Del Medico rare combo star for CV

Some sports naturally lend themselves to doubling and tripling up. Football, basketball, baseball.

As a two-sport athlete at Central Valley High School, Trevor Delmedico, Jr., is a rarity. The junior is a state-caliber athlete in two year-round sports: soccer and wrestling.

Soccer, at the level Delmedico plays the game, is a year-round sport that has players competing on multiple teams simultaneously. It’s not uncommon to see players rush from the end of high school varsity practice to the start of another for their club team.

Wrestling, too, has a summer season, with freestyle tournaments aplenty as well as conditioning and team camps.

The plain truth is this: Any athlete who dreams of playing either sport at a high level must compete year-round.

Playing two sports with similar demands isn’t commonplace.

“I don’t know anyone else doing both now,” Delmedico said. “The only other guy I can think of that’s done that here (at CV) was Luke Chesher.”

Chesher was a state champion at 125 pounds as a junior in 2005 and was a quality midfielder for the Bears on the soccer pitch.

Delmedico reached the state Class 4A wrestling tournament in February.

“I didn’t have a very good state tournament,” he said. “I was so sick while I was there. I had a cough that just would not go away. To be honest, I was sick all through districts and regionals, too. It’s hard to wrestle when you just can’t breathe.”

The prospect of returning to state as a senior and capping his high school career with a state medal is an exciting one.

“Oh yeah – I’m already looking forward to next season,” he said. “I’m going to John Owen’s wrestling camp this summer and wrestle a bunch of freestyle tournaments.”

That wrestling schedule will have to fit into a soccer schedule that includes playing club soccer as well as joining his older brother, Richard, playing for the Spokane Spiders of the Premier Development League.

Delmedico has that same level of excitement for the current soccer season.

With a young nucleus to go with solid senior leadership, Central Valley knocked off Mead to win the district championship.

The Bears enter the 2009 season with high expectations in a league full of solid competition.

“We have a solid group of guys back from last year, but we lost some key seniors,” Delmedico said. “So far we haven’t found that same chemistry we had last year. But we’re getting better every game.”

For Delmedico, there’s an added benefit to being a wrestler at the start of a new soccer season.

“I got really excited once the wrestling season was over,” he said. “I’d been working hard to maintain weight going into the state tournament. It was good to be able to eat and not worry about weight.”

“And I don’t have to worry about getting myself fit to play. When I play soccer, most of the players I go up against are bigger and heavier than I am, but wrestling gets me into the kind of shape where I can compete strength against strength with them.”

Wrestling also helps with body control, he said.

“Freestyle especially helps me with body control in the air,” he said. “You really need to be able to control your body in the air and wrestling does that. When you’re going against bigger, stronger guys, it really helps.”

An All-Greater Spokane League second-team midflielder a year ago, Delmedico scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over Pasco that advanced the Bears into the first round of the state Class 4A playoffs.

“I did score pretty often last year,” he said. “I played my regular outside mid position, but I was able to sneak in behind defenses and score some fairly easy goals.

“That same play is still working this year.”

Delmedico scored the Bears’ lone goal in their season-opening win over Ferris at Albi Stadium last week. Blaze Vela’s shootout goal lifted CV to a win over Gonzaga Prep Wednesday, making the team 2-0 to start the season.