Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s journey toward stardom included a stop as a wrestler.
Pavia was a multi-sport athlete in high school in New Mexico, excelling in both football and wrestling. While he has since chosen the football path, his wrestling success is a big reason for his impressive numbers in college football.
After high school, Pavia had to decide whether to focus on football or wrestling full-time, and he chose the football route. It’s hard to argue that was the wrong choice, as he worked his way from JUCO to the SEC, becoming a Heisman Trophy finalist in the process.
Here’s a look back at how Pavia’s wrestling history impacted his football career.
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Diego Pavia wrestling highlights
In his high school wrestling career, Pavia was immensely successful, making the New Mexico state finals three times and winning one of those the state finals in 2020 at the 195-pound class.
Pavia had no D-1 offers for football, but could have went to college for wrestling if he wanted with a partial scholarship at Nebraska. However, Pavia's desire remained with football.
"That wasn't where my heart was," Pavia said, via the Albuquerque Journal. "I feel like if I would’'e wrestled, then I would have fallen out of love with the sport."
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Where did Diego Pavia go to high school?
Pavia went to Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, NM, which is where he was a three-sport athlete in wrestling, baseball and football.
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How wrestling helped Diego Pavia's football career
While Pavia is now a full-time football player, he still brings a wrestling mentality to the football field. During the Summer, Pavia told Mike Golic and Mike Golic Jr. How his wrestling experience impacted his football development.
"I'm hard-hat, lunch pale. It's me vs. You, who's better man-to-man," Pavia said. "I feel like whenever it goes into a one-on-one situation, whether it's in the hole or on the outside, I feel like I need to put the ball in the right spot for me to go win."
As a wrestler, Pavia had to compete and earn time with individual performances. So, while football is certainly more of a team sport than an individual one, Pavia has still been able to transfer his mentality in between the sports.
"I always address the day in a dog mentality," Pavia said, via the Albuquerque Journal in 2023. "You gotta win every single day...I still gotta keep my head on straight, still go out there and win and compete."