Though Santa Maria High School’s saintly mascot may not be the most menacing, a wrestler from the school is working hard to make sure that he is. Meet Jacob Rodas, one of the school’s top wrestlers and our Athlete of the Week.
“I want to bring pride back here to Santa Maria,” Rodas said. “Back then, Santa Maria would come in and everyone would be scared. I want that feeling towards us to come back again.”
Rodas, a junior, spoke with amiable tone and a friendly smile, but after a grueling training session with sweat dripping from his face and a glare of intensity left lingering in his eyes, he was clearly sincere.
And so far, he’s been effective.
Rodas has helped bring the Saints to CIF and qualify for the master’s tournament this year.
He started to wrestle thanks to his football coach, who convinced him to try out for the high school’s wrestling team. He gave it a try and fell in love with the sport.
“I like the competitiveness,” Rodas explained. “If you make a mistake, or if you lose, all you can do is point the finger at yourself. … Did I work hard enough? Did I do this? Did I give it my all?”
Wrestling, Rodas said, has taught him how to take responsibility for his actions, applying lessons he’s learned on the mat to real life: “If I lose a match, it’s no one else’s fault but mine. If something happens in life, like I miss an assignment or get a bad grade in class, it’s my fault. Wrestling really taught me to take responsibility. It’s really helped me.”
When training for a tournament, Rodas said, he wakes up early to drill techniques on the mat at his home, he runs techniques through his mind while at school (when there isn’t a lecture going on), he goes through a demanding practice after his classes, and then he runs three miles.
As for his upcoming Master’s tournament, Rodas said, “It’s just another tournament, but it’s going to be a harder tournament. So that means I have to work 10 times harder. To become a champion, you have to put in that extra effort.”
His coach, Doug Silva, said one of Rodas’s best assets as a wrestler is his mental toughness.
“Even if I’m down a lot during a match, I’m not going to give up—it’s just not in me to give up,” Rodas said. “That’s one thing coach Constanza and Silva really inspired and practiced this year: Don’t give up. Never give up. Just be mentally tough.”
His mental toughness is tested off the mat as well. In order to stay in peak physical condition, he stays disciplined with his diet. He must have the mental vigor to refuse the temptation of biting into the “greasy food” he loves.
“It sucks really bad,” he admitted. “You see your friends having a hamburger and—it sucks.”
This article appears in Mar 1-8, 2012.