Wrestlers Unite to Cure the Coach

An overflow of love, support and laughter filled The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club on the Universal CityWalk last Friday night during a fundraiser for Palisades High wrestling coach Randy Aguirre.

In May, Aguirre was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a grade IV brain tumor, and only days after completing six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy treatment, he was sharing hugs and handshakes with team members and their families, all of whom had stories about the difference Aguirre has made in their lives.

“I got a text from him out of the blue the Sunday night before he went into surgery and it said ‘You’re a great kid, the hardest working kid I know,” Pali High senior Erik Miranda said. “I wasn’t sure why he sent it until I found out a few days later what happened. I decided then and there to give up football and devote my senior year to wrestling.”

Assistant coach Aldo Juliano performed on the “Cure the Coach” show along with several other comedians, including John DiResta, Joe Bartnick and Adam Hunter, a friend of Aguirre’s who started the wrestling program at Paul Revere Middle School about 10 years ago.

“Randy and I are synchronized like a well-oiled machine,” Juliano joked. “He does most of the paperwork, sets up the matches, teaches the kids everything they have to know, takes care of everything and I make sure we have lots of Purell.”

The Pali High wrestling banquet and trophy presentation preceded the fundraiser and celebrated a breakthrough season in which the Dolphins won the Coliseum League title, the regional title and the first-ever City Section dual title in February.

“Even when he was going in for his surgery all he kept talking about was his wrestling team,” said Aguirre’s father, James. “He loves those kids.”

The 29-year-old Aguirre wrestled at South Hills High in West Covina and at San Francisco State. One of the first people to greet him Friday was Joey Delgado, who was co-MVP with Aguirre his senior year at South Hills.

“I’m really tired… the treatment kind of caught up to me, but it’s great seeing all the guys,” said Aguirre, who started the Dolphins’ program in 2011. “I’ve got a tough fight ahead.”

Matt Au and Samson Dorff won the Most Improved Award, the Coaches Award went to Kaila Osorio, Lofton Mason won Rookie of the Year, Erik Miranda and Brad Boorstin won the Ironman Award for most matches, fastest pin honors went to Jack Garocochea and heavyweight Kenny Jones won the award for most pins. Then, upon taking the stage to receive the MVP trophy, Jones said: “I just want to say Coach Aldo and Coach Aguirre are the real MVPs.”

Several items were donated for auction and a 50-50 raffle generated over $1,100 and winner Sal Castillo donated his half to Aguirre.

Like most of his teammates, Kevin Rosen was stunned when he heard about Aguirre, but he said everyone on the team is determined to win City this year for their ailing coach. The Dolphins were fourth last winter, their highest finish yet.

“I was already motivated, but this motivates me to train even harder,” Rosen said. “We’re going to work as hard as we can. We’re doing this for him now and we want to win the title for him more than anything.”

Hunter, a four-time state wrestling champion in Maine, summed up the evening best when he high school and San Francisco State. He started the Dolphins’ program in 2011 and coached them to the City Section’s first-ever dual championship in February.

“It’s great to see so many people here for Randy,” Hunter said. “It just shows the type of person we’re supporting.”

“Take it from me – starting a wrestling program is hard,” Hunter said after closing the show with a hysterical stand-up routine that kept the audience roaring with laughter. “When I started the program at Revere the kids thought it was WWF. Randy’s a super coach, he knows a billion moves and he relates well to that age group. The first year he had extra pressure to do well, what he did this past year is phenomenal and they’re only going to get better.”

Juliano will coach the team until Aguirre returns and he expects even better results this coming season: “We can take four or five guys to state and of course we want Randy there to see it.”

The Pali High wrestling program is trying to raise $20,000 by Sept. 7. To donate to a fund set up for Aguirre, visit http://fnd.us/c/7pwAc or email support@fundrazr.com.