THE TIMES 1995 WINTER ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : Holiday Spirit Was No Gift to Opponents : Wrestler of the year: Calvary Chapel standout, the State champion at 152 pounds, is set to move on to Minnesota.

Some things are certain in life. In high school wrestling, anyone at 152 pounds was certain to lose to Calvary Chapel.

Calvary Chapel’s Josh Holiday, The Times Orange County wrestler of the year, has lost only one match of the 104 he has had in the last two years. As a senior, he was undefeated and defended his State title with a 20-11 decision over Watsonville’s Mario Castillo. At the conclusion of the 1994-95 season, Holiday, 17, was ranked No. 1 in the state and the nation. Holiday will attend Minnesota on a wrestling scholarship.

Despite the accolades and awards, Holiday is low key about the whole thing.

“Yeah, I could feel the pressure sometimes,” he said. “But that would only make me work harder in practice. But I love the sport. And I love to wrestle.”

Holiday has been wrestling since he was 7 years old. But he figures his success comes from two factors.

“I got thumped my whole life,” Holiday said, noting that his four older brothers were wrestlers and most often would use Holiday as partner, willing or not. “It was just a matter of defending myself. I learned a lot from my brothers, and they taught me a lot of stuff.”

The other factor was Eagle Coach John Azevedo, whom Holiday called a major influence.

“Coach John has a love for the sport and he knows how to teach kids,” Holiday said.

Besides the wrestling, Holiday said the team’s camaraderie was important at Calvary Chapel.

“I’m really going to miss the guys on the team, especially Eddie (Mosley),” Holiday said. “We went through a lot together and he was a great workout partner. It’s too bad we won’t be going to the same college.”

Mosley, Calvary Chapel’s other State champion, will attend either Harvard or Stanford.

Holiday said he hopes to become a teacher and wrestling coach. His four brothers are coaches--Darryl Holiday is at Newport Harbor High.

“Wrestling is a big part of my life. I think I would be a good coach. Besides, with four brothers coaching, I guess I have to keep it going,” he said.