ESPN To Chronicle Brandon
Published: Oct 26, 2007
ADVERTISEMENT
More from this channel:
Search for more information:
The Brandon High School wrestling team - seven-time defending state champions and winners of a national-record 439 consecutive dual matches in a streak that dates to 1973 - will be shadowed by a camera crew all season and featured in a documentary that will air on ESPN this spring.
The project is the brainchild of actor Mark Consuelos, a 1989 graduate of Bloomingdale High who owns the production company Milojo, along with his wife, Kelly Ripa (co-host of ABC's "Live With Regis and Kelly").
Members of the Brandon Wrestling Club, in New Jersey this weekend for a tournament, were invited to this morning's "Live With Regis and Kelly" show, where the project is expected to be formally announced.
Brandon coach Russ Cozart said he has briefed his athletes about the constant camera presence at practices, matches and on campus, but he doesn't expect it to be a distraction.
"I hope it shows the purity of high school sports and the type of work we do in wrestling," Cozart said. "It's going to show a bunch of guys from Normalville, America, and how they strive for a goal. The ESPN guys were already around [Brandon's conditioning camp] and they said they were amazed at what wrestlers go through.
"Our program is used to being in the limelight, but this will take it to another level. I think the average fan of football or basketball will get a chance to see wrestling in a whole new light. And I think it will help define 'The Streak' from a historical perspective."
Consuelos, known best for his role as Mateo Santos on the soap opera "All My Children," began high school at Brandon in the mid-1980s, then shifted to Bloomingdale when it opened. He was a soccer player, spending two seasons at Notre Dame before returning to earn a marketing degree at USF.
"I'm absolutely fascinated by it," Consuelos said. "When I was in high school, those guys [Brandon wrestlers] seemed larger than life. And they still haven't lost? Amazing.
"People who aren't affiliated with wrestling have no idea how hard these guys work. Coach Cozart and his wrestlers deserve this kind of exposure."
Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353 or jjohnston@tampatrib.com.
