Former Stallions’ wrestler signs with Calumet
For The Madera Tribune
Madera South 2018 graduate and former Stallions wrestler Ricardo Adame signs a National Letter of Intent to Calumet College of St. Joseph in Indiana after wrestling for Fresno City College.
After taking a year off and catching up, former Madera South graduate Ricardo Adame showed enough to earn a scholarship with Calumet College of St. Joseph in Indiana.
Adame signed his National Letter of Intent after wrestling for a year at Fresno City College.
“I went to Fresno City for two years,” Adame said. “I did really good. I was top 12 in the state. I was impressed with myself. I was surrounded by a good group of wrestlers and coaches.”
Adame, a 2018 graduate from Madera South, spent his first year at Fresno City College as just a student.
“I never really planned to wrestle in college,” he said. “I wanted to get my degree and go to the military after my bachelor’s. I wanted to get my degree, serve in the Marines and come back to Madera and be a law enforcement officer. It wasn’t a thought to wrestle in college. It’s crazy to think about.”
However, Adame felt like he was missing something and returned to wrestling after his freshman year.
“That’s when I went back to wrestling,” he said. “The coach encouraged me to wrestle. He told me there’s more to life than school than you think. He told me that I would get an offer to wrestle out of state for school. I was in the environment at Fresno City and they told me I could continue in wrestling if I worked hard. It was definitely something I didn’t expect it would happen.”
Adame had that ‘told you so’ moment with his parents, as well, when he started to wrestle again.
”My parents didn’t want me to stop wrestling after high school,” he said. “Me being me thought about just going to school for school. Coming back to it, I told my parents they were right. The biggest thing I was worried about was practicing every year. I just went to school and wasn’t in shape.”
Adame put in the work and, despite a year off, challenged for a starting line-up spot and did well enough to earn a scholarship.
“That’s what surprised my coaches is I took a year off,” he said. “They didn’t expect me to be in the starting line-up right away. They knew of me from high school, but knew I didn’t wrestle out of high school. I wanted to challenge for a starting spot. The only guy that beat me out was Augie, my workout partner from high school.”
However, with COVID last year, Adame didn’t know what to expect when it came to a four-year college.
“It was tough to get recruited,” he said. “At the time, I was supposed to wrestle my second year at Fresno City. I’ve been out of Madera South for three years. My first year, I didn’t wrestle and wasn’t even in the room. The second, I went back to Fresno City and competed. I did really well. I was supposed to go back, but then COVID hit. In California, it was the only state wrestling wasn’t allowed. There were 49 other states wrestling.
“I was supposed to wrestle my last year at Fresno City and it never happened. I thought I wasn’t going to get picked up. Everything was in lockdown.”
However, Adame’s coach at Fresno City steered the Calumet College coaches to Adame when they contacted him.
“I was the first guy he recommended I go over there,” Adame said. “I couldn’t go on a visit because of COVID. The new head coach is tearing the program apart and putting it back together. He’s recruiting a lot of young kids and a good coaching staff. They are Div. I and Div. II All-Americans. It’s like a new program.”
Adame, who will wrestle at 165 pounds, leaves Fresno City with a 3.2 grade point average. He plans to major in criminology to become a law enforcement officer.
He had a few choices in California to go to, including San Diego and Humboldt, but chose St. Joseph.
“It was a fact that it was a new program,” he said. “They have a great criminology program. They have a lot of great programs and support when it comes to criminology. I will be able to get hands-on training at the school. I got an academic and athletic scholarship and it was a full ride.”
When Adame begins wrestling, he will be entering as a junior, although he isn’t sure if he will get a year of eligibility back because of COVID.
“I’ll be going there as a junior because I’ll have an Associates degree,” he said. “I have to talk to the school about getting my year back. I know California had that, but not sure if Indiana has that. I would like to have an extra year because I don’t want that to be a missed year.”
Adame hopes to set a good example for his younger siblings.
“I told them they have to go further than I did,” he said. “I’m just a stepping stone for their legacy. They are my workout partners. They get me motivated to work out. I try to make sure they don’t follow my footsteps on the wrong things.”
Adame is worried about the culture shock of the Midwest, but also knows he will be by himself.
“I have to figure out things out on my own,” he said. “I should have paid attention when I was younger. My family is excited for me. They think it’s going to be a neat chapter in my life. It’s going to be something I’m going to share with my family. I never thought I would go across the country for wrestling. I have to set a good example for my brothers.”
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