Azevedo leads class of section HOF inductees

John Azevedo reflects on his wrestling life like a wine connoisseur surveys his cellar.

Yes, nearly all of them were very good years.

"That is my passion," he said. "I'm good at it.

Was he ever.

Azevedo, a Grace Davis High graduate, won on the mat and he won as a coach. He brought home Sac-Joaquin Section championships and NCAA titles and would have been an Olympian if not for the 1980 boycott.

Ask Dan Gonsalves, who knows a thing or two about the 1-on-1 sport.

"John was so flexible. You could tie him into a knot and not pin him," Gonsalves remembered. "He was very dedicated."

It's fitting that Azevedo, the wrestler, and Gonsalves, his coach, will be among 43 inductees — including 14 athletes, coaches and officials from the Stanislaus District — to the Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame.

All will be honored at a dinner today at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento.

Azevedo, 56, lives in Temecula, where he coached a wrestling club team until San Marino High came calling. He took the coaching job earlier this year to continue his amazing career.

It began at Davis, where he won CIF state titles in 1974 and 1975 (103-pound class in '74, 112 in '75). He became the section's first two-time champion (1973 and '75), but Gonsalves considered his loss in the '74 section final pivotal.

"John got caught in a cradle and was beaten 3-0," Gonsalves said. "But for the next week, I've never seen a kid prepare for competition like that. He was so focused."

Gonsalves rotated workout partners, all heavier than Azevedo, because one wasn't enough. He rolled through all of them and swept to his back-to-back state titles.

After one year at Oklahoma State, Azevedo continued his dominance at Cal State Bakersfield. In those years, wrestlers could compete at both NCAA Division I and Division II levels. The Modestan took full advantage by winning three D-II championships and reached the D-I finals three times.

In his final shot, Azevedo annexed his coveted D-1 championship. His collegiate record was a hard-to-believe 122-2.

"There is a picture of me after I won. You can see the relief on my face," he said. "I beat a guy from Oklahoma State for the title. My old coaches were there in the other corner."

His only real setbacks on the mat were Olympian. He was sidelined by the boycott in '80 and an ill-timed knee injury in '84.

"The 1984 injury was more disappointing than '80. I've never been hurt very often," Azevedo said. "In 1980, I wasn't looking at it as my only chance. I was 23. It was a bummer, but I always thought I'd make it back in four years."

Azevedo's coaching career took him to Wisconsin, Notre Dame, back to Cal State Bakersfield and eventually to San Luis Obispo where he served as head coach from 2002 to '11.

What surprised him the most, however, was the magnet that somehow pulled him back to the high school level. That wasn't what he had planned — he never thought he would leave the collegiate ranks — but Calvary Chapel didn't complain.

Azevedo coached Calvary Chapel to seven state team titles (1993, '94, '96, '97, '98, 2000 and '01).

"It was actually more satisfying for me as a coach," he said. "To help others, to see them have success was important. Coaching is so much harder. As an athlete, you focus only on yourself."

Azevedo is one of only 12 Stanislaus County athletes to win both high school and collegiate/open Outstanding Athlete Awards athletes of the year. He wasn't just vintage good.

He was hall-of-fame great.

THE FAME GAME

Here are the Stanislaus District inductees to the Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame:

• John Azevedo, Grace Davis (wrestling)

• Milo Candini, Manteca (baseball, football, baseball, track)

• Ray Lankford, Grace Davis (football, baseball)

• Paul Larson, Turlock (football, basketball, track)

• Gerald Madkins, Merced (basketball)

• Dave Maggard, Turlock (football, basketball, track)

• Suzy Powell-Roos, Downey (track, basketball)

• Joe Rudi, Downey (baseball, football, wrestling)

• Mike Glines, Central Catholic (coach)

• Dan Gonsalves, Grace Davis (administrator)

• Loyd Hobby, Mariposa (administrator)

• Bob Taylor, Grace Davis (administrator)

• Walker Vick, Manteca (administrator)

• Bob Wood, Modesto (basketball referee)