Being a multisport athlete seems fun but isn’t always the easiest. Balancing grades while constantly being in a sport has always been a key skill for senior Austin Gonzales. He has participated in football and wrestling, and now playing for the first time, lacrosse.
Gonzales started freshman year playing only baseball. Sophomore through senior year he made varsity for football and wrestling. Gonzales has played on the defensive line for football who is coached by Coach Brent Gandolfi.
Gandolfi has been a part of the Lakes football program since Lakes opened. He has always been on the defensive side of the ball. These past years he has been lucky enough to coach Gonzales.
“He is intrinsically motivated 100% of the time. He makes no excuses with himself that what he does was good enough,” said Gandolfi.
Gonzales loves being a multisport athlete. Having to balance school work, late-night studies, homework, working out, and waking up early in the morning is rough. Even though there are some challenges, he strives to overcome them.
“The way that I practice in football has lots and lots of running which is very helpful to get me in shape quicker for wrestling,” Gonzales said.
Coach Gandolfi adds, “Life is multisport. You are going to be accountable to many masters every day. The more responsibility you juggle in your school year, the better prepared you will be for life.”
Being a multisport athlete may seem stressful with all the mental and physical work put into it, but with that comes a lot of fun.
Gonzales says, “My excitement stems from my love of the hard challenges that wrestling brings. I don’t care about being good or not. I just enjoy having a strong enough mentality to stick with it and get through the harsh season.”
Playing both sports comes with many skills that help with the other. “Wrestling helps being in incredible shape; the football workouts are definitely not as intense as wrestling workouts though,” said Gonzales. His high school wrestling career ended at Antioch Community High School with a 1-2 record at regionals. On the bright side, Gonzales finishes the season with a winning record of 13-10.
Coach Gandolfi loved coaching a wrestler: “Wrestling is just a one-on-one. Nobody covering your ass. You lose you lose, own it. My personal opinion of how you should approach your position work in football.”
“Probably the greatest Coach I’ve ever had the opportunity to play under. It was just like, immediate family,” says Gonzales.
Austin isn’t like any other multisport athlete. He stands out from others as Gandolfi says, “He is intrinsicly motivated 100 percent of the time. He makes no excuses with himself that what he does is good enough. He does it full tilt 100 percent all the time.”
As Austin had to hang up both his football cleats and headgear, he now finds a strong desire to add one more sport to his resume by picking up a stick in lacrosse. “Coached by Coach [Gandolfi] was truly something special,” said Gonzales.
