Working The Edge: High School Wrestling in Florida

You may know him as SEWrestle. His name is Jason Fulmore and he's been involved in wrestling in this state since the 1990s.  Since the end of this past season, Fulmore has started ranking the top 15 wrestlers in the SE region and has a big board coming to his site also. We discussed what goes into our rankings and what made us both start to do them after swearing we would never do rankings. We talk about the growth of the sport through social media and Jason tells the secret of his wrestling photography and why his pictures are so beloved in the wrestling community.  You can check out his work at southeastwrestling.com. It's a fun podcast getting to know the man who has taken on the unenviable task of ranking an entire region of wrestlers. 

On July 6, 2019, the high school wrestling and football world lost Colby Singletary to an auto accident. Palmetto Ridge head wrestling Blaine Ison joins the pod to talk about how the team handled the tragedy and worked to remember Colby this season as best they could. Ison discusses the ups and downs of the season that culminated with Trillyon Fils-Aime winning the 220-pound state title and honored his late friend in the FHSAA state tournament.  It's an emotional story told with grace by Coach Ison. 

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted sports across the world. Tampa Prep assistant coach Jake Campbell joins the pod to talk about how wrestling has felt its effects. We talk about ways to keep in shape during this time and how he's working with athletes in the Brawlers Wrestling Club in Tampa to keep sharp for when the sport returns. We also discuss how the pandemic has affected national tournaments and camps in the spring and summer which are so critical in the college recruiting process. All of this and more as the Working the Edge podcast returns. 

Tenoroc head wrestling coach Anthony Cerullo joins the pod to talk about the challenge of building a program in lower income demographic ares and at schools that traditionally do not have success in athletics. Last year, in his second season at Tenoroc, the wrestling team won district titles in both the state duals and individual tournaments.  On this podcast, we talk with Anthony about how he has built the program and he offers some insight on how it can be done at other schools too.

Ponte Vedra head coach Josean Gonzalez joins the pod to talk about his LinkedIn post "For New Wrestling Coaches: Building Relationships with Administration, Other Coaches, Parents, and Athletes." You can read his post here. We talk about how important it is to sell yourself and your program to school administrators and how crucial it can be to build strong relationships with other coaches and teachers at the school. Building off of his successes and failures at his first head coaching gig, Gonzalez tried to write a blueprint for coaches to follow to feel a little less isolated in a school and help sell the wrestling program and in turn, build it bigger. We talk about this and more on this podcast. 

With so many open coaching jobs across the state, Suncoast head wrestling coach Dan Tria joins the podcast to offer some tips on how to start the process of building a wrestling program. We talk about what he learned as an assistant coach and what has worked - and what hasn't for him at Suncoast.  Dan also recaps his team's trip to J-Rob and how important camps can be in the growing on a program. All of this and more on this episode. 

West Orange wrestling coach Kristen Iannuzzi joins the podcast to talk about her experiences as a girl wrestling in the late 90s-early 00s. She also speaks about being a female coach of a boy's team at West Orange and what she has learned in that role. The one-time Orange County teacher of the year also talks about education and how important her role is in helping young men and women in and out of the classroom. We also chat about the future of girls wrestling and so much more. You don't want to miss this conversation.  --------- Working the Edge podcast is dedicated to high school wrestling in the state of Florida. It is hosted by Orlando Sentinel high school wrestling writer Brant Parsons. If you have any comments, ideas, or topics you'd like to hear discussed, please contact Brant. 

Florida high school wrestling referee Mike Cipriano answers everything you wanted to know about officiating, including: Why he started and continues to love officiating How anticipation is one of the key components of being a successful ref Dealing with angry parents and fans How coaches can be most successful with questions during matches Keeping the emotional side in check and knowing how to officiate around them Stalling - What is it and how does it get interpreted? Why it's key to know something about the wrestlers And the most commonly misinterpreted rules by coaches and competitors 

Among the topics discussed: The celebration/taunting incidents that are getting a lot of attention. Parents and officials - and what makes an official great State series strategies Top teams he's seen this season The rankings and how Track wrestling can help coaches All of this and more on this episode. 

