilty, but Oviedo should never had opened their mouth creating the "We challenge Brandon to a Dual" headline.

Regardless, I think the bad rap Brandon gets is not justified if its based on their streak. Their streak is an accomplishment in itself being that they have not been great for over 30 years. Recently they have stepped up the competition using the Graves. But we all know they could do a bit more.

www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/highschool/orl-hsbeat1707jan17,0,1433969.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines-hs

www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/highschool/orl-hsbeat0607jan06,0,123245.story

sports.tbo.com/sports/MGB9ZREQZWE.html

[Trusty]

I agree that the "streak" is a local thing and that outsiders have made it a "why don't you wrestle such and such from such and such"
National or not, it is a very impressive streak. I just wish both of these parties would just stop pointing fingures and wrestle the dual.

[gripsnhips]

Florida needs to get their unimportant heads out of the clouds.

Go wrestle a Top 8 PA team.

Sorry to those in Florida. It just sounds like a couple of crickets arguing over who is the king of the rock while Blair, St. Ed's and PA teams are fighting for control of the whole yard.

[leglace]

Believe it or not, there is actually wrestling outside of Pa.

[gripsnhips]

leglace said:

Believe it or not, there is actually wrestling outside of Pa.

I was hoping to get a more heated reaction. I bet David Craig, Jared Frayer and Sam Hazewinkle would have something to say about this.

[bob1974]

"Go wrestle a Top 8 PA team."

You mean like Easton?

Easton was kind enough to come down to Brandon and wrestle in the NHSCA Sunshine tournament (officially hosted by Easton). I think Easton's starting 189 wasn't down at weight yet and Brandon's starting 135 was out with a shoulder injury. Brandon finished ahead of Easton 442.5 to 382.5. South Dade was third with 320.5. It wasn't a dual, but it would be easy enough to go through the brackets to list actual head to head scores and comparative finishes if anyone gives a rat's patootie. Unfortunately, Easton is the only ranked team Brandon has faced this year. Easton obviously has a much tougher schedule than Brandon.

[sgallan]

I will conceed that the streak is very credible in-state. But.... they have bragged about the streak in a national way for about five years now. When you take the "streak" out of state, then you need to back it up out of state. It doesn't even need to be a "set-up" dual. It could be as simple as the Final Four duals. Heck, if they beat Easton, and Blair heads up, then they have another five years of bragging rights nationally with the streak.

I am sorry... I have a real amount of respect for Brandons program. From little kids on up. They took a "who cares" state, and put it on a national level. And Cozart senior could kick my butt. However, there is a point where if you are going to claim greatness on a national scale, you need to "balls" up. Brandon tried in a tournament format, but lacked depth and big tournament toughness/points ability. That is understandable given the competition. Given that is the case, then own up to the streak being local, and let it stay local.

[leglace]

sgallan said:

I will conceed that the streak is very credible in-state. But.... they have bragged about the streak in a national way for about five years now. When you take the "streak" out of state, then you need to back it up out of state. It doesn't even need to be a "set-up" dual. It could be as simple as the Final Four duals. Heck, if they beat Easton, and Blair heads up, then they have another five years of bragging rights nationally with the streak.

I am sorry... I have a real amount of respect for Brandons program. From little kids on up. They took a "who cares" state, and put it on a national level. And Cozart senior could kick my butt. However, there is a point where if you are going to claim greatness on a national scale, you need to "balls" up. Brandon tried in a tournament format, but lacked depth and big tournament toughness/points ability. That is understandable given the competition. Given that is the case, then own up to the streak being local, and let it stay local.

Not sure who ever bragged about Brandon's streak. I believe a lot of people from stronger wrestling states took offense to Brandon getting ink in Sports Illustrated for owning the longest streak in all sports. As far as I know, about every sport they beat don't compete out of state often if at all. So I thought it was fair.

I think people try to hard to find reasons to dislike Brandon. Brandon fans have explained that the streak began as a normal schedule in-state streak. That was not the reason they have been included in national rankings though.

Brandon ventured to the Ironman & the Beast with one of their better lineups and placed much higher than anyone expected. Including taking second to Blair, above St Eds, at the Ironman. It took long for Brandon to get permission to travel to those events. Their wrestlers were able to guage themselves against other national powers for once. Whether you believe being a solid team can only be proven in a dual or a tournament is different story. Putting their streak on the line in an anual challenge dual tournament format is probably more than they should be expected to do.

I say all this because there are plenty of false statements going around about claims. The streak is the streak. It doesn't mean they are any better than the 3rd best team in Alabama. It does mean they are more successful against teams within their own state. Oviedo is just a spec on their competition throughout the years imo. Their success on the mat has everything to do with their individuals success on a given year.