Striking a Balance : Whittier Christian’s Papazian Has Gentle Nature, but Thrives on Contact

Ron Papazian, a football player, wrestler and kickboxer, thrives on contact sports.

As a fullback/linebacker for Whittier Christian High School in La Habra, Papazian says the best part of playing football is the fact that “you get to make some incredible hits. You get to inflict pain.”

But Papazian also is a soft-spoken 17-year-old senior seeking a less troublesome, more virtuous life style.

“I’ve really been struggling lately in my attitude and the way I act,” he said. “A lot of my friends have been praying for me lately.”

Papazian looks up at the visitors beside him and says solemnly:

“I want to do the right thing.”

If Papazian sees an irony between his love of contact sports and his search for virtue, he doesn’t show it.

“Just ‘cause you believe in God and you’re a Christian doesn’t mean you’re a pansy,” Papazian said. “Just like we proved Saturday night (in Whittier Christian’s 24-14 victory over California High School). I mean, we went out and just destroyed ‘em.”

At 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, Papazian, who is being recruited by USC, UCLA, Nebraska, Washington and University of the Pacific, is one of the strongest, most aggressive players in the Olympic League.

“He’s a tough, tough kid,” Orange Lutheran Coach Bob Dowding said. “It takes two or three guys sometimes to take him down.”

This is especially true at Master Frazier’s Taekwondo Studio in La Habra, where Papazian takes kickboxing lessons.

Papazian, who noted that his favorite forms of entertainment are “all those movies with blood and guts and killings--they’re the best,” said the movie “Bloodsport” drew his interest to kickboxing.

“Ever since I saw it, I wanted to do it,” he said. “When I was 9, I took karate with my sisters. I always wanted to box, so this is a combination of the two.”

Papazian hopes to perfect his moves--such as the spinning backward kick he performed at a visitor’s request--in order to earn a black belt at Master Frazier’s. Currently, he holds an orange belt, six levels away from black belt.

“He’s a very good talent and very strong; he has no problems in here,” said Hideki Frazier, who owns the studio. “Ron has really good flexibility, his size is good. (Kickboxing) takes thinking about what you’re doing, and being able to visualize what your opponent is going to do. It takes a lot of concentration and he has that.”

Lately, Papazian has been concentrating on his moral substance.

“I’m just a real mischievous type of person,” he said. “I’m always getting into trouble, just doing stupid things, getting in fights and things. I know it’s wrong, but sometimes you go out with friends and end up in trouble.”

His father, Ron Papazian, admits his son has a tendency to get in fights--”I’m not going to say Rony’s an angel,” he said--but is confident in his son’s ability to discern right from wrong.

“As with any teen-ager, it’s a constant fight for Rony to stay centered,” the elder Papazian said. “Rony is a mischievous kid. . . . (But) fortunately, with all the hoopla around him, he takes it in stride. . . . He has a terrific sense of balance about these things.

“(But) his concept of getting into trouble is pranks that he might pull at school: throwing mud balls against the wall at school, pulling a girl’s hair, whistling at a girl, the things every young teen-ager does. He’s not at the point where he’s setting off bombs in his locker or blowing up the school, but I have to chuckle because he does a lot less than I did when I was in high school.”

As for football, Papazian rushed for 1,051 yards and scored 25 touchdowns last year as a junior--third highest in the county. In three games this season, he has gained 455 yards in 49 carries, a 9.3-yard average, and scored seven touchdowns, including three in Saturday’s victory over California.

Wrestling also is something of a hobby for Papazian. Asked whether he competed at the Southern Section level last year, he shrugged and said, yes, but he only got as far as the quarterfinals, as if being two matches away from a section championship wasn’t much of an accomplishment.

Papazian, who added 15 to 20 pounds since last year with increased weight training, said he still is too small to play football at a Pacific-10 school.

“I’m really trying to pour the heat (weights) on right now,” he said.

“I’m trying to do everything I can to take care of myself.”