Wrestler Kevin Rosen Is Mastering the Mat

Pali High wrestler Kevin Rosen shares how he took first place at the Blackwatch Tournament.

Kevin Rosen can still vividly remember the thoughts racing through his head as he placed a flower atop the casket of former Palisades High wrestling coach Randy Aguirre last January.

The Dolphins’ beloved coach had died the week before after an eight-month battle with brain cancer and Rosen was one of many team members who attended the funeral service in Covina to pay their last respects to the man who taught them so much about their sport and about life.

Since then, Rosen has made it his mission to end his senior year with a City championship and he won’t rest until his goal is reached.

“This is the year – it’s now or never,” said Rosen, who placed a disappointing fourth in the 138-pound weight class last winter. “The last two years I peaked too early and got weaker trying to drop divisions. Now I don’t have to worry about weight as much – I feel stronger and I’m motivated.”

Rosen, who fluctuated between 138 and 145 as a junior, has moved up to 152 pounds this year   and is ranked No. 1 in the section.  If early results are any indication, Rosen has learned from his past failures. He opened the season as Upper Weights MVP after winning five matches  (including four pins) in the Patriot Duals at Birmingham and last weekend he upset two state qualifiers on his way to first place at the prestigious Blackwatch Tournament in Upland.

“I purposely didn’t look at who I was wrestling or where they were ranked,” said Rosen, who earned an 8-4 decison over Royal’s Josh Koning in the final. “I’m trying to initiate contact a little more now, but I still rely mostly on my defense.”

A lifelong Palisadian who lives in the Highlands, Rosen admitted it took a little while to adjust to the style and techniques of new coach Steve Cifonelli, who believes strength and smarts are the keys to his captain’s success.

“Kevin didn’t hit a single shot in the finals but he didn’t need to,” Cifonelli said. “He scored on defense, stuck to his gameplan and wasn’t lured into anything risky. He’s very bright, he’s got the right mentality and he’s hungry.”

Rosen’s results in the classroom are as impressive as his results on the mat. He maintains an unweighted 4.0 GPA even while taking four AP classes and he was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania before winter break.

“I toured Penn’s campus last year and I loved it,” said Rosen, who takes the leadership role seriously and wants to set a good example for the program’s freshmen. “I’m not sure what I want to major in yet – probably one of the sciences, but I’ll play it by ear.”

Cifonelli noticed a change in Rosen’s demeanor right away.

“He was smiling ear to ear… it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders,” Cifonelli said. “Going to an Ivy League school is important to him and I really think that helped clear his mind.”

Academically and athletically, Rosen is following in the footsteps of his older brothers, both of whom played sports at Pali High.

Eric (now 25) played lacrosse and soccer for the Dolphins before attending UC Santa Barbara and Jared (22) played on the Pali High golf team and went to Harvard.

Rosen tried several other sports while attending Marquez Elementary before he gravitated to wrestling at Paul Revere Middle School.

“I was playing flag football when I happened to catch 15 minutes of wrestling practice,” said Rosen, who spends his free time  at the beach or hiking and biking in the mountains. “It was intense and I realized wrestling was more of a real athletic endeavor.”

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of Aguirre’s death and Rosen is highly motivated to take home another first-place trophy in Aguirre’s honor at this weekend’s ASICS Challenge in Tustin.

“Randy’s father [James] still comes to a lot of our matches and tournaments… so Randy’s spirit is always there,” Rosen said. “He was all about hard work and dedication and those are probably the two biggest things I’ve learned from him.”

— Steve Galluzzo