Kirwyn Adderley, the girls state championship tournament director, joins the podcast to talk about the growth of the sport in Florida and what we can do to help get it officially recognized. 

Rick Tribit and I finally get together to do a podcast as Working the Edge returns. We talk about the state tournament in Kissimmee, what goes into making it happen, and what they have planned for this year. We also talk about bringing coaches together through the Florida Wrestling Coaches Association and creating a tighter group to work together to better the sport here in Florida. We touch upon some of his favorite topics in the podcast's return. 

There are three duals to get the season started tonight but before I get to that - If you haven’t checked out my season preview for the entire state of Florida, you can find it at OrlandoSentinel.com/wrestling. It features capsules for all 400 teams in the state of Florida and is jam-packed with information and names in the sport. I hope it’s the perfect way to get everybody ready for the season. On the mats tonight, Eau Gallie visits Rockledge in a meeting of Brevard County teams. Rockledge could feature six wrestlers that ended the season ranked by the Orlando Sentinel. In Palm Beach County, district rivals Palm Beach Central and Wellington meet in a season-opening dual. And Seabreeze opens up the season at new independent First Baptist Christian. We will aim to get all of these results up on the site as soon as we can and stick around for tomorrow’s podcast for more! I’m Brant Parsons and I’ve been the Working the Edge.

Grant Aronoff, Anthony Artalona and Ben Goldin were all part of Penn's highly-regarded 2018 recruiting class. Legendary Penn coach Roger Reina came back to lead the program last year and this is his first big class of recruits for his second stint in charge. He talks about what drew him to the three Florida wrestlers, his experience recruiting the Sunshine State and how the sport - and how he himself - has changed since he was last in charge.

Our Wrestling Discussion Series continues with Colonial head coach Andy Pitts joining me to talk about how he tries to market the sport at his high school. We discuss how important it is to also market it to fellow faculty and administration and how every day is a day to sell the sport. We look into the roll of social media in advancing knowledge and interest in the sport and how he tries to build up the numbers in his wrestling room. The sport of wrestling is always looking for ways to grow, we tackle some of the easiest and simplest activities that can do that.

Dual meets are important to the sport of wrestling, but it's hard to fit them into a demanding and tight schedule. We look at dual meets and how important they are for a wrestling program. Dual meets can grow the sport for fans, wrestlers and for the programs themselves. We also talk about how in-school dual meets have been so successful for his Titan program and tells a story about the best match he can remember taking place during one of them. All of this and more on this version of the Wrestling Discussion Series. 

Suncoast head wrestling coach Dan Tria joins the podcast to talk about transfers in the sport of high school wrestling and in general. We talk about how school choice initiatives have opened the playing field for easier movement and the decision making process that student-athletes go through in figuring out if a transfer is the right move. We discuss the difference between public and private schools and look in-depth into limitations placed on magnet programs too.  We also address our own high school experience and how staying at a single school worked for each of us. Transfers are a unique and individual decision, but that doesn't mean they're not worth discussing and that's what we do on today's podcast. 

We talk with Lake Highland Prep coach Mike Palazzo about the team's goals in the postseason, why they upped the challenge for their wrestlers and what perfection means to him. 

We catch up with SEU coach Javier Maldonado. We look back on the three-year anniversary of his taking the job to lead the first scholarship program in the state in almost three decades. We talk about the influences from his wrestling family at Kissimmee Osceola High School and his collegiate career at UT-Chattanooga.  We also discuss the growth of high school wrestling talent in Florida, the importance of academics and how SEU's success in the sport could encourage other schools to give the sport a try.  The Fire are currently ranked 14th in the NAIA wrestling with seven wrestlers ranked in the Top 20 by Intermat ahead of the postseason. 

