Live Oak’s Fernandez unfazed by trip to state
MORGAN HILL — It has always been “just wrestling” to Steven Fernandez, and we can finally believe him.
On the eve of the CIF State Championships, the biggest and final tournament of Fernandez’s prep career, we can finally believe that he has no reason to get too worked up over the sport that has dictated his life since age 5.
When he began wrestling as a freshman at Live Oak High, his one goal was to make it to state. Fernandez finished no more than six wins from doing so each year, until he finally made the cut two weeks ago in the Central Coast Section Championships.
Now, the 152-pound senior has no goal.
When he takes the floor today inside Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, the 18-year-old will try to do one thing: keep wrestling.
“I’d love to get a few wins, but I just want to go out and do the best that I can,” he said during practice Wednesday. “Even if I lose my first two matches and get eliminated, I won’t be disappointed. My whole career has been about making it this far. Even if I hadn’t made it, it’d be satisfying — incomplete but satisfying.”
His unbridled work ethic has been a catalyst in his success, but so has Fernandez’s no-pressure approach to each match and tournament.
Fernandez can’t be fazed. He is 33-5 this winter and has been competing in state tournaments in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling for years. He is a son of Live Oak coach Robert Fernandez and one of six siblings who have at least dabbled in the sport. That includes his older sister, Moriah, Steven’s lifelong wrestling partner. Moriah Fernandez won a girls state title with LOHS and now wrestles freestyle at Northern Michigan University.
“It’s always been a pretty even battle when we wrestle,” Steven said, cracking a smile rarely seen in the Live Oak wrestling room.
Moriah Fernandez took time off this week to visit and train with her brother.
“I’m confident he’s going to do his hardest,” she said. “That’s how we were raised. You either gave it your all or … ”
“Or there was no other option!” Steven finished. “We all pushed each other.”
Though wrestling is the Fernandez family business, Steven has pushed himself since Day 1.
“You read about parents that live through their kids; Steven’s mother [Stephanie] and I always did things differently,” Robert Fernandez said. “We gave him some guidance, but we let him go from there.”
Steven Fernandez has participated in other sports, albeit to better himself as a wrestler. He has trained with Live Oak’s water polo and cross country teams and even tried gymnastics for three months.
“That probably helped me more than anything else. You think wrestling’s hard?” he said. “Gymnastics helped me with my core strength and balance.”
Growing up in San Jose, Fernandez was part of the South East Mustangs before he and his family moved to San Martin. He still honed his skills around the Bay Area, barnstorming every clinic and camp he could find. Fernandez’s unique funk style (which comes across like he’s trying to do three moves at once) is a reflection of each.
“I’ve been to about a million camps,” he said. “And, with each one I went to, I just took a little piece of what each coach had to offer and made it into my own style.”
This week, Steven Fernandez worked out with C.C. Fisher, a former U.S. national team member who runs a traveling skills development group called Wrestling Prep. Fernandez has trained with him for three years.
“He’ll do whatever you say with a ‘yes-sir, no-sir’ attitude,” Fisher said. “Steven has a huge desire to excel in wrestling. If I tell him, ‘Hey, we’re going for three to four hours today,’ he’ll say, ‘OK,’ and he’ll never complain. Sometimes, he goes longer after practice just to get everything right.”
Steven Fernandez plans to compete after high school, though he hasn’t decided where, and one day follow in the footsteps of his father as coach of the Acorns. But his life as a wrestler has led up to this weekend.
“It’s crazy to think about,” Robert Fernandez said. “This is the closing of a huge chapter in his life. I don’t know how I’m going to react when it’s over.”
Steven Fernandez will likely take it in his poker-faced stride. Having reached the level all athletes ultimately seek, he has ruled out any chance of leaving disappointed.
There are no goals left.
