John Gioffre, Ex Harrison NY Athlete Wins Texas State Wrestling Title
Rice University football adds a great wrestler to its roster.
John Gioffre
| As soon as my kid gave me the news that his friend, John Gioffre was moving away mid-way thru his 8th grade year, I knew Harrison and New York State was losing a future athletic star.
Well, John Gioffre, now at Cinco Ranch High School in Katy, Texas didn’t disappoint. He recently captured the 285 pound Texas State Wrestling title.
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He now has a Texas State wrestling title to go along with a scholarship in football to one of the top 20 academic schools in the nation; Rice University.
Last year, as a junior, he placed 5th in the Texas State Wrestling Championships at the same weight and helped his team capture the Texas State team title.
John Gioffre 5th place in Texas - 2007
| "Our team won state, and it came down to my match at the end," Gioffre explained. "I had to win for my team to win and if I lost my team would have gotten second in state. That was pretty intense, but I'm definitely glad it happened.
Any situation that I come through in life I just look back like I've done harder things than this. I can work well under pressure." -John Gioffre
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Along with capturing a State title, Gioffre completed his senior year wrestling campaign going undefeated and didn’t give up a single point until his State finals match!
Amazingly, the wrestling mat isn't the only place where Gioffre pushes people around. I wouldn't just put him on a list of football players that wrestled, but make no mistake, this kid can play some football too. He's one of the top Texas high school football lineman.
He’s the first true freshman to ever start on varsity for his high school football team; the Cinco Ranch Cougars.
John Gioffre is headed to Rice University
| "Since his freshman year he's been a kid we could count on." As a matter of fact, we brought him up as the only freshman we've had that we've brought up to varsity during their freshman year. And each year he's gotten better and better.
I tell you, he's one of those guys that gets out on the field who's intelligent, but yet he works his rear end off to get better all the time." -Don Clayton -Head football coach, Cinco Ranch Cougars.
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I was one of John’s coaches in pee wee football as well as the pee wee wrestling program Frank Arcara and I ran in the late 90’s until 2003. Even at nine years old, he was a huge kid. My guess is that he weighed about 120 to 130 lbs at the time.
Now atsa big boy!
But what struck me more than his size, was the strength, balance and agility he possessed at such a young age.
I remember him be a tireless kid and not wasting a moment of his time in that wrestling room; always scoping out his next sparring partner. Problem was, he was so much bigger than the rest of the kids that a lot of his mat time was spent wrestling the coaches.
On the football field, his interchangeable skills of wrestling and football made him a totally dominant lineman. On offense, he routinely pancacked his unsuspecting defensive opponents. You could only stand on the sidelines, shake your head and say, "wow."
One of John’s motivators was his Dad, who passed away when he was only ten, after battling paralysis he suffered in a freak accident. John’s dad was also a great athlete who wrestled, played football and baseball at Port Chester high school and football at Colgate. After college, he also played minor league baseball and was in two NY Jets tryouts.
John has surely built on his Dad’s athletic success and positioned himself to reach even loftier heights. I’m sure his father is smiling down on him from the heavens.
Click on the link below to watch John Gioffre’s stunning 14 minute Texas State final match:
John Gioffre Texas State Championship wrestling match
By: Rick Contrata
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