It finally hit the usually stoic Steve Mocco after it was over. After having done something that no opponent anywhere could do for the last two years, spanning nearly 100 consecutive matches, emotion had finally gotten the best of the nation’s best scholastic wrestler.
“After it was over, I realized that it was the last time that I would wrestle as a high school wrestler, the last time I would wear a Blair singlet,” said Mocco, a North Bergen resident who attends Blair Academy in Warren County. “I wanted to end my high school career on a high note.”
Mocco did just that, capturing the National High School Seniors Scholastic Championship in Newark, Del. last weekend. The heavyweight wrestler rolled to the championship, winning five matches, four via pin, earning the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.
Mocco ended his high school career with an incredible record of 216-1, winning an astounding 187 matches via pin, earning the honors as the top scholastic wrestler in the nation by USA Today and Amateur Wrestling News.
“This was a special tournament for me, because it was the last one,” Mocco said. “It’s tough to say how it feels. After that final match, you’re the national champion. It’s not a ranking, it’s not a no. 1 on a list. I proved that I was the best and I proved it on the mat.”
Mocco defeated Gregory Wagner of Indiana by an 8-1 score in the semifinals before coming back to pin Lionel Apineru of California in 1:16 in the finals.
“I’m happy to end my high school career on a winning note,” said Mocco, who for elementary school attended Horace Mann in North Bergen. “I can think about those things now. It was a tough tournament. I knew of two or three of the guys and they were quality wrestlers. I felt very good and ready. Coach [Jeff] Buxton [of Blair Academy in Blairstown] trained me hard for it and I was ready for it.”
Added Mocco, “I wasn’t nervous at all about it. I knew it was a good tournament, with all the best wrestlers in the country there. But I was ready. I was just thinking about winning.”
And now, Mocco can start to concentrate on the rest of his athletic life as well. Wednesday night, he made the announcement that the amateur wrestling world anxiously awaited. He signed a national letter of intent to attend the University of Iowa in the fall. In the collegiate wrestling world, it’s like signing with Notre Dame to play football or Duke to play basketball.
Mocco had narrowed his decision down to perennial national powers Iowa and Oklahoma State, but Iowa, which is coached by the greatest freestyle wrestler in history – Dan Gable – won out.
“I actually was considering Lehigh and the University of Pennsylvania, because it was close to home, but then I thought of Iowa and their great tradition,” Mocco said. “I’m really looking forward to going to Iowa and working with Coach Gable. The whole tradition of the program and their past success are the reasons why I chose Iowa. I’m pretty excited about going there.”
The news of Mocco’s signing made the front pages of newspapers in Des Moines and Iowa City. One national wrestling writer called the signing, “a program maker.”
“I think I have a lot to prove when I get to college,” Mocco said. “But I think I’m ready for the challenge and I’m looking forward to it.”
Mocco said that he will take a few weeks off, then begin to train for the ESPAR Age 20-and-under World Team Trials in Lincoln, Neb. in June and will also compete in the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. in July.
“I’ve done well on the high school level, but I have a lot of work to do on the next level,” Mocco said. “I haven’t wrestled in open tournaments or in college. I have a lot of work to do and a lot to prove.”
But there are stories of Mocco holding his own with current Olympic gold medal hero Rulon Gardner at a recent tournament, as well as the proven ledger of incredible success.
“I have bigger goals,” Mocco said. “The 2004 Olympics. That’s my goal right now.”
After all he’s accomplished, who’s going to doubt him?