Kowboys Jim Bird to Hall of Fame

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Kowboys Jim Bird to Hall of Fame

Sports

Thursday, 04 February 2010 01:56

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
After leading the Osceola Kowboys to the 2009 Class 3A state wrestling championship, and coaching eight individual state winners who combined for 10 titles, Coach Jim Bird has been selected for induction to the Florida Chapter of the Wrestling Hall of Fame.
He is in good company. Bird is the third Osceola County coach in four years to earn the honor. Former St. Cloud head coach and current Celebration assistant Vic Lorenzano was inducted in 2007, and Osceola High assistant Rick Tribit was honored in 2008.
Bird learned of his pending induction during a match against St. Cloud Friday, where 400 fans, including his wife, Olga, gathered at the OHS gym on a night when his sons, two-time state champion Javier Maldonado and OHS senior Gabriel Bird, both received recognition of their own.
Maldonado, who graduated in 2003, saw his singlet retired during the Kowboys’ final regular season match. At the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, he was a three-time All-American.
Gabriel Bird, a four-time state qualifier, was one of four OHS seniors honored on Senior Night, joining Jeremy Strickland and state champs Levi Clemons and Joe Locksmith.
“Javy was more than deserving. He always was a great student and a great person, and also a great wrestler,” Coach Bird said. “Gabby just keeps working harder and getting better. I’m proud of all three of my sons (former OHS wrestler Angel Maldonado is the oldest), they’re great people.”
St. Cloud’s seniors, including state champion Frank Cousins, also received recognition during a Senior Night ceremony that preceded the match, won by OHS 64-16.
“It definitely was one of the special nights of my life,” Coach Bird said.
Jim Bird, a four-time state qualifier at Spencer High in Spencer, W. Va., came to OHS as an assistant football coach in 1989 after playing at Glenville College in West Virginia. He assisted former OHS Coach George Bright and later joined with Doug Nichols to run the program for a decade. When Nichols stepped down in 2002, Bird took over the boys and girls programs.
The girls won four consecutive state tournaments. The boys were state runners-up in 2008 and third in 2007. Since 2007, the Kowboys won six individual state titles by Alex Eggers (2007, 2009), Niko Brown (2008), Pete Baldwin (2008), Clemons (2009) and Locksmith (2009).
Bird built the OHS program over the past two decades by forming the Attack Wrestling Club to give children an opportunity to learn the sport.
“That’s the way it has to be. You can’t have kids walk in as freshmen and compete. It’s completely changed over the past 10 or 20 years,” Bird said.
Lorenzano isn’t surprised that Bird will join the Hall of Fame ranks.
“Obviously, you can look at how they have peaked over the past three years, but anybody who pays attention knows that he has been toiling diligently with the middle school kids and countless camps and clinics,” Lorenzano said. “Jim is one of the most deserving coaches that I know, and he has truly earned his status as a Hall of Famer. He cares about his kids deeply, and in turn, his kids love him.”
Pete Baldwin Sr., the father of the wrestler, said in a letter of recommendation to the Hall of Fame selection committee, that Bird is a tremendous influence to his wrestlers.
“Some of the greatest things this man does goes unnoticed,” Baldwin Sr. said. “He has become family to many of (his wrestlers). I have seen him take a kid who was extremely handicapped and not let him quit. That kid, who would never have a chance to play any sport, ended up winning wrestling matches. More importantly, that kid has a team that he still belongs to, even after he graduated.”
Tribit said Bird sets high standards for his wrestlers.
“We have higher expectations here than at some places, but the kids know that if they take care of things in the classroom and with the family, that Jim will get them to where they want to go,” Tribit said. “For a long time he kind of flew under the radar due to his demeanor, but when you look at the number of All-Americans that he’s produced here, there’s no question that he’s deserving.”
Baldwin Sr. said, “I have seen Coach Bird suspend wrestlers from competitions because of grades and behaviors, knowing that it was going to cost the team a win. Coach Bird knows that there are more important things than just winning. What has impressed me the most is not how many state champions and accomplishments that his wrestlers received, but how many athletes have gone on to have a successful life.”
Bird said the support from Tribit, OHS administrators and the parents of his wrestlers have helped.
“(Principal) Mr. (Gary) Preisser, he’s constantly out there supporting our team and offering any assistance he can. We have great parents, like the Clemons and the Baldwins and the Browns and the Todds, who have done so much to make this program a success. And, you can’t say enough about our kids,” Bird said. “I’d like to thank every one of them. They made this possible.”
Bird will be inducted in Orlando Aug. 6-7.