The nation's top 171-pounder hopes to help Brandon capture its 15th championship.
By TERRY JONES
Published February 24, 2004
BRANDON - Older wrestlers try to avoid him, younger ones try to imitate him, opposing coaches would love to have him and all respect him though he's just a sophomore.
David Craig (41-0) was the winner of December's Iron Man Tournament in Ohio and last summer's national championships and is the nation's top-ranked 171-pounder.
Craig is among six state champions on a Brandon team scheduled to compete for a state title Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Lakeland.
Off the mat, Craig is quiet and soft spoken and an A student with a good chance to be accepted to the college of his choice, Harvard University.
He could become the first Brandon wrestler to qualify for the Olympics, yet it's academics that drives him day-to-day.
Though Craig is young to be so highly skilled, he's not the youngest state champ from Brandon or Hillsborough County going to Lakeland.
Freshman Sean Joyce (112) won a title last year as an eighth-grader at Temple Heights Christian School. He transferred to Brandon to attend a neighborhood school and be on the same team with his brother, Ryan.
Ryan Joyce captured a state championship last season as a junior at 125 pounds. The brothers have been part of the Brandon youth program since elementary school.
Cesar Grajales Jr. won at state in the 103-pound class as a freshman and at 119 as a sophomore. This time, he will be competing in the 125-pound division, hoping to help the Eagles capture their 15th crown.
Grajales claimed district and regional championships each year since he was an eighth-grader at Northside Christian School in Pinellas County.
Grajales had dreamed of being a Brandon wrestler since he heard his father, Cesar Sr., talk about helping lead the Eagles to a state title as a senior in 1982.
Now Grajales wants them to have their fourth consecutive crown.
"I am real proud of my team," Grajales said. "Coach (Russ) Cozart has been pushing us hard the past few weeks, actually all season, to be ready for this. We push each other, too.
"I don't look at myself as an individual state champion. Like my teammates believe, we are all part of the state championship team or we are not.
"You will always see us talking between matches, sharing information and cheering for one another on the sidelines," Grajales said. "Individual sport or not, at Brandon we are a team."
Junior Rocky Cozart (160) will be going for his second championship.
Rashard Goff won his first title last year at 215, and is competing at the same weight. Several colleges are pursuing the senior.
One more defending state champion is scheduled to represent Hillsborough County. Jesuit's Alex Enriquez (152) will be going for his third title.
This is the first year the area has had seven individual state champions return tothe tournament.
