- December 26, 2024
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Every athlete dreams of “going out” on top, but only handfuls actually do. Among those who did, add Flagler Palm Coast senior wrestler Elizeu “Baja” Baia to the list.
After wrestling on the junior varsity squad for the past two years, coach Tom Bartolotta notified Baia that he would wrestle with the varsity for the first time on FPC’s senior night against Nease, which was Wednesday, Feb. 11.
As his match got under way, the crowd began to chant “LJ…LJ,” which only made Baia try harder to make his school teammates proud. Crediting the energy from the crowd, Baia won the match 11-2, and finished his varsity wrestling career a perfect 1-0, the only other wrestler to go undefeated this season besides Jackson Trivett, Baia joked.
Baia has a won a total of seven matches this season, but all the others combined doesn’t equal the weight of his last win that made him feel like he was on top of the world. After his match, Baia remembers looking up at Bartolotta, who had a big grin on his face, who told him that he put together a great match and that he was proud of him.
Baia took a back seat to FPC’s heavyweight star wrestler, Jake Dempsey, whom he respects a lot. Although he doesn’t wrestle with varsity, his heart goes out with every wrestler who competes for the Bulldogs, and that’s whom he believes began the chant during his most important match, the varsity guys.
They respect him. They’ve seen his drive to make the varsity team the past few seasons, and they’ve witnessed the blood and tears he’s spilled on the mat to get to that final high school match.
To the Bulldogs, Baia was their Rudy. He did everything to get that match, and when he got his shot, like Rudy he didn’t let his team down. He went out on top.
