Norstrem, who capped off his eighth grade high school season with a 112-pound state championship while wrestling for Tampa Bay Christian, started wrestling early. His dad, Tim, wrestled in high school and at the club level in college while growing up in Wisconsin. During college, he made the decision to start coaching wrestling. After coaching for a few years, Tim and his wife moved to Florida. While looking for a house, Tim mentioned to an acquaintance that he was a wrestler. The acquaintance told him, “If you are a wrestler, you’ve got to live in Brandon.”
Kevin Norstrem went 45-1 and won a Florida state title at 112 pounds will competing for Tampa Bay Christan“(Brandon High School head wrestling coach Russ) Cozart is really easy to work with,” said Norstrem. “I enjoyed all the friends that I made.”
Kevin took his time early on. When his dad first mentioned traveling out of the state, Kevin took a measured approach. He was willing to try it, but was not willing to fully commit. One thing that made committing a whole lot easier was winning.
“I traveled to a tournament when I was 7 or 8 and took second in that tournament,” said Norstrem. “I realized that I’m actually getting somewhere. Then I started working a little bit harder and a little bit harder. The next thing I knew I started winning tournaments outside of Florida. Then I really got into it and started working a lot harder.”
Getting to that point was not an easy path.
“When Kevin started out, there were a lot of times that he wasn’t coming home with medals around his neck,” said his dad. “There were times when I would talk to Coach Cozart and he would say, 'Here’s your goal -- if he doesn’t cry this weekend, he gets ice cream on the way home.’ Early on, (Kevin) would go 0-2 at a tournament.”
Kevin stuck with it and kept improving and although his early career may have seemed like a roller coaster, it was more of a steady climb. Each threshold Kevin has reached, he has gotten there by putting in the time, working hard to improve and eventually getting there.
“That perspective that he has of what it’s taken,” said Tim Norstrem, “he’s fought for every inch and he is not willing to relinquish any of it.”
One tournament early on in his career was a good indicator of what it was going to take and what kind of a hard worker Kevin is.
“At the USA freestyle and Greco kids nationals, before they had bantam, he was a first-year midget. He had two real tough Greco matches and lost both of his matches,” said Tim Norstrem. “I’ll never forget it. While the other kids were wrestling, we went in the back and had a little talk and he said 'I am not happy. This will not happen again.' We went over our match strategy for freestyle. What are we going to do, what are we going to work on let’s focus on what did we learn from Greco? He came back, made it to the finals and beat the kid who won Greco in the championship match.”
Much of Norstrem’s career has followed a similar pattern. He did not go right to the top. He came to each new level and conquered them one at a time. With each level change, he would have to work to get to the top of that level. Hard work has never been a problem for Kevin.
Kevin Norstrem is the No. 4-ranked freshman in the U.S. by InterMatWith that approach, Norstrem has learned to focus on the task ahead of him and not worry about the past.
“He is very good at being focused on what’s important next and looking ahead,” said his dad.
The support he has received from his family is a big reason why Norstrem has been able to keep moving up the wrestling ladder.
“My family is super supportive,” said Norstrem. “In this house it is all about wrestling. My dad is the one who got me into it. My mom really loves watching me. They are always there to help me whether it is to lose weight, find different training partners. They are one of the biggest reasons I am where I am at now.”
Kevin’s family also gave him a good athletic base to start from.
“We are a very athletic-oriented, fitness-oriented house,” said Tim. “My wife teaches spin classes and exercise classes at the YMCA. We eat right and eat healthy. I’ve done triathlons, running, weight lifting, body building -- all sorts of stuff. That was kind of the backdrop for it. We have an expectation of fitness.”
The level each of the Norstrem kids reach is dependent on how much they want to put into it.
“Every level that Kevin is willing to commit to, we’re willing to commit family resources and time to allow him to get to that next level,” said Tim. “If he is willing to train his butt off, we are willing to send him to the Olympic Training Center. We will meet you at your level of commitment.”
Russ Cozart“I see all the other guys that came out of Brandon and a lot of them are really successful,” said Norstrem. “I thought if I work as hard as these guys and train as hard as these guys, maybe I can be just a percentage of what they are. Just because of that I was very focused and very driven.”
To say that drive has paid off is an understatement. Norstrem has placed or won a number of tournaments across the country as he has progressed. Most recently, he won the USA Wrestling Southeast Cadet freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments as well as compiling a 5-1 record in freestyle and a 5-0 record in Greco at the East Coast Duals.
Kevin said his preferred style is Greco. The transition to Greco was seamless in Coach Cozart’s program. Right after the high school season ends, Cozart and his staff transition right into Greco. For Kevin, it was a perfect fit. On his feet he likes to work inside and set up his shots from the inside. He enjoys hitting the big throws and controlling his opponents while in tight quarters.
The Norstrem’s feel fortunate to be in the situation they are in. To be involved in wrestling and to be in Coach Cozart’s Brandon program has allowed Kevin to evolve into the wrestler he is today.
“The friends, the support, the coach, that we have -- unbelievable,” said Tim Norstrem. “We just feel extremely fortunate that we have that opportunity to have those resources with us. Russ (Cozart) is an awesome coach. Russ is like an uncle to Kevin. It’s one of those deals where Russ hardly has to say anything to him.”
With as accomplished a coach and wrestler Russ Cozart is, possibly the best compliment Kevin Norstrem could have received came from Cozart’s high school coach, George Beresford. Kevin, his younger brother Kyle, and Tim were at a tournament in Reno. The boys were walking around in the stands wearing Brandon wrestling t-shirts when Cozart’s high school coach, noticed them. Tim and the boys explained that Coach Cozart was not there, it was just the three Norstrem boys. Both Kevin and Kyle made the finals of the tournament and were wrestling at the same time. Obviously, Tim could only be helping one of his kids. So after talking with Beresford, Tim asked him if he would sit in Kevin’s corner so he could watch Kyle.
Kevin NorstremHigh praise coming from the coach of someone as accomplished as Russ Cozart is praise that has been earned. It is praise that comes because of a wrestler’s commitment to keep improving and to go back out there even when he has struggled. Kevin Norstrem was not handed his success on a silver platter. His path and the lessons he has learned along the way have made him made him what he is -- mentally tough and one of the best young wrestlers in the nation.
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