I’m baaack. This is your high school wrestling update from the Orlando Sentinel for Monday, January 29, 2018 – My name is Brant Parsons – and my podcast did not win a Grammy last night. We’ve hit the stretch run of the season and this past weekend gave us a showcase of big I-B-Ts. Take a big inhale – and let’s go. Let’s start with the Tri-County Invitational at Olympic Heights that saw Fleming Island come in and show the “tri-counties” how it’s done. The Golden Eagles outscored runner-up Miami Columbus by 100 points. Louis Gagliardo, Briar Jackson, Paul Detwiler and Ryan Smenda all won titles for the second-ranked team in Class 3A. The top five was filled with top-10 3A teams with Southwest Miami, Hagerty and Wellington going 3-through-5. South Dade, the top-ranked team in 3A, took its dual show on the road and dominated the North Bay Haven Bash, giving up just 27 points in 8 duals. Palm Harbor University – No. 3 in 3A – took home the title at the Live Greco Invitational ahead of Riverview and Kissimmee Osceola. Lake Gibson, the top-ranked 2A team was off, while No. 2 Riverdale made more history in Southwest Florida. The Raiders won their 14th consecutive Lee County title, nearly doubling the point total of runner-up Ft. Myers. Are you keeping up with all of this? There will be a quiz at the end. The top team in 1A was off too with second-ranked Clay winning the crown at the Flagler Rotary tournament. Springstead, Winter Springs, Palm Coast and Wakulla rounded out the top five. Somerset was the top team at George Jenkins, turning a big semifinal round where the Panthers went 6-0 into the first IBT title of the season. Cardinal Gibbons won another B-C-A-A title, outdistancing Cypress Bay and St. Thomas for the crown. And now the home stretch… Other winners this weekend were Brandon at Diamondback Duals, Mulberry at the Charlie Dart Invitational, Venice at the Venice Duals, American Heritage Delray Beach at Eaglemania Duals and Atlantic Coast at Terry Parker Duals. Locally, Apopka rode five individual champions to the title at the Wolfpack Invitational and Oviedo won the school’s first tournament in over 7 years with a win at Ships and Duels at Palm Bay. And I lied, I’m too tired for a quiz but you can check out the results from all of these tournaments and more at OrlandoSentinel.com/wrestling. And please subscribe to Working the Edge to hear more podcasts like this.

As I continue to try to find the optimum audio settings for my podcast.  We'll get there.. Good morning, this is your high school wrestling update from the Orlando Sentinel for Thursday, December 7, 2017 – My name is Brant Parsons – and I wish I had more sound-engineer training. Let’s see what happened last night. In the big matchup on the night between Class 2A powers, Jensen Beach continued their early season gauntlet against Olympic Heights. The 4th-ranked Barracudas won 8 of the 12 contested bouts and it was enough to beat the 7th-ranked Lions 34-32. Chad Nix’ 8-3 win over Troy Jaffy at 195 pounds put the dual away for Jensen Beach. Clay, the second-ranked team in Class 1A, easily dispatched of Robert E. Lee 74-to-6. SW Miami, which moved to No. 3 in Class 3A, easily handled Miami Jackson, winning all but two of the matches contested to win 59-24. In our coverage area, Timber Creek picked up five pins to knock off Oviedo 45-21. Getting wins by fall was Ernesto Maysonet, Corban Arana, Gersan Serrano, Mateus Nunes and Jacob Schalk. Winter Park edged Jones 41-to-35. Up north, Bishop Kenny finished with two straight wins to edge Creekside 35-33 with Jack Delaney and Jack Donghit sealing the win. Gainesville Buchholz topped Columbia 36-32. Lawrence Smith-Jackson, Nevan Burney and Aaron Mended went 3-for-3 for pins at the heaviest three weight classes to rally the Bobcats and then lock up the victory. Paxon topped Florida School for Deaf and Blind 42-33 with F-S-D-B doubling up Raines 48-24. Tate handled Milton with a 66-18 win and Ridgeview knocked off Palatka 65-6 with Episcopal topping Wolfson 42-36. In South Florida, Coral Gables topped South Miami 42-34 and Ferguson bettered Miami Killian 60-to-15. Miami Palmetto went 3-and-0 with dominating wins over Miami Central, Miami Norland and Miami Pace, giving up just 18 points total over the three duals. Nova topped Deerfield Beach 59-24. Across the rest of the state, Cape Coral beat Fort Myers 56-22 and Treasure Coast outpointed Forest Hill 69-12 Please subscribe to Working the Edge to hear more podcasts like this.  

