Condidorio's quest helps ease his pain
LeRoy senior wrestler fights off severe foot injury in his drive for a state title
Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY
Thursday, March 3, 2005

Full Text: Copyright © 2005 Democrat and Chronicle.
Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Company Inc.

LE ROY — Twenty minutes into practice, Zac Condidorio stops wrestling and jogs over to a stationary bicycle in the corner of the gymnasium.

The Le Roy Central senior pedals furiously for about five minutes, then walks, with a slight limp, to the bleachers, removes his right wrestling shoe, and places his aching foot into a recycling bin filled with ice. For several minutes, Zac sits there and watches his fellow wrestlers go through various drills.

When his foot is sufficiently numb, he dries it off, slides his shoe back on and heads to the mat to wrestle some more.

About twenty minutes later he repeats the process.

Zac has followed this monotonous routine throughout the wrestling season without complaint.

"It's not a big hassle," he says with a shrug. "I have pain, so I ice it and deal with it."

A small price to pay, in his mind, if it means achieving his goal of winning a state high school wrestling championship in the 112-pound weight class in Albany this weekend.

In reality, though, Zac has paid an enormous price to reach this point. His comeback these past 11 months is reminiscent of the one made by fellow wrestler Rulon Gardner, who returned from the amputation of several frostbitten toes to win bronze in Athens in August.

On April 8, 2004, while finishing off a basement, Zac was partially pinned beneath 14 sheets of drywall. His right foot took the brunt of the 800-pound blow. Fortunately, his younger brother, Chad, was there when the accident occurred. Fueled by an adrenaline rush, Chad lifted the stack up enough for Zac to extricate himself.

He was rushed to Strong Memorial Hospital, where he underwent three hours of surgery to repair his shattered foot. Two pins and three screws were required to realign the damaged ligaments and his five dislocated toes.

A standout in wrestling, football and tennis, Zac was told he was through with sports for at least a year. He wound up spending several weeks in a wheelchair.

"That drove me nuts," he says. "I couldn't stand it. That was the worst."

A driven young man, Zac refused to accept the year-without-sports prognosis. He was determined to be back in time for football.

"When I heard the extent of his injury, I figured he was done," says Le Roy football coach and athletic director Brian Moran. "But I should have known better than to underestimate Zac. When he puts his mind to something, you better get out of the way."

After having the pins removed on July 4, Zac began walking again. He started a rigorous physical therapy program shortly after that. It was painful and frustrating. He wanted to work out for long stretches, but his foot wouldn't cooperate. Still, he forged ahead.

"My goal was to make it back for the football season," he says. "But my main motivation was wrestling. I had some big goals in mind this season."

Much to Moran's surprise, Zac was cleared to play by game two of the season. Though he was still hobbling, he saw action in the secondary and on special teams and contributed to the Oatkan Knights' march to the state title game in the Carrier Dome.

"He was one of our inspirational leaders," Moran says. "He is a fiery young man who's not afraid to get after his teammates if they aren't giving their best. And, although he's not very big, he's not afraid to come up on defense and whack you."

Two days after Le Roy lost in the championship game, Zac was back on the mat. He discovered immediately that wrestling was far more taxing on his inflexible right foot than football had been. He was forced to alter some of his moves, and compensate for what he lost athletically with a more cerebral approach.

"He may have lost a little quickness and might not be able to push off his right foot quite the way he once did, but he's probably a better wrestler than he was before," says Le Roy wrestling coach Bob Gately. "He's always been a tough, motivated kid, but I think this made him even tougher and more motivated."

Zac takes a 40-4 record into Friday's opening round of the states. Saturday, he decisioned defending state champion Nick Price of Pembroke, 9-4, to earn Division II outstanding wrestler honors at the Section V tournament. The win improved his four-year varsity record to 125-14.

Perhaps no one is prouder of the way he has handled his ordeal than his father, Joe Condidorio, who also wrestled for Le Roy back in the late 1970s.

"Zac has always been a hard-worker, a doer," Joe says as he watches his son practice moves on the mat. "He lives his life to the fullest. He's a very determined young man."

Perhaps never more so than now, 11 months after bouncing back from the most devastating pin of his life.