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Condidorio's quest helps ease his pain
LeRoy senior wrestler fights off severe foot injury in his drive for a state
title
Democrat and Chronicle,
Rochester, NY
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Full Text: Copyright
©
2005 Democrat and Chronicle.
Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Company Inc.
Despite shattering his right foot 11 months ago, Le Roy's Zac Condidorio
has 19 pins en route to a 40-4 record this season. He is 125-14 over
four years entering his first match at 112 pounds on Friday night.
Day in Photos.
(SOURCE: D&C, 3/03/05.
Photo by WILL YURMAN, staff photographer.
Used with permission.)
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LE ROY — Twenty minutes into practice, Zac Condidorio stops wrestling and jogs
over to a stationary bicycle in the corner of the gymnasium.
The Le Roy Central senior pedals furiously for about five minutes, then walks,
with a slight limp, to the bleachers, removes his right wrestling shoe, and
places his aching foot into a recycling bin filled with ice. For several
minutes, Zac sits there and watches his fellow wrestlers go through various
drills.
When his foot is sufficiently numb, he dries it off, slides his shoe back on and
heads to the mat to wrestle some more.
About twenty minutes later he repeats the process.
Bike. Ice. Wrestle.
Bike. Ice. Wrestle.
Zac has followed this monotonous routine throughout the wrestling season without
complaint.
"It's not a big hassle," he says with a shrug. "I have pain, so I ice it and
deal with it."
A small price to pay, in his mind, if it means achieving his goal of winning a
state high school wrestling championship in the 112-pound weight class in Albany
this weekend.
In reality, though, Zac has paid an enormous price to reach this point. His
comeback these past 11 months is reminiscent of the one made by fellow wrestler
Rulon Gardner, who returned from the amputation of several frostbitten toes to
win bronze in Athens in August.
On April 8, 2004, while finishing off a basement, Zac was partially pinned
beneath 14 sheets of drywall. His right foot took the brunt of the 800-pound
blow. Fortunately, his younger brother, Chad, was there when the accident
occurred. Fueled by an adrenaline rush, Chad lifted the stack up enough for Zac
to extricate himself.
He was rushed to Strong Memorial Hospital, where he underwent three hours of
surgery to repair his shattered foot. Two pins and three screws were required to
realign the damaged ligaments and his five dislocated toes.
A standout in wrestling, football and tennis, Zac was told he was through with
sports for at least a year. He wound up spending several weeks in a wheelchair.
"That drove me nuts," he says. "I couldn't stand it. That was the worst."
A driven young man, Zac refused to accept the year-without-sports prognosis. He
was determined to be back in time for football.
"When I heard the extent of his injury, I figured he was done," says Le Roy
football coach and athletic director Brian Moran. "But I should have known
better than to underestimate Zac. When he puts his mind to something, you better
get out of the way."
After having the pins removed on July 4, Zac began walking again. He started a
rigorous physical therapy program shortly after that. It was painful and
frustrating. He wanted to work out for long stretches, but his foot wouldn't
cooperate. Still, he forged ahead.
"My goal was to make it back for the football season," he says. "But my main
motivation was wrestling. I had some big goals in mind this season."
Much to Moran's surprise, Zac was cleared to play by game two of the season.
Though he was still hobbling, he saw action in the secondary and on special
teams and contributed to the Oatkan Knights' march to the state title game in
the Carrier Dome.
"He was one of our inspirational leaders," Moran says. "He is a fiery young man
who's not afraid to get after his teammates if they aren't giving their best.
And, although he's not very big, he's not afraid to come up on defense and whack
you."
Two days after Le Roy lost in the championship game, Zac was back on the mat. He
discovered immediately that wrestling was far more taxing on his inflexible
right foot than football had been. He was forced to alter some of his moves, and
compensate for what he lost athletically with a more cerebral approach.
"He may have lost a little quickness and might not be able to push off his right
foot quite the way he once did, but he's probably a better wrestler than he was
before," says Le Roy wrestling coach Bob Gately. "He's always been a tough,
motivated kid, but I think this made him even tougher and more motivated."
Zac takes a 40-4 record into Friday's opening round of the states. Saturday, he
decisioned defending state champion Nick Price of Pembroke, 9-4, to earn
Division II outstanding wrestler honors at the Section V tournament. The win
improved his four-year varsity record to 125-14.
Perhaps no one is prouder of the way he has handled his ordeal than his father,
Joe Condidorio, who also wrestled for Le Roy back in the late 1970s.
"Zac has always been a hard-worker, a doer," Joe says as he watches his son
practice moves on the mat. "He lives his life to the fullest. He's a very
determined young man."
Perhaps never more so than now, 11 months after bouncing back from the most
devastating pin of his life.
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