Ex-WWE Heel from Martin County Coaches Park Vista Girls to Top Lacrosse Seed

Larry Brannon's wrestling days left him two inches shorter, a spine full of what he calls "shrapnel," and a brain that carries the shadow of CTE — but standing on the Park Vista girls lacrosse sideline in his eighth season, the former WWE heel figures he got out ahead of worse.

Brannon, a 55-year-old Martin County High graduate who spent 12 years performing under the villain stage name "Vito DeNucci," has guided the Cobras to a nine-three regular season and the top seed in the District 15 2A tournament. Park Vista earns a first-round bye and opens tournament play Monday, April 13.

The team's engine is senior forward Brooke Ybarra, the Cobras' leading goal-scorer and a Florida Southern commit, paired with standout goalie Dayana Perez. Together they anchor a lineup Brannon has shaped in his own image — physical, fast and mentally unbreakable.

"They become more tough-minded," Brannon said. "If they get knocked down, it's not a deterrent as if they'd been coached with kid gloves. The girls that play for me are tough. But we play the game very clean."

That toughness is hard-earned credibility. Brannon performed in 33 states, wrestled in Japan, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia, and estimates more than 1,000 career matches before walking away from the ring in 2011. His tag team, "The Heavenly Bodies" — partnered with Chris Nelson — entered arenas to the instrumental hit "Frankenstein." He worked Chicago's United Center, Miami Heat's arenas, Tampa Bay Lightning's arena and the storied Fort Hesterly Armory.

Brannon is also a Park Vista history teacher, the son of Indiana farmland who moved to South Florida as a teenager and, by his own admission, thought "lacrosse was a small town in Wisconsin." His two daughters, Delaney and Riley, both played Division I lacrosse at Fresno State and Eastern Michigan, respectively.

The sport's physical toll is real, Brannon says, and anyone who calls girls lacrosse a no-contact game gets a quick correction.

"I crack up when I hear girls lacrosse is a no-contact sport," he said. "That's garbage."

Park Vista begins tournament play April 13.

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