Adam Tirapelle – Clovis HS

Pablo Di Maria
High School Correspondent
Amateur Wrestling News & The Open Mat

In what areas does the team need to improve for State?

At this point, it’s just about refining what you do, being mentally fresh & focused, and having a high confidence level.  Wins and losses at the state level come down to little things, and being your best in all areas is the key to success.  There’s nothing new or magic about wrestling at the end of the year.  All year you’ve prepared for this and you have to have confidence that you are ready.  And probably, more than anything, enjoy it.  We try to stress “smelling the roses” so to speak on your journey, because your career is over so quickly.  Enjoy the moment.

What does Jonas Gaytan, Jason Ladd and Adrian Salas need to do between now and the start of their college careers in order to be successful when the time comes?

I think they are all on the right track but they have to decide that’s the life they want.  College wrestling is a whole different level.  We’ve prepared them to take on the challenge, but they have to accept it.  They have the core fundamentals and work ethic required to be successful.

This area has really been a great area for wrestling talent. Why is that?

It’s important here.  Lots of tradition and good wrestlers and good coaches make others around them better.  We have a lot of both in the Fresno area and the whole Central Valley.  By the time our wrestlers complete an off-season, season, and qualifying tournaments, they are battle tested and ready for the state.

What was it like when you first coach against your brother Troy for the first time?

It’s been a good relationship and it’s good for the sport of wrestling in our area.  You can’t have too many cooks in the kitchen.  My dad has done an outstanding job of putting a lot of high level high school and college wrestlers back into our area.  Not everyone can coach at Clovis High School.  Like I said before, better competition makes all of us better, so Troy being at Buchanan is good for us in a way.  They haven’t beat us yet but when they do, I’ll congratulate him because I know how hard we work.  If he’s able to win, he’s earned it and that’s the way I’ve always looked at wrestling and at sports.  Tip your cap to the guy who beats you because he must be one tough, hard-working SOB.

Do you think it’s a good idea to brake the state tournament into two or three state Classes?

I’d like to try something else first – dual state series.  We could go LOTS of divisions and bring “team” back into wrestling in California.  It’s really missing in our state.  I’ve been around a while and big dual meets and rivalries used to be a great part of California wrestling.  If we had incentive to build a team again with a dual state championship, I think it would help the sport tremendously in our state.

Clovis HS – 2012 CA State Champions

Should California start doing what Ohio and Pennsylvania have been doing for years and have a State Dual Tournament?

See above.  It would be my #1 change if I were commissioner.  Wrestling needs duals.

What do you attribute all of your success in coaching?

Lots of things — hard work, experience, mentorship, good fortune.  I think to be a great coach you have to (a) love coaching and be willing to put in hundreds of hours to see young men reach a fleeting moment of triumph and (b) be a student of the sport.  My favorite wrestling day of the year is the 2nd day of the state championships, when I get to see some of our young men reach lifelong goals.  That moment makes all of the other months and hours of work worth it.  As a coach, I live to watch my wrestlers faces and emotions in those moments.  It’s stuff you never forget.  If you don’t live for that, I don’t know how you can get  yourself to put in the hours required to be the best, because the hours are long and the work is hard.

Wrestling, that’s a real commitment for a student. How do you get that. Do they have to have it themselves, or can you bring it out of them?

It’s a combination of our leadership and their acceptance of that leadership.  It’s rare you get a kid that just works hard and commits for the sake of doing so.  It’s a process.  If you notice, everyone thinks they are working hard.  Then you mature a bit and start working harder than before and realize what you were doing before, wasn’t really that hard.  That’s basically the process that happens throughout a career.  I have athletes come back from college all the time and thank us for preparing them to know how to work hard, but at the same time laugh at what they thought was “working hard” in high school.  Each year is a learning process and doing more than the year before is the natural progression.

In the time you’ve been coaching, you’ve seen huge changes. There are girls wrestling now. Do you see that getting big enough where they have actual girls wrestling teams?

I have not been involved with girls wrestling but I’m not against it.  If girls want to wrestle in numbers great enough to warrant teams, that’s great.  I hope it continues to grow as all wrestling is good for the sport.  I would like to see it be a separate season though in high school.  I think it would help the growth and development of women’s wrestling.

Is there a Pipeline between Illinois University and you guys since you and your brothers are all Alumni?

I don’t know about a pipeline, but there is a trust level there and a relationship.  If they are looking for a wrestler, they trust my opinion because we know each other and they know I’ve been through their process.  Same with Troy.  I just want our kids to go to a place that fits them best — wrestling-wise, academically, and emotionally.  If you find the right fit for college, it’s the best 4-5 years of your life.  We try to help our guys find that fit and with Illinois, I know more about the program and the University.  But that doesn’t rule out other schools and I’m learning to be a fan of many schools — Oregon State, Nebraska-Kearney, Grand Canyon, Cal Baptist, etc.

Name your most memorable match, and why?

Probably my sophomore year of high school.  That’s when I kind of “got on the map”.  I was from a city school in Sacramento, Hiram Johnson, that had never had a state champion and only a handful of placers.  The match was against Dane Valdez of Calvary Chapel, right at the start of the Calvary Chapel dynasty, in the state semifinals after he was on and 80 or 90 match win streak.  He hadn’t lost since the beginning of his junior year and was a senior at the time, not to mention returning state champion.  He had beaten me 12-4 earlier in the year but I had some situations that I just didn’t win, and felt I could have been a lot closer. It was an epic match and from all the old historians accounts, one of the biggest upsets in state tournament history.  I think the final was 9-7.  Looking back, he was much better technically than me at that point in our careers but that’s part of being able to win against long odds, thinking you can.  I remember walking onto the mat thinking I would beat him and I was probably alone with that thought, or maybe shared by my dad and uncle. 🙂

If you could wrestle anyone from the past, who would it be?

Terry Brands.  He was my unofficial mentor throughout college.  I liked his style, could relate it to myself and some of my strengths, and I learned a lot from his matches on VHS (yes, it dates me).  We never met during my career and I’ve never talked to him about it, but I owe some of my best skills to him.  Not that many other people didn’t teach me a lot, but us short strong guys have a bond 🙂

What do you think of MMA? Does it hurt college wrestling? Is it something you would want to consider for yourself?

I like it.  I like what they’ve been able to do with it from a marketing perspective.  It’s not all that different from wrestling.  And honestly, I’m not sure it’s more exciting.  They have just done 100x better with the promotion of the sport.  It shows the potential that lies in wrestling, if we could get some forward thinkers in the right positions.  We could learn a lot from MMA on the promotional side.

Name three things about yourself that would surprise your fans?

Well, I’m a nerd.  I love computers, video editing, electronics, statistics, and probably a few other things you wouldn’t think would be associated with a wrestler.  I enjoy writing and debating all aspects of wrestling from rules to rankings to best single leg.  And I’m the least successful high school wrestler in my family.  My brothers were both 3x state champions.  I came up a match short with a 2nd and two titles.

Favorite HS tournament to attend?

Doc Buchanan for sure.  But I’m a little biased.