INTERNATIONAL CHAMP: Grappler gets gold

Eldorado graduate captures global wrestling titles

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Some dreams never die.

And for 28-year-old wrestler Matt Azevedo, that's probably a really good thing.

Haunted by the reality that he never won a national title or was named an All-American while wrestling for Arizona State University and Iowa State University during his collegiate grappling career, the former two-time state champion from Eldorado High School is still striving to attain the same big goals he set for himself earlier in his career -- becoming a national champion, making the world team and making the U.S. Olympic team.

Proving that age is of little significance when talking about this grueling sport, Azevedo showed he's still a force to be reckoned with after winning the 121-pound (55 kg) weight class for a second straight year at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in February in Colorado Springs, Colo., and then capturing the gold medal -- the only American to do so -- in the same weight class at the Poland International Open held March 3-4 in Brzeg Dolny, Poland.

Azevedo is now an assistant coach at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where he is working under his uncle and head coach John Azevedo, who also coached him in his senior year of high school when he transferred from Eldorado to California prep powerhouse Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa.

He talked about what these two wins that kicked off his 2006 season meant.

"Personally, it was awesome, it was great, it was a big accomplishment," Azevedo said via telephone from Cal Poly. "It was my first tournament that I had wrestled in overseas, so to go over and win the gold in my first tournament overseas was pretty awesome. It was really good for my confidence."

The three-time NCAA qualifier talked about what happened in Poland.

"I just wrestled real aggressive. That's kind of my style to be really offensive and I just stuck to my game plan and it worked," Azevedo said. "I stayed aggressive throughout the matches and I was able to take my opponents out of the matches early. And I felt like I was getting stronger as the day went on."

And Azevedo said winning the Schultz for a second straight year was good for his head.

"It was big. I won last year but (the 121-pound) weight (class) was a little bit weak last year, where this year it was a very tough weight class," he said. "I had some good foreign competition. The Japanese guy that I wrestled in the finals beat a Russian in the semis who had just won a huge Russian tournament a week before. So I had some very good opponents in my weight class, so for me to win the way that I did was very boosting to my confidence, that's for sure."

Azevedo, who finished fifth at the Olympic Trials two years ago, said he is still driven to make his dreams become reality.

"I didn't achieve my goals in college," Azevedo said. "I wanted to be an All-American. I wanted to win a national title. And I just wasn't able to accomplish those goals. So that's what drives me. I felt like I still had a lot of potential after college and that my best wrestling was still ahead of me."

Whereas most athletes see college as marking an end to their careers in sports, Azevedo has seemingly turned up the intensity every year in trying to achieve his stated ultimate goal of wrestling for the U.S. in the 2008 Olympic Games.

"I still enjoy the sport and I feel like I'm still competitive and I feel like every year I'm improving," Azevedo said. "If I wasn't getting better and I wasn't improving and seeing progression, I wouldn't do it. But I feel like I'm getting better and I feel like making strides every year."

Azevedo, who married former Eldorado student Brooke Lee last May 15, said he's in as good of shape as he's ever been.

"For me, I pride myself in my shape," he said. "A lot of guys are known for being in good shape, some guys aren't and I feel like I'm in good shape. I don't get tired in matches. If anything, I feel like I can tire people out and that's one thing I really work hard at. And to be aggressive for the whole match you have to be in good shape."

And Azevedo, whose father Mark was a wrestling coach at Durango High School for 10 years before retiring this season, admitted that the dieting and weight-control part of his regimen can often be tougher than the actual matches.

"I diet and work out twice a day to keep my weight down. That's probably one of my biggest struggles, trying to make the weight," Azevedo said. "Training and competing and beating these guys -- that's the fun part."

Next up for Azevedo and all the elite amateur wrestlers in the nation is the US Wrestling Senior National Championships, scheduled for Wednesday through Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Azevedo, who finished second at the nationals last year to longtime rival Sam Henson, talked about how important the nationals are for his sport.

"The nationals and the (Olympic) trials are the tournaments that get you to the Worlds and Olympics," he said. "At the nationals, you have to place top seven and then you qualify for the World Team Trials and then when you win the World Team Trials or the Olympic Team Trials in an Olympic year, you are the guy."

In the fall, Azevedo plans to return to the television show Real Pro Wrestling, where he will wrestle for the California Claw as the show begins its second season. Last year, Azevedo lost his opening match in the show, but plans on doing better this time around.

"They're going to do dual meets all throughout the country and then they'll film them and televise them," he said of the show, which will air on Fox Sports Net. "It would be nice to be a Real Pro Wrestling champion, but that's not the main goal."

The main goal of becoming a national champion and an Olympic team member for Azevedo seems to have one big obstacle in the form of former world champion and Olympic silver medalist Henson, who Azevedo is now 0-3 against lifetime.

Azevedo, also a member of the prestigious Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, spoke on trying to make the Olympic team and get that monkey -- in the form of Henson -- off his back.

"The biggest challenge is obviously just making the team," Azevedo said. "The U.S. has very strong wrestling and you have to be the No. 1 guy -- you have to win the world team trials to make the world or Olympic team. So that's the challenge ahead of me, but I look forward to it. Sam Henson is a guy I've never beaten before, but I think by 2008 I'm going to beat him."

And with his confidence and knowledge still growing, Azevedo has half of the battle conquered.

"I think I go into every tournament knowing that I can win -- I expect to win, but it's just a matter of whether I'm going to get the job done or not. I feel like if I wrestle my best I can win any tournament."

And after his career on the mat comes to an end, Azevedo plans on showing other young grapplers everything he's learned in the sport -- just like his father and uncle did with him.

"I'd like to be a Division I head wrestling coach one day," Azevedo said. "I just really enjoy working with the kids and I think it's helped my wrestling out, too. I think I'm better as the years go on because working with the kids and breaking down technique -- you start understanding why you do things yourself in matches."