| All-Metro Wrestling Coach of the Year: Cardinale has built a strong program at Oak Ridge |
Last Updated 8:00 am PDT Tuesday, March 11, 2008 Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C6 Rocco Cardinale does this every so often. He builds a program, coaches it to prominence, then watches as it pulls a shocker. The latest example was this season when his Oak Ridge High School wrestlers stunned perennial power Ponderosa in a Sierra Valley Conference match. Building on that victory, Oak Ridge ultimately sent a school-record four wrestlers to the California Interscholastic Federation State Championships in Bakersfield. It was his ability to coax that level of achievement from his team that earned Cardinale recognition as The Bee's 2007-08 Wrestling Coach of the Year. Trailing Ponderosa 19-2 in a SVC match in January at a packed Oak Ridge gym, the Trojans stormed back to beat their rivals 38-29. That stopped Ponderosa's league dual- match winning streak at 104, and it allowed Oak Ridge to win its first conference title since sharing it with Ponderosa in 1990. What's more, the Trojans denied the Bruins at least a share of an SVC title for the first time since 1980. "(Beating Ponderosa) helped our kids believe they could compete with anyone," Cardinale said. "It was pretty thrilling. I'm extremely proud of what the guys did this season. They put in the work, and (being Coach of the Year) is a team award." In 1994, Cardinale coached Fairfield High to the Monticello Empire League championship, dethroning always-tough Vacaville. In his ninth season at Oak Ridge, Cardinale told his team it was good enough to topple Ponderosa, the theme being: If you work hard enough, anything is possible. – Joe Davidson |
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