By Guy Cipriano
SPRING MILLS ” He had many things to learn about this sport they called wrestling.
CDT photo/Christopher Weddle
Armando Abraham never heard of Pennsylvania, much less the sport of wrestling, when he came to Penns Valley as an exchange student from Venezuela last fall. Abraham has wrestled a variety of weights for the Rams.
“I didn’t know anything, “Penns Valley senior Armando Abraham said.
By anything, Abraham meant basic techniques, the moves Centre County
wrestlers learn before they reach middle school.
“What was a sprawl?” Abraham asked rhetorically inside Penns Valley’s locker room last week. “What was take a shot? What was a single-leg?”
Abraham wasn’t starting from his base ” another term he added to his expanding vocabulary this winter. He was starting from a flat position. But Abraham refused to stay flat.
He placed his soul into a sport they don’t offer in his home country of Venezuela.
He ended the regular season with three wins, a number that may have been higher if the 152-pounder didn’t spend most of the season at 160 or 171 to fill a team hole.
The wins are secondary. When Abraham returns to his hometown of Porta La Cruz, he should return stronger and more cultured after cramming an entire career into four months. He can sprawl, attempt a shot and convert a single-leg, three tasks he accomplished during the same period last week against Glendale.
“He’s phenomenal,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “His work ethic is unmatched. He does all the extras when he goes home.”
How did Penns Valley find Abraham? Or, maybe better, how did Abraham find Penns Valley.
Abraham decided last year to enter an exchange program, a move designed to improve his English and learn what he considered “new stuff.” Abraham wanted to spend a year in Australia. For reasons he doesn’t know, he was sent to Pennsylvania.
“I was like, ‘What is that?'” Abraham said. “I thought it was Transylvania.”
His introduction to Pennsylvania featured its spooky moments. Porta La Cruz is a coastal city where watersports such as surfing and skinboarding are popular. Abraham quickly learned surfing wasn’t a passion shared by his new classmates. He also learned that an American school day doesn’t resemble one in Venezuela.
“The first month was awful,” Abraham said. “I knew about things like biology, but all the words were different. I didn’t know how to open a locker, and the classes. … You just have four minutes to get ready. It was totally different.”
Still, Abraham adapted to his new surroundings. He joined the soccer team in the fall ” he never played soccer in
Venezuela ” and improved his already solid English.
A hallway conversation with assistant wrestling coach Brad Wood then further ingrained Abraham into central Pennsylvania culture. The Rams needed bodies in the practice room and Abraham, who has wavy black hair and a determined stare, looked like a wrestler.
“My assistant coach saw him in the hallway and said, ‘Have you ever thought about coming out for wrestling?'” Brinker said. “He said, ‘No. But I love to fight.’ We said, ‘This is the sport for you.'”
Contact sports are part of Abraham’s heritage.
His grandfather, Armando Abraham Sr., boxed. His father, Armando Abraham Jr., also scraped in his younger days. Abraham practiced martial arts as a five-year-old, and he received frequent fighting lessons from his grandfather. Venezuela’s turbulent political climate forces men and their sons to never drop their guards.
“There’s a lot of violence in Venezuela,” Abraham said. “You need to know how to fight.”
Wrestling and its controlled aggression are the perfect outlet for Abraham. He spends evenings doing push-ups and practices after formal workouts. He satisfies his boxing cravings by pounding a punching bag.
At times, wrestling frustrates Abraham. He has lost almost 20 times, and despite his inexperience he handles defeats like a wrestling-lifer.
“He has the soul of a winner,” senior teammate Ty Corl said. “He doesn’t like to lose. That’s a good thing for somebody on the team to have.”
The wins and losses make for some interesting phone calls home.
His mother, Lourdes Abraham, isn’t different from many central Pennsylvania guardians. She cringes during wrestling conversations, even the ones involving on-mat triumphs.
“She was totally against it,” Abraham said. “When I told her about my first bloody nose and bruises on my chest and forearm, she was so scared. I told her not to worry.”
Penns Valley’s dual meet season ended last week, meaning it’s time for Lourdes to rest easier.
Okay, maybe not. “I just want to keep practicing because I like it,” Abraham said. “It’s a passion right now.”
Guy Cipriano covers wrestling for the Centre Daily Times.,
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