I’ve been obsessed with The Beatles since high school and I’ll never forget hearing about the news on December 8, 1980. Please enjoy my tribute to the great John Lennon while I recap last night’s action on the mat.

As I continue to try to find the optimum audio settings for my podcast.  We’ll get there.. Good morning, this is your high school wrestling update from the Orlando Sentinel for Thursday, December 7, 2017 – My name is Brant … Read More

Corey Haddad, the tournament general manager, joins us to talk about “the toughest high school tournament in the nation.” We chat about the 24th edition that starts this Friday and about Lake Highland Prep and other Florida wrestlers in it.

Good morning, this is your high school wrestling update from the Orlando Sentinel for Friday, December 1, 2017 – My name is Brant Parsons – And welcome to the first weekend of tournament action.

As part of our state wrestling preview, we are interviewing coaches across the state. On this podcast, Harmony coach Victor Lorenzano talks about his latest head coaching job and how his Italian upbringing helps make his wrestling team a family. … Read More

Good morning, this is your high school wrestling update from the Orlando Sentinel for Thursday, November 30, 2017 – My name is Brant Parsons – And I have a lot of stuff to get to.

As part of our state wrestling preview, we are interviewing coaches across the state. On this podcast, Timber Creek coach Jon Cone talks about how his school always has high participation numbers and how as a strong dual team, they’re … Read More

Good morning, this is your high school wrestling update from the Orlando Sentinel for Wednesday, November 29, 2017 – My name is Brant Parsons – And the season… has… begun.

As part of our state wrestling preview, we are interviewing coaches across the state. On this podcast, Wellington coach Travis Gray talks about the growth of his program and the untapped talent in Palm Beach County. Please subscribe to the … Read More

Our season preview series continues with Northeast and Northwest Florida Matmen founder Shannon Heaton joining us to talk about the northern part of the state. Who are the teams to watch and what are the can’t miss events in the … Read More

As part of our state wrestling preview, we are interviewing coaches across the state. On this podcast, Fort Myers coach Matt Markowski talks about his three returning finalists and the pitfalls of scheduling for different levels of talent in the … Read More

As part of our state wrestling preview, we are interviewing coaches across the state. On this podcast, Merritt Island coach Graham Smith talks about his team’s quest to reach the top of the district and the growing numbers in the … Read More

As part of our state wrestling preview, we are interviewing coaches across the state. On this podcast, Florida High’s Clay Allen talks about his team’s quest to win the district title and he reveals how the team plans to honor … Read More

As part of our state wrestling preview, we are interviewing coaches across the state. On this podcast, Palmetto Ridge’s Blaine Ison talks about what his team has coming back, what it’s like to be coaching at his alma mater and … Read More

Our season preview podcast series continues with Jensen Beach head coach Tom McMath. We talk about the upcoming season and the importance of his youth wrestling program in building sustained success at the school. We’ll be having coaches on leading up … Read More

As part of our state wrestling preview, we are interviewing coaches across the state. On this podcast, Lake Gibson’s Daniel Walker joins us to talk about his team this season, the state dual series and how last season’s close loss … Read More

The first-ever podcast has legendary coach Russ Cozart as the guest. We talk about what brought him to Brandon, how he’s changed as a coach over the years and what the sport has meant to him. It’s a fascinating interview … Read More

Orlando Sentinel wrestling writer Brant Parsons covers high school wrestling in the state of Florida like nobody else. We interview some of the best coaches and wrestlers in the state as well as analyze the top teams throughout the year.