By Tamas Mondovics
While the Brandon Eagles wrestling team, led by coach Russ Cozart, is once again on track to confirm the program’s dominance of the sport, area teams such as the Riverview Sharks, led by program head coach, William Sargable, are stepping up to the show their strength.
A couple of recent events confirm the Sharks solid stand within the county, including the pre-holiday season Raider Invitational victory, for the first time since the 2005-2006 season.
“Although the day had many highs and lows, to finish as champs is awesome,” Sargable said, adding that the team still has a lot of work to do, but that is OK, as long as everyone continues to improve each day.
Adding to the list of wins before winter break, Riverview showed strength during a six-way duals tourney at home as the program welcomed Wharton, Gaither, Hillsborough, Blake and Armwood.
With 59 wins and only 11 losses, the Sharks dominated the event, pleasing the coaches who acknowledged that as a whole, the team looked good all day, with each wrestler holding his own,
“The entire day was a success, especially the hospitality room, thanks to all the parents for providing such an incredible spread,” Sargable said.
While less successful, the Sharks made their presence known during the Hillsborough County Division Duals Championships, hosted by the Cougars at Durant High School
As expected, Brandon showed its strength during the tourney defeating neighboring Bloomingdale, Newsome, East Bay, Spoto, Lennard, Plant City and Durant.
The Eagles’ win at Durant came in the wake of Brandon’s 655 point victory at the 11th Annual Jim Graves Invitational a week earlier, hosted annually by the Eagles, as they outscored second-place Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (422) to win the tourney for the 10th time.
The Eagles current season welcomes Cozart back to his 37th year at Brandon, with the likelihood of expanding the schools’ state championships winning streak to 13.
For more information about the Sharks wrestling program, please visit www.eteamz.com/riverviewwrestling.
