Profile: Bobby Gasdia

Bobby Gasdia competes at the King of the Mat tournament in Springfield last August. Photo courtesy of RichO Photography.  http://richosphotography.com/

Joelle Bowman
Veritas Staff

Junior Bobby Gasdia is a captain of the RHS wrestling team and puts forward a great amount of effort. His dedication to the team shows when he’s on the mat.

Gasdia is hardworking and determined with not only wrestling, but with school and with his activities outside of school, especially Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Hanover’s wrestling coach introduced him to MMA  when he was in seventh grade and he has stuck with it ever since. “I like beating up my little brother, eating pb and j’s, late night conversations with Alec Donegan, and going to my MMA gym and training,” Gasdia said about his outside of school activities.

Most of all, Gasdia really enjoys being on the RHS wrestling team. He gets along well with his teammates. Since he does MMA you would think it would help out with wrestling, but Gasdia disagrees, “It doesn’t help with wrestling because being on your back means a lost match; but in MMA different strategic submissions and sweeps can be set up from that position. Wrestling really helps with MMA because it’s one of the three main components which is stand up, grappling, and takedown,” he explains.

Wrestling is a physical sport and takes a lot of energy to do, especially when there’s traveling involved. The worst part of wresting in Gasdia’s opinion is the “ten hour tournaments in far away towns.”

He currently has a winning record in his second year on the team, but he still has a lot of work to do this year and next year if he wants to win states. One of his motivations is Ryan Morrison. “He’s the reason I wake up in the morning,” Gasdia stated about his best friend.

While motivation helps him on the mat, his confidence plays an important role. The way his mindset is, he knows he can do his best and that’s all that counts. He knows his strengths, but does he know his weaknesses? “I don’t have any weaknesses. I guess I’m just the man,” the confident wrestler revealed.

Wrestling isn’t a very easy thing to do and takes a lot of practice. While Gasdia believes he’s doing well, he also understands that he needs to work as hard as he can to be his best. “I think I’m a pretty good teammate and have a really good work ethic that I picked up at my MMA gym,”  he said.

His teammates look up to him as a captain. “He’s a great captain and he pushes us all to become better wrestlers. He rarely attends the trainers room for band aids,” sophomore Alec Donegan said.

Gasdia has come a long way and has grown mentally and physically throughout the years of fighting. “Bobby has seen me as a role model ever since we were little; now that he has surpassed me as a wrestler I’m very proud of him. He’s very proud of himself for working really hard and becoming a better athlete,” sophomore Owen Martin said about his best friend and captain.

After high school Gasdia plans to continue to fight and also join the Bridgewater State wrestling team. It’s a good bet his efforts will pay off if he continues to work his hardest at what he loves to do.