South Carroll wrestling coach Dennis Frazier said that Zac Stavish wasn't one of his better wrestlers as a freshman.
Three years later, however, Stavish is not just among the best on the team, but in three weeks he will be among the favorites to claim a state title at 160 pounds. The senior has turned his fervent dedication to the weight room and practice into one of the county's best success stories.
You've come quite a long way since entering high school. In fact, your coach went so far as to say that when he first saw you wrestle, he didn't think you were very good. Now, you're a top contender for an individual state title, and have been named your team's Most Improved Wrestler each of your first three seasons. How did you get to this point?
Some of it was just plain maturity, I think, as well as lifting with the team and practicing -- putting in that extra effort. It's also because of my practice partners who I've had over the years.
One of those, I take it, is Tyler Mullen, who is on the verge of breaking the all-time county record for wins in a career.
Yeah, that's my partner. He has been since my sophomore year.
How has he been able to help you improve?
It's just seeing someone who's good. His type of style is just sheer quickness and strength. I haven't wrestled really anyone stronger than him or quicker than him that I can remember.
You also like to watch videos of your matches. What do you learn from them?
I like to go over my tapes to see what I can improve on and what mistakes I've made in my matches. I'm just looking for little things, like hand movements that I'm doing wrong or moves that I'm just not hitting correctly the way I should be hitting them.
You took third in the state at 160 pounds last year, and the two wrestlers who finished ahead of you are no longer in your division. What do you need to do to win it this year?
Just put in that time and effort. I really look at it one match at a time, because there's always anyone who can beat you on any given day. But two kids that I'm looking at [having to beat] are Danny Cox [from Rising Sun] and Tony Mack ([from Owings Mills].
What would it mean to you to win a state title?
It would be a very good achievement that I've been looking for since I was a little kid.
You're also a pretty decent catcher and pitcher for South Carroll's baseball team. Have you decided which sport you'd prefer to play in college?
At the moment, I'm kind of leaning more toward wrestling, but I'm trying to see if I can do both. Right now, it's between Delaware Valley, McDaniel, Washington and two other schools that just contacted me recently.
Which of the sports do you like better?
It depend on what season I'm playing. If it's in the middle of wrestling, then I like wrestling. If it's at the end, I'm starting to dread it. Then I like baseball more.
I'd imagine that the noncontact nature of baseball is appreciated after wrestling all winter.
Oh yeah. It's not killing my body as much. I catch a lot, so it still kills my knees, but it's nothing like wrestling. No comparison.
Have you ever considered completely devoting yourself to one sport of the other?
I've thought about it. I did play three sports. I played football until my freshman year, but that was when I kind of kicked that out because I wanted to focus on these two sports. I wanted to use that time to get more prepared for wrestling.
Have you thought about what you'd like to study in college?
I'm looking at teaching high school students ... math. I'd also like to hopefully come back [after college] and coach a school, because I'd like to give back what the sport has brought me.
In order to want to be a coach, I'd imagine you had to have some really influential coaches of your own at some point. Any one that stands out?
Coach Frazier has been just a tremendous influence on my life in general. Not just wrestling, but everything. Some of his speeches would just get you going and make you think how bad other people have it, while you're just out wrestling and having fun.