As a twiggy preteen at Lakeview Middle School, Rudy Guzman said he took up wrestling with the hopes of becoming a famous professional wrestler.
That dream “faded fast,” he said, but his love for the sport blossomed under coach Reggie Roberts at Aptos High.
“He made me love wrestling even though I wasn’t very good at it,” Guzman said. “He kept it fun, and he took the pressure off of the kids.”
Now, he hopes to carry on that legacy for the foreseeable future.
Guzman was recently promoted from assistant to head coach, Aptos Athletic Director Mark Dorfman told the Pajaronian.
A 2002 Aptos graduate and an assistant under Roberts since 2003, Guzman said there will be very little deviation from the tried and true formula that made the wrestling program a local juggernaut over the last two decades.
“It’s always exciting going into a wrestling season but things won’t change much from what Reggie was doing,” Guzman said. “The faces won’t be new. Most of the relationships will be the same. Why change something that’s been working so well? I don’t think I’ll ever completely fill his shoes, but I can try to teach the kids the same things he taught me.”
Roberts retired after completing his 20th season at Aptos last winter. He went out on top, winning his eighth Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship in the last nine years. His team also posted a dominant 49-1 league dual meet record over his final 10 seasons.
Yet Roberts hardly ever focused in on wins and losses, instead creating a welcoming environment for every student-athlete on his massive teams, which showcased at least 50 wrestlers during the last handful of seasons.
Guzman said he has the same attitude entering his first season.
“For me, it’s not all about winning either,” Guzman said. “With Reggie it was all about having fun, creating a family atmosphere and being there for the kids…I want to keep that going.”
Guzman started wrestling for Roberts as a sophomore at Aptos in 1998 and quickly fell in love with the sport over the next three years. After graduating in 2002, he became an assistant under Roberts and also coached the Aptos Junior High team for six seasons before the middle school programs were axed because of budget cuts.
Guzman said he hopes to bring back the majority of last year’s assistant coaches, including Johnny Velez, Pete Maestas and Ramon Zacarias. Roberts, who left his teaching job at Aptos for a new gig at Fremont High, also said he would drop in throughout the season to help streamline the coaching change.
“He said he would help when he can,” Guzman said. “I don’t think he can stay away from the program. He loves the kids here.”
Aptos will return two league champions and six second-place finishers from last year’s squad. Seniors Eli Galster (113 pounds), Ryan Braga (138), Tyler Slay (152) and Marcos Reyes (170), and juniors Camila Barranco (106), Luke Keaschall (126) and James Platero (220) will lead the way.
“We have a lot of individuals with talent so it just makes the coming year even more exciting,” Guzman said.
