Kissimmee Osceola’s Cooper Haase shoots his way into history

Kissimmee Osceola’s Cooper Haase shoots an air basketball before a match as part of his routine. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Ward/Ward Wrestling Live)

BY BRANT PARSONS —Back in his freshman season, Kissimmee Osceola’s Cooper Haase admits he was not the best mentally as a wrestler and would get nervous and overthink everything before matches.

One day while most of the school was at an assembly, Haase found himself in the wrestling room playing mat room basketball.

The game involves pull-up bars and a volleyball and Haase claims he was the best one on the team and it was not even close.

His coach at the time, the legendary Jim Bird, witnessed Haase in the wrestling room and suggested that he play air basketball before his matches to help steady his mind and block out the nerves.

Haase took the advice and started shooting an imaginary basketball as part of his pre-match routine.

“I was winning a whole bunch so I never stopped because I’m a firm believer that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Haase said.

It must have worked because Haase continued winning and this past March became just the second Osceola wrestler in school history to win four individual state titles on the mat.

After Haase won his final state title he felt relief that the journey was over and he could only smile at the end but it hit him a couple weeks later what he had accomplished.

“Two weeks after, I was still practicing because I like wrestling and I don’t stop training. but then I realized that I didn’t have any immediate events to prepare for, I was only keeping my body healthy for bootcamp and next season,” Haase said. “That’s when it hit me of the shocking factor of what am I going to do with all of my time now that I’m not training for something and that there was no more high school wrestling for me.”

That training will not be wasted though as Haase enters West Point this fall. Along with preparing to wrestle for Army-West Point, he will have physical training as part of his introduction to be ready for.

His years spent wrestling have helped Haase prepare for those mental and physical challenges that will come, and the sport has also made an imprint that he will not forget as he takes on his next challenges.

“One thing I’m going to miss a lot is my teammates and coaches,” Haase said. “We’re like a family and we all have fun. You don’t really see an Osceola kid in a bad mood on the wrestling mat because we’re having fun and laughing, I’ll miss that.”

“And I’ll definitely miss mat room basketball; the roof at West Point is way too low to play that so I was a little upset about that,” Haase said.

But the air basketball before matches should fit just fine.

Kissimmee Osceola’s Cooper Haase competes in the 2023 Class 3A final at 152 pounds as Silver Spurs Arena. (Brant Parsons/Kabra Wrestling)

STATE CHAMPION FEATURES

Kabra Wrestling is looking to feature as many state champions as we can over the next few months and tell a little story about what makes them special.

If you won a state championship and would like to be featured, please contact Kabra Wrestling to set up an interview.

2023 State Champions

3A-106: Andrew Punzalan (Cypress Bay)

3A-113: Tyler Washburn (Palmetto Ridge)

3A-120: Luis Acevedo (South Dade)

3A-126: Ethan Vugman (Bartram Trail)

3A-132: Cavarius Liddie (Buchholz)

3A-138: Elvis Solis (South Dade)

3A-145: Anderson Heap (Kissimmee Osceola)

3A-152: Cooper Haase (Kissimmee Osceola)

3A-160: Adrian Ochoa (Southwest Miami)

3A-170: Lawrence Rosario (South Dade)