The outcomes have been one-sided between the schools, but that has not lessened the heat.
By BOB PUTNAM
Published February 24, 2004
[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
Brandon's Tommy Hutchinson stays atop Countryside's A. Jay Hixon in their match last month in the Challenge the Streak tournament.
The two coaches, Brandon's Russ Cozart, left, and Countryside's Dave Frayer has had their run-ins.
Even the most astounding accomplishments have taken on an air of inevitability.
Of course Brandon High has won every wrestling meet in the past two years. Of course the Eagles have won every tournament. Of course they won the state championship last year.
Should anyone be surprised? Brandon has a 30-year-old national record of 395 consecutive dual-meet wins, the longest streak of any high school sport in the nation.
Only three times in two seasons have the margins been as close as 35 points. The opponent in two of those meets? Countryside.
When these two teams knock heads something bigger usually is at stake. For nearly 100 weeks, Brandon and Countryside have been ranked Nos.1 and 2 in all classes by wrestling Web site Floridakids.us. They have met twice in the finals of Brandon's Challenge the Streak tournament and waged their own personal duel at last season's Class 2A state meet.
Countryside had one of its best seasons in 2002-03, setting school records for most points (1581/2), most champions (three) and most place-winners (eight). The points surpassed the totals from their state title teams of 1987 and 1990.
All that, and the Cougars weren't within 80 points of a state championship. Countryside had the misfortune of being in Class 2A with Brandon, which won its state-record 14th title. The Eagles also set records for points scored (246) and individual champions (six).
Unlike most high school rivalries, Brandon and Countryside don't share a city, a county or a district. They are 50 miles apart and their meetings have been preposterously one-sided.
But there is no question that when the two teams meet at the state tournament this week in Lakeland, they will renew what has become the state's single fiercest rivalry in the sport.
"It's definitely intense between these two teams," said John Lawton, the wrestling coordinator for Floridakids.us. "It goes right on down from the coaches to the wrestlers. Both teams are dedicated to beating each other and many of their wrestlers will probably meet head-to-head with state titles on the line."
In the past month, both teams have spewed enough venom and wagged fingers in each other's faces to make this feud reach Hatfield-McCoy status.
On Jan.26, five days after Countryside coach Dave Frayer announced he was retiring at the end of the season, the Florida High School Athletic Association received a letter from Countryside High accusing the Eagles of recruiting wrestlers Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico and Miami's Marco Toledo at a club tournament over the summer in Fargo, N.D.
Within days, Brandon proclaimed its innocence to the FHSAA, denying all allegations in a cover letter, followed by 12 pages of questionnaires and interviews conducted by athletic director Sonny Hester. Brandon coaches, wrestlers and wrestlers' parents repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Mike Joyce, father of wrestlers Ryan and Sean Joyce, wrote a two-page reply.
"Coach Frayer is a bitter old man that is resigning under duress and is trying to deflect attention away from his troubled program," Joyce wrote.
The accusations remain under investigation by the state.
Last month, Countryside officials contacted the FHSAA to let it know Frayer violated a rule by letting an academically ineligible junior varsity wrestler participate in a meet. Glenn Goodman, a 15-year volunteer with the program, also was removed as an assistant coach after Pinellas County investigators concluded he verbally and physically abused a student.
"I think having two great teams in the area is good for the sport," Frayer said. "But it hasn't been fun for me. There have been a lot of innuendos, peripheral comments and people on different sides of the coin relative to what's going on. It's gotten out of control. I imagined that Brandon would be vocal about what's going on with their program. It's not been a pleasant situation."
But when the cameras are rolling and the notepads are out, Frayer and Russ Cozart often express deep respect for each other's accomplishments.
"I admire what the Brandon program has done, though the folks over there probably don't think I do," Frayer said. "I know what it takes to stay on top and that's what Brandon has been able to do for a long time.
"Both teams are at the top and want the glory and the honor to say they're the top dog."
"I know we had one of the greatest seasons ever, but so did Countryside," Cozart said last year after the state tournament.
Since taking over at Countryside in 1980, Frayer wanted to build his program by wrestling the best. He hoped to catapult his team into the national spotlight with Brandon as its chief rival.
But it takes two to tangle, and the Eagles were bound by county scheduling restrictions, forcing them to wrestle in dual meets only against Hillsborough County schools.
So the teams met at region and state tournaments and their rivalry remained theoretical.
"I remember both teams faced off in some region meets and the outcome was pretty close," said Dunedin coach Marc Allison, who wrestled for Countryside and was the school's first state champion in 1984. "I think that's when the rivalry started. I can remember back to being a junior and senior and wanting to wrestle them. We just never got the chance."
Frayer wouldn't let the issue go away. The nastiness over Brandon's inability to schedule teams outside the county came to a head at the state tournament in 2002 when the two coaches exchanged words on the arena floor.
Frayer: "Hey, Russ! We will wrestle you. We will wrestle you."
Cozart: "Oh, Dave, go retire. Have a margarita. Go coach your J.V. program."
Then in the spring of 2002, Frayer saw something on the Internet that at first he did not believe.
Brandon had posted on Floridakids.us an open invitation to a tournament that would put its dual-meet streak on the line.
For Frayer, it was a moment of uncontained joy.
After 23 seasons of trying to strike a deal to wrestle Brandon in a dual meet, Frayer finally got what he wanted and was the first to RSVP. Countryside lost 40-15 last season and 48-13 this season.
"I'm glad that the rivalry is being settled on the mat," Lawton said. "It's a shame it took this long for that to happen."
There's no denying that by becoming the best of enemies, Brandon and Countryside have forged a rivalry that has helped expand the audience for wrestling as each meeting has become a must-see event. The only question is how long will it last? Frayer is leaving at the end of the season. So too are some of his top wrestlers, who are graduating.
"It'll be interesting this week," Frayer said. "We'll see how everything pans out."
