To the mat

Mike Sciacca

If there is a sport to be played, chances are Bryan Osuna will suit up

for it.

From soccer to baseball to gymnastics and, finally, wrestling, Osuna

has tried them all.

In that respect, he’s just like most any other kid.

But, on another level, he has succeeded in just about everything he

has had his hand in.

“I just enjoy playing sports,” Osuna said. “They are a lot of fun, and

I’ve been able to do well in them.”

Osuna ran an 18:15 and captured third place at the Huntington Beach

Fourth of July 5K race, finishing behind a pair of 17-year-olds and was

21st overall among a race that featured 2,000 runners. He played Club

soccer at the Gold Level for several years, until he injured his meniscus

this past year. He was sidelined for several months.

He played baseball until he was 13 and was coached by a Russian

Olympic champion in gymnastics, which he participated in for seven years.

Then there’s the sport of wrestling, which Osuna took up a few years

back.

What began as just another sport participation has progressed into a

passion of Osuna’s: the 14-year-old has progressed so well on the mat,

that he’s now preparing to compete in the Cadet National Championships

July 27 to 29 at the Fargo Dome in Fargo, N.D.

Osuna will compete as a member of the California National team.

He earned that right by winning the 95-pound weight class state

freestyle championship last May, a win which put him on the California

Dial Team, which competed in June at the National Cadet Freestyle Dual

Meet Championships in Colorado.

Osuna won all his tournament matches there, scoring five pins, as well

as two wins by decision in Greco Roman wrestling.

That showing is just indicative of the various individual achievements

that Osuna has tasted this season, as he took first place at the West

Coast Classic Junior High Championships with a 5-0 record, the Arizona

Sun Kids Junior High Classic (4-0), and the Southern California Cadet

Championships (4-0).

Overall, Osuna has a record of 56-6, with three of those losses coming

against bigger opponents (10 pounds heavier), who were two years older

(high school sophomores).

Osuna, who went to grade school at Huntington Christian, recently

graduated from Calvary Chapel Junior High in Costa Mesa, where he was

valedictorian and received the Advanced Mathematics Award.

He’s set to enter Calvary Chapel High this fall.

Osuna is undaunted about entering the school’s much-celebrated

wrestling program, and has high hopes of adding to its luster. All the

Santa Ana-based school has accomplished on the mat is 10 consecutive CIF

Southern Section championships and seven state championships, including

two straight, five in six years and seven in the last nine.

“I am so excited to be going to Calvary,” Osuna said. “It’s such a

great opportunity for me, and I want to make the most of it. They have

such a great tradition and it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to. I’ll

be surrounded by the best.”

The “best” begins with Calvary Chapel Coach John Azevedo, whose resume

includes winning an NCAA championship and a national freestyle

championship as a collegian, as well as being a member of the 1980 U.S.

Olympic Team, and the 1993 National High School Coach of the Year.

Osuna, who began wrestling as a member of Team Thunder out of the

Calvary Freestyle Wrestling Club five years ago, is taking part this week

in Azevedo’s Personalized Wrestling Camp. So popular is the camp that two

of the three camps -- which are open to any high school wrestler -- are

filled to capacity.

“We’re taught technique, how to keep in shape, how to work out diets,”

Osuna said. “His camps cover everything, so you get just about anything

you want from them.”

As for dieting, Osuna says his isn’t that severe.

“I love food and I like to eat a lot, but right before a tournament,

I’ll watch the junk food out there,” he stated. “I really don’t pig out

on that stuff, anyway, and I can pretty much eat any food I want.”

During the regular season, Osuna practices on the mat just about every

day. He still finds time for hobbies, such as skateboarding, or another

summer pastime, heading to the beach.

With the Cadet National Championships looming on the calendar, Osuna

won’t see too much sunshine.

“I’ll be in the gym, working away,” he said. “I don’t mind spending so

much time on the mat, because I enjoy it so much. Unlike team sports, in

wrestling I have learned to depend on myself. It takes discipline, but

like I said, I like the challenge.”