- April 24, 2024
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Brendan Buckles takes down Domonique Bennett at practice. Photo by Ray Boone
Joseph Foalima hoists Brenna Wilder over his shoulder at practice. Photo by Ray Boone
Brennan Wilder carries Joseph Foalima on his back during warmups. Photo by Ray Boone
Chris Smeraldi carries Brighton Padgett on his back during warmups. Photo by Ray Boone
Chris Smeraldi carries Brighton Padgett on his back during warmups. Photo by Ray Boone
Brighton Padgett carries Chris Smeraldi on his back during warmups. Photo by Ray Boone
Chris Smeraldi tries to take down Brighton Padgett at practice. Photo by Ray Boone
Mason O’Malley defends a shot from Caiden Hepler. Photo by Ray Boone
Mason O’Malley gets in his stance against Caiden Hepler. Photo by Ray Boone
Felipe Costa takes down John Hald at practice. Photo by Ray Boone
Brendan Buckles takes down Domonique Bennett at practice. Photo by Ray Boone
Joseph Foalima does a back flip during warmups. Photo by Ray Boone
Tim King defending from Blane Deford. Photo by Ray Boone
Coach Zach Sanford instructs his athletes during practice. Photo by Ray Boone
Felipe Costa takes down John Hald at practice. Photo by Ray Boone
Blane Deford does a hand stand during warmups. Photo by Ray Boone
Domonique Bennett attempts to throw Brendan Buckles to the mat at practice. Photo by Ray Boone
Ben Skrzypek and Marcae Smith work on their technique at practice. Photo by Ray Boone
When Zach Sanford was first hired as the new head coach of Flagler Palm Coast’s wrestling team last summer, he recognized that the Bulldogs needed several things to help return the storied program to its former glory.
One of those things was a feeder program.
“Every good team has a feeder program,” he said. “To be a power house program in this state, you have to have one.”
Sanford established the Dogs of War, an Amateur Athletic Union team, that August.
The program is designed to run year-round.
The age groups are from kindergarten through 12th grade (there’s a separate class for high school kids). Classes are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The high school class practices from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the younger class practices from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
They also travel around the state to compete in AAU tournaments.
Their latest tournament was at Bayside High School in Palm Bay, where over 500 kids attended.
“It’s really cool. These kids are awesome to coach. It’s fun watching them,” Sanford said. “Every single thing you teach them, you can see it click. You can tell that it’s a permanent click. It’s a feel good moment. There’s a lot of feel good moments involved with this